Vivian Street

A "wagon road" in the approximate location of later Vivian Street, appears on the Blount Map of Durham's Station c. 1867. Running from the future Blackwell Street across McMannen (now Mangum) to Church Street, it was probably built for freight access to the railroad station.

The 1884 Sanborn Insurance Map of Durham shows the street, still unnamed, but it bore the name "Vivian" by 1893. Detective work in 2011; Charles Williams found that the namesake is almost certainly Vivian Blackwell, the niece of Bull Durham tobacco manufacturer William T. Blackwell for whom Blackwell Street is named. Vivian Blackwell, daughter of George R. and Bessie Blackwell, was born in August 1887.

George R. Blackwell, W.T. Blackwell's brother, was a tobacco buyer in Durham. Vivian Street was incorporated into a driveway for the Performing Arts Center, opened in 2008.

Landmarks
Durham Performing Arts Center