In 2011, Voices of the Past published a video interview with Gary Kueber, creator of Endangered Durham, about using digital media to document historic places, neighborhood change, and the built environment at a hyperlocal scale.

The original Voices of the Past post no longer survives in the current WordPress archive. The video master did. This page reconstructs the missing archival record around that surviving media rather than presenting newly written material as the original 2011 post.

Why this interview still matters

Endangered Durham represented an emerging kind of public heritage practice: one person using the web to document buildings, trace change over time, connect local knowledge to place, and make preservation questions visible outside traditional institutional channels.

The technologies have changed, but the underlying questions have not: Who documents what is changing? How does local knowledge enter the public record? What happens when digital platforms themselves become part of the infrastructure through which communities remember places?

Topics covered

Origins and Mission: Gary began the project after moving to Durham and struggling to understand the city’s architectural history and its evolution. Feeling that local preservation efforts were not sufficiently advocating against demolition or emphasizing the value of architectural heritage, the creator launched the blog to document what has been lost and to educate the public about the remaining 15% to 20% of historic buildings.

Documentation and Methodology: The project utilizes a systematic approach, often organized by neighborhood, to record institutional, commercial, and residential architecture.

Gary emphasizes the use of maps, including old maps and historical aerial photography, to help orient the public to the context of buildings that no longer exist.

Every post is georeferenced with coordinates and links to maps, allowing users to visualize the geographic relationship between different historic sites.

Future Goals and Community Engagement: Gary aims to evolve the blog into a more user-contributed platform where individuals can share their personal stories and history related to specific houses or locations.

Advice for Others: For those interested in starting a similar project, the creator offers the following guidance:

Possess a genuine passion for the subject, as the work is demanding.

Do not be afraid of making mistakes, as readers often contribute valuable corrections, making the blog a collaborative and evolving project rather than a static one.

A contemporary INDY Week profile of Kueber shows how the project was already functioning as both preservation advocacy and a public record of neighborhood change by 2008.