1406 Fayetteville St
Durham, NC, USA

National Register of Historic Places - Clydie F. Scarborough House

Statement of Significance:

Constructed in 1916, the Neoclassical Revival style Scarborough house represents the accomplishments of its builder, J.C. Scarborough, and his second wife, Clydie F. Scarborough. Drawn by Durham's reputation as a center for black progress, J.C. Scarborough moved to the city from Kinston, N.C. in 1906 and opened Scarborough and Hargett Funeral Home, Durham's first funeral service for blacks. Until his death in 1972 at the age of ninety-four, Scarborough remained active in his business, which continues today as Durham's preeminent black funeral service, run by Scarborough's children and grand- children. Scarborough was one of the foremost leaders of Durham's black community, serving as a director of Mechanics and Farmers Bank, secretary of Lincoln Hospital, and a trustee of St. Joseph's A.M.E. Church. One of his greatest contributions was the establishment of the Daisy E. Scarborough Home (now Scarborough Nursery School) in the mid 1920s in memory of his first wife. Since her marriage to Scarborough in 1926, Clydie F. Scarborough has devoted her life to the development of the nursery school and to the improvement of day care programs and early education statewide. Mrs. Scarborough and her family have carefully preserved the Scarborough House, the most distinctive reflection of the surrounding neighborhood's prestige throughout the early decades of this century. Constructed largely with materials salvaged from one of Durham's finest Queen Anne houses, the Scarborough House is notable for its interior displaying the city's most ex- tensive collection of "high style" architectural elements from the Victorian period.