Five Points East

Now the main plaza of Downtown Durham. At one time stood here in 1897 the first public non-subscription library in North Carolina. The Library moved to East Main in 1921 and its wood frame building was replaced with a flatiron building called the Piedmont Building. This was to be the home of a men's club (think social and high class 'lodge' rather than weights or dancers). By the 40s it was a school. By the 50s it sported a neon Pepsi sign that makes one think of old pictures of Times Square in New York. This gave way to a clock and coke sign by 1960. However the urban renewal committee appraised this flatiron building for demolition in 1964 and on 1965 it mysteriously burned to the ground and was replaced with a public plaza that was the site of a Malcolm X Demonstration on Feb 21, 1969. Some time later it became a parking lot and the most recent plaza is from a recent 2007-2008 renovation