More first-person history of the Old West Durham Mill Village

An Oral History of OWD
(A 1975 Paper submitted to the Durham Bicentennial Committee)

OWDNA meets the last Thursday of every month, at 7:00 PM.
Email for more info.

Partners Against Crime meets the second Monday of each month, at 6:00 PM 2107 Hillandale Road (Durham Public Schools Faculty Training Center near corner of Hillandale and Carver).

Friends of South Ellerbe Creek
Establishing a green space near E.K. Powe Elementary School

Background on Duke's Central Campus

Why Durham needs a landlord registry

OWDNA info flyer

"Durham has some 148 neighborhoods, and many of them are very active. The Old West Durham Neighborhood Association is probably at the top of the list when it comes to making its views known on everything from transit stations for the proposed light-rail system to cleaning up cemeteries."
--Herald-Sun

OWDNA thanks to ConnectNC, Inc for their donation of server space for our site. ConnectNC, Inc offers Internet, Web and Business Process Outsourcing Services

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places

"Not afraid of flavor!"

Take a virtual tour through OWD's history or see photographs of the neighborhood today.

What is the Old West Durham
Neighborhood Association?

OWDsign

We are a group of neighborhood residents working together to strengthen the sense of community in Old West Durham and to preserve and enhance the quality of life in OWD. Our neighborhood stretches from Broad Street west to Hillandale Road and from Englewood Avenue south to the Durham Freeway. The area around Erwin Mills, Ninth Street and the old mill village is listed on the National Register of Historic Districts.

OWDNA has been honored by the Historic Preservation Society of Durham, Preservation North Carolina, the Library of Congress, the Herald-Sun's "Durham Grit" award, and the Independent Weekly's "Citizen Award" (for "tireless dedication to making our community a better place to live").

Any resident of Old West Durham can join and support their neighborhood association by sending a $5 check (made out to "OWDNA") to Emily Wexler at 1014 Rosehill Ave, Durham 27705. If you have any questions about Old West Durham, please contact John Schelp (president) at john@owdna.org.

Neighborhood accomplishments

Hace la OWDNA?

Old West Durham -- everything's here!

We are Wimpy's Grill & Magnolia Grill, East Campus & West Main, Ninth Street & Gin Street, E.K. Powe & Locopops, Erwin Mills & Erwin Square, Regulator Books & Grasshopper, American Dance Festival & Pride Parades, Elmo's Diner & Dain's Place, One World Market & International Delights, Blue Light & Blue Corn, Wellspring Cafe & Francesca's Ice Cream, Saint Joseph's & Blacknall, Club Maraka & Bali Hai, West Durham Tire & George's Garage, Madhatter's Bakery & Cosmic Cantina, Dogstar Tattoo & Fisher Signs, Durham Freeway & Buck Dean's bungalow, Wachovia tower & Mill Hill, Italian stonecutters & old brick yards, John D. Loudermilk & Tobacco Road, Don Schlitz & The Gambler, Elvis & his caboose, freight trains & Cedar Hill Cemetery, fire trucks & Sirens Lounge, front porches & vegetable gardens, quiet walks & shady streets, old mill houses & sidewalk conversations, neighbors & friends.

We are community, we are home

Last updated on 2/25/2008

Current OWDNA webmaster: Tom Clark

Past OWDNA webspinner: Pam Spaulding

"For each home ground we need new maps, living maps, stories and poems, photographs and paintings, essays and songs. We need to know where we are, so that we may dwell in our place with a full heart."
-- Scott Russell Sanders

"...use the Internet not as an on-ramp to the information superhighway but as a way to help you learn a little more about your street..."
--Time magazine

Visitors to Old West Durham site:

What is the Old West Durham Neighborhood Association?

Neighborhood accomplishments

Hace la OWDNA?

Old West Durham -- everything's here!

We are community, we are home

What is the Old West Durham
Neighborhood Association?