{"nrhp_refnum":"00000991","name":"Clark and Sorrell Garage","other_names":["Clark &amp","Sorrell Inc."],"category":"building","location":{"address":"323 Foster St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Durham","county":"Durham County","state":"NC","lat":36.00093676400007,"lon":-78.91286238599997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2000-08-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story brick auto repair garage at 323 Foster Street in downtown Durham, North Carolina, built in 1932 by contractor Jesse Cole, with a ca. 1941 rear addition extending to Roney Street.","why_significant":"The garage is described as the oldest auto repair garage still operating in Durham. It is significant under Criterion A as an expression of the automobile's impact on the Durham streetscape, and under Criterion C as a well-preserved example of the standardized auto repair garage building type. Its design may derive from plans supplied by a national company such as Ford.","narrative":"Clark and Sorrell Garage is a one-story brick building at 323 Foster Street, just north of downtown Durham's center. Built in 1932 by Durham contractor Jesse Cole, it has three bays across the front, a flat tar and gravel roof, a decorative parapet, and steel framing inside. A two-story office section holds the original offices and parts department, and a ca. 1941 addition extends to Roney Street. Leroy Clark, a master mechanic, and Donnie Sorrell, the business manager, founded the firm in 1922 and worked from rented quarters before building here. The garage first specialized in Ford repair and sold Amoco products. It is described as the oldest auto repair garage still operating in Durham, and it retains a high degree of integrity, including a historic sign pole. It was listed for its link to the rise of automobile servicing and as a well-preserved example of the standardized repair garage type of the 1920s and 1930s.","period_of_significance":"1932-1950","architect_builder":"Cole, Jesse (contractor)","architectural_style":"Commercial Style","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still in operation as an auto repair garage; the form says it has continued its original function for about seventy years with almost no changes apart from the rear parts department addition.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:52.616053-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/88/7200/47720088/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/00000991.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/00000991/9b02f63969-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/00000991/9b02f63969-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Maria Miracoli","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Clark_and_Sorrell_Garage_(2).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Maria Miracoli</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Clark_and_Sorrell_Garage_(2).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47720088","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clark_and_Sorrell_Garage","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q19461008"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/durham-county/clark-and-sorrell-garage-00000991/"}