95 Main Street

The store is on a small, shallow lot on the west side of Main Street and just north of First Church of Christ.

• Record ID: 76
• Address: 95 Main Street
• Current Owner: Otte, Melvin M.
• Name of Building: Morse & Otte Market
• Historic Name: L.W. Leach and Son Store
• Download PDF of Original Record

Notable Features

Full windows are generally 6/6 sash.
Outside chimney on south side.

Historical or Architectural Importance

This 2 1/2 story, gable-to-street, rectangular commercial building on the west side of Main Street was built in the 1850 ‘ s. It has a post-and-beam frame, asbestos siding, and
a sandstone foundation. The modern store front crosses the first story of the east facade. The south side has a full-length, single story, hip-roofed addition.
In 1842 Denis Camp conveyed this lot to Leverett W. Leach, a prominent Durham merchant. An 1854 deed does not yet refer to any buildings on the site, but the 1859 Business
Directory (v. Century, p. 43) shows the “L.W. Leach and Son” store. The store remained in the Leach family until the last decades of the nineteenth century. In 1897, the store
was bought by Frederick L. and Jesse B. Atwell. In the twentieth century, it has been owned and operated by the Otte family and is today the “Morse and Otte Self-Service Market.” This building has always been a commercial structure. It represents the mercantile
aspects of nineteenth-century Durham.