The History of The Durham Community Center
Durham, is a small rural community located on highway 6 in Lewis County, Missouri. The original town consisted of 12 acres with 2 added to the town before 1900. In 1880, the Methodist Church was built, and is still in use today at the original site directly east of the community center. The Baptists built their first church in 1879, and in 1916, they built a new building south of the old one. In 1984, a new church was built about 1/2 mile west of town. The first school of Durham was called Highland and was located about 1/4 mile south of town. The new Durham grade school was built in 1897, where the present community center now stands. A new 2-story brick school building was built in 1916, at a cost of $10,000, at the same site. On December 7, 1962, the school building was completely destroyed by fire, and at that time, the school board voted to move the Durham students to Ewing rather than build another school at Durham. At a meeting held December 5, 1963, the Community Center of Durham was organized. The original signers requesting incorporation on December 5, 1963, were: Ray Crandall, Russell Johnson, Stanley Killebrew, Wayne Killebrew, and Elmo Smyser. There were 39 charter members at this meeting. The property where the school had stood was auctioned off December 14, 1963, and was purchased by the Community Center Committee for the sum of $2,610.00. Nineteen members of the community donated $1,005.00 of their own money to help pay for the grounds. A yearly fish fry and carnival was started in 1963, and has been held every year since on the third Saturday in June. The building is reserved nearly every weekend during the summer for family reunions, church events, and other activities. To rent the Community Center building, contact Mary Johnson at 573-822-6230.