Origins

The majority of what we now know as Northgate Park neighborhood was built in the boom years after World War II throughout the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s.   NPNA was formed in 1987.

As the development evolved, local Real Estate Auctioneer J. Franklin Barfield, his wife Ruby D. Barfield and C. B. Wagoner donated parcels of land to the City of Durham to establish the Park as we know it today. First came the donation of the main Park area in March 1938, recorded in Record of Deeds Book 125, page 365.  Interestingly, this deed was notarized by one Ruby D. Barfield, Notary Public. In October 1940 came the dog park area (Book 135, page 585), followed in April 1941 by the Tennis Court triangle (Book 138, page 540). Both of these tracts of land were jointly owned by Wagoner and the Barfields and each transferred for $1 to the City.

During this time period, real estate developers and lending agencies across the country commonly used deed restrictions to segregate neighborhoods through the practice of redlining, backed by the federal government. Research shows several properties in Northgate Park had racially restrictive covenants included in early deeds.

The Northgate Park Neighborhood Association (NPNA) was formed in 1987. One of the founding members was Wesley Loftis, a long-time resident who purchased two lots with his brother in 1946 after returning from WWII.

Architecture

Of surprise to many local residents is the fact that German Prisoners of War were housed locally. Butner Prisoner of War camp was closed in the 1940s with some buildings dismantled and the materials sold to local businesses and residents to build homes. You can recognize some of these materials in attics around the neighborhood by their thicker than normal 2x4s appearance and rough cut versus factory planed.

The original NGP houses were white, had wooden siding and the shutters had silhouette cut-outs. If you have shutters like these now, hold on to them: they are almost antique! Have you ever wondered why there are so many aluminum window and porch awnings in Northgate Park? It is because of Mr. Norman Draper who lived at 2701 Farthing. His truck even had a small aluminum awning on the driver’s side!   Norman’s work was so popular that after retirement he even had to black out the phone number on the driver’s door of his van to stop the calls.

Infrastructure

It’s interesting to note that parts of the community and individual roads have changed names several times over the years: back in the 1920s, Shenandoah was Hutchins Street and Farthing was Midway Avenue then Maxwell; East Hammond was Fleetwood. Part of the neighborhood around Murray/Herring/Maynard used to be called MacArthur Heights.

• Gresham Avenue used to be called Leon  until the mid-1990s.  It was renamed after Buck Gresham who was a long term resident and city employee.
• Acadia, in plan at least, continued all the way up and intersected Herring Boulevard.
• In to the 1950s Duke Street dead ended at Leon.
• As late as the 1960s Murray Avenue was a dirt road and had quail living in the adjacent woods.  Some of the Murray family  still live in the neighborhood today.

The Edison Johnson Recreation Center on Murray Avenue next to the North Carolina Museum of Life and Science was named after Northgate Park resident, Edison Johnson. He built the two story home with a balcony at 2303 Glendale Ave in 1948 and his family owned it until around 2004. Edison Johnson was the director of public works in Durham in the 1950s, 1960s, maybe into the 1970s. The Edison Johnson Recreation Center opened in 1976 and in the 1990s a pool was added.

Bus routes used to run through Northgate Park (there was one stop at the junction of Gresham and Shenandoah and another near the traffic stop at the junction of Lavender/Glendale) taking local workers to the Tobacco Warehouses.

The area at the end of Gresham across the creek by the former dog park was deeded by Durham Realty & Insurance Company in October 1958 by deed recorded in Book 252 Page 613.

 

The Barfield Center

Where the tennis courts currently stand is the site of the burned down Barfield Center, a community center. Many of the older residents remember after-school tap dance lessons there as well as Saturday evening square dancing!  The Barfields used to live at 101 Club Boulevard.  Flo Johnston’s column (Sept. 5, 2009) reminds us that “a group from the Glendale Heights Community met at the Barfield Center at Northgate Park on Sept. 13, 1959, to form a new Methodist Church, which became known as Glendale Heights and eventually moved to its present location on Leon Street.”

 

Tribute to Frank Barfield

The Herald-Sun (Durham, NC)
December 8, 2003
Letters to editor

All citizens of Durham, let’s come together to honor a wonderful man, Frank Barfield. Barfield gave an Easter egg hunt yearly for all children for more than 20 years. A classy showman, Barfield often had a “pep band,” gave away food and tossed silver coins to the children at his entertaining auctions. I, for one, remember him well. Could Northgate Park be renamed Barfield Park in his honor. Shouldn’t it be?
BILL TUNSTALL

 

• In 1980, the section of Acadia that runs where the Tennis Court Picnic shelter now sits was closed permanently.
• The Dog Park used to house the Jaycee Ball Field.
• Fowlers Grocery store was where the pawn shop is now on Roxboro and Club before it moved to Brightleaf Square (They subsequently moved to alongside Morgan’s and after a couple of changes of ownership became ‘Parker and Otis’)

 

The Museum of Life and Science

The original “Museum” was called the “Children’s Museum”, founded in 1946, and was housed in the white house at the intersection of Lavender and the Creek, on the right as you look upstream.  1960s Museums attractions included a two-headed calf and a stuffed wallaby!  The Museum was moved to the South side of Murray where it became the Museum of Life and Science.   The Mercury Redstone rocket was trucked up from Alabama on the back of local space enthusiasm driven by the training of Astronauts in Chapel Hill.

Our beloved Bronto is just one of many exhibits from the original Dinosaur Trail (founded around 1970 by Richard Wescott and running until Hurricane Fran wreaked havoc in 1996).  2009 saw the Save the Bronto campaign which raised over $20,000 to restore and protect the famed beheaded-Bronto.

Throughout 2009/2010 we experienced the restoration of the park, re-routing of Ellerbe Creek and the establishment of the no-mow zones. Northgate Park residents were appropriately vocal in ensuring that their views and needs were heard!

 

Past residents of Northgate Park include:

• Christian Laettner – Duke Basketball
• Eddie Neville – Durham Bulls 1940’s and 1950’s
• Sheriff Worth Hill
• Dan Hill (former council member)
• Lib Albright (a Teer)
• Edison Johnson
• Bob Fowler of Fowlers – everybody’s grocery in the 40s, 50s, and 60s
• Long term residents include:
• Janet Neville who moved in to her house (corner of Highland and Hammond) in 1933!
• Randy Boswell was born December 8, 1948, and he is still living at his first home
• The Henderson family on Murray has been in the neighborhood since 1962
• Becky and Carl Buckner moved in to Northgate Park in 1966 and remained until 2023

Northgate Park Land Acknowledgment

We acknowledge that the land on which Northgate Park currently resides is the traditional and ancestral territory of the Indigenous peoples who stewarded it for generations, such as the Catawba (ka-tah-buh), Cheraw (cher-aw), Eno (ee-no), Lumbee (lum-bee), Occaneechi (oak-a-nee-chee), Shakori (shuh-kor-ee), and Tuscarora (tuh-skuh-roar-uh) peoples.

We honor their enduring presence and contributions to this land, and we acknowledge the painful history of violence, displacement, and colonization that Indigenous communities have experienced.

We also acknowledge the past and lasting harm produced by the legacy of racialized development and zoning practices in Northgate Park.

We share an ongoing responsibility to care for these lands and to respect the sovereignty of Indigenous nations residing in North Carolina. We reflect on this history as we endeavor to foster understanding, justice, and respect for all peoples.
For more information about the history and present-day experiences of Native people in North Carolina, see community resources organized by Duke Gardens.
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Resources, references and examples:
Duke Nicholas School
Duke Gardens
Eno River Association
Environmental Affairs Board (p. 15-16)
NCSU