Duke Homestead State Historic Site
Phone: (919) 627-6990
This national historic landmark includes the restored mid-1800s Duke family home, tobacco barns, original factory and farm. It also has a museum to showcase the beginnings of the modern-day tobacco industry, complete with demonstrations of early farming techniques and manufacturing processes, special programs and experts to answer visitor questions. Please call at least two weeks ahead to schedule a school group or a group of 10 or more people.
Details
- Total Meeting Area Square Footage 1,200
- Total Capacity 400
- Meeting Rooms 3
Hours
Monday: Closed
Tuesday: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Wednesday: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Thursday: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Friday: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Saturday: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Sunday: Closed
Tuesday: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Wednesday: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Thursday: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Friday: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Saturday: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Sunday: Closed
Map
Meeting Spaces
Auditorium
- Area: 1,000
| Configuration | Occupancy |
|---|---|
| Reception | 0 |
| Banquet | 0 |
Site Grounds
| Configuration | Occupancy |
|---|---|
| Reception | 400 |
| Banquet | 400 |
Google Rating
-
The Duke homestead has the original house occupied by the Duke family. They also have their first tobacco 'factory.'
We took the guided tour with a school group. The tour takes you through the different processes the tobacco leaves go through to prepare it for sale. The Homestead has the original buildings that were used for these processes using manual labor.
It's a good tour for kids because they would get see and understand firsthand how young kids helped in the tobacco making process a long time ago. Kids had worked 16 hour days according to our guide and had no opportunity for schooling.
The actual house occupied by the Dukes is window to the past and shows how people managed without the comforts we take for granted such as electricity, running water and indoor toilets.
This is a place worth visiting with kids. -
Delightful guided tour around campus and a well done museum.
Good place for a walk or picnic. Bathrooms located on the outside of the main museum building. -
The is a small but very informative place! We started off with the short film about the Duke family, their farm, and their contributions to the area. Then, we went through the museum area, which took around 30 minutes with reading the placards. Unfortunately, the next guided tour was over an hour wait, so we decided to do the free tour. Even with the information from the video, I felt like the guided tour would have made it more informative and detailed than just us and the brochure. I didn't see on their website about the times of the guided tours, but if they are set times, I wish that was clearer. It's our fault for not calling ahead, so I highly recommend finding out about the guided tour times before visiting as I feel this is important. You can do the tour, video, and museum in any order, we just wanted a bit to cool off before heading outside to explore.
I think some people might decide to skip this because the family was tied into tobacco. However, that's an important part of the history of the area, and as you learn from the video and museum, they did more than just tobacco to bring life to Durham. -
My husband and I visited today from Ireland. We thoroughly enjoyed our guided tour with Gerard. The tour was very educational and interesting as he walked and talked us through the museum! Highly recommend! Ticket prices were very reasonable at 4$ for an adult entry!
-
Awesome Durham siteseeing activity. 1-2hours total time to see everything.
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