Durham’s Past

The history of The Bull City shapes our present and future.

From the days the living still remember to times long past, Durham has been weaving its legacy. The effects of Durham's past have rippled far and wide, shaping the Bull City we know and love today.

For more than 150 years, Durham has been shaped by changemakers and original thinkers who have created its distinctive sense of place. The Bull City was the site of pivotal events long before it was put on a map and named for Dr. Bartlett Durham in the late 1800, and it hasn't slowed down since.

Before Europeans arrived in the 1700s, two Native American tribes – the Eno and the Occaneechi, related to the Sioux – lived and farmed here. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, Durham has continued to evolve, progress and thrive. The following timeline highlights a few of the people, places and events that have helped make Durham the place it is today. You can always learn more about Durham’s roots by visiting the Museum of Durham History.

1849

Durham Station

The man for whom the city of Durham is named, Bartlett Leonidas Durham (1824-1859) was born to a family who had lived in Orange County for three generations. In the mid-1840s, Durham bought 100 acres near the Hillsborough-Raleigh road, between the tavern communities of Pinhook (near present-day Ninth Street) and Prattsburg (in present-day Edgemont). Durham granted a four-acre easement for a railroad track right-of-way and a depot. The station was located at present day Pettigrew and Corcoran-Blackwell streets.

1860

Antebellum

During the period between the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, large plantations such as Hardscrabble, Cameron, and Leigh were established. By 1860, Stagville Plantation lay at the center of one of the largest plantation holdings in the South. African slaves were brought to labor on these farms and plantations, and slave quarters became the hearth of distinctively Southern cultural traditions involving crafts, social relations, life rituals, music, and dance. There were free African Americans in the area as well, including several who fought in the Revolutionary War.

1865

End of the Civil War

General Lee had surrendered 26,000 troops at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia, but many more Southern troops were still in the field under the command of General Johnston. Purely by chance, James and Nancy Bennett’s house was where Johnston and General Sherman rendezvoused on April 17, 1865. They signed surrender papers for Southern armies in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. It was the largest troop surrender, and effective end, of the American Civil War.

1869

The City of Durham Was Incorporated

As Durham Station’s population increased, the state General Assembly incorporated the City of Durham on April 10, 1869. Then, the city was a part of Orange County – a bill recognizing Durham County was later ratified in 1881.

1869

Hayti Emerges

Preacher Edian Markum bought a piece of land in 1869 at the angle formed by Pettigrew and Fayetteville streets and organized a church and a school. This church became St. Joseph’s AME. This construction seems to have formed the nucleus around which the African-American community of Hayti grew. The photo is of St. Joseph’s first minister and his wife.

1874

Washington Duke Moves Business Into Downtown Durham

After the ceasefire in Durham, Yankee and Rebel troops celebrated together and discovered Brightleaf tobacco – a taste that led to the success of Washington Duke and his family and spawned one of the world's largest corporations (which was later split into American Tobacco, Liggett & Meyers, R. J. Reynolds and P. Lorillard). Washington Duke moved his business into downtown Durham in April of 1874, after their business had grown too big for the family property.

1890

American Tobacco Company Forms

American Tobacco Company was founded in 1890 by J.B. Duke through a merger of several US tobacco manufacturers. The company, at one point, produced more than 90% of all cigarettes in the US and was one of the largest corporations in the world. American Tobacco Company was one of the original 12 members of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

1892

Trinity College Comes to Durham

In 1892, Trinity College moved from Randolph County to Durham. Washington Duke and Julian Carr donated money and land to facilitate the move. Following a $40 million donation by Washington Duke’s son, James Buchanan Duke, Trinity College expanded into Duke University in 1924.

1898

African American Enterprise

After the Civil War, the African-American economy progressed through a combination of vocational training, jobs, land ownership, business ownership, and community leadership. In 1898, John Merrick founded the NC Mutual Life Insurance Company, which was once the largest and longest-running Black-owned life insurance company in the nation. With its founding in 1907, Mechanics & Farmers, now M&F Bank, became one of the nation's strongest Black-owned and -managed banks. So many other businesses joined these two in Durham’s Parrish Street neighborhood that the area became famous across the country as Black Wall Street.

1906

Five Points Drug Company Creates BC Headache Powder

Pharmacists Germain Bernard and Commodore Council created their headache powder in 1906 at the Five Points Drug Company in Durham. The invention continues to relieve people of aches and pains today, a century after it helped position Durham as the "City of Medicine."

1910

The Nation’s First Public Liberal Arts Institution For African Americans

Dr. James E. Shepard, a Durham pharmacist and religious educator, opened the National Religious Training School and Chautauqua for the Colored Race in 1910. The school later became North Carolina Central University. This achievement – establishing a Black school through black initiative – took place when race relations in the South were abysmal.

1913

Durham Bulls Play Ball

Formerly the Durham Tobacconists, the Durham Bulls played their first baseball game on April 24, 1913 at Hanes Field on Trinity College campus. The team later played at El Toro Park, known today as Historic Durham Athletic Park, and went on to become one of the most famous minor league baseball teams of all time.

1926

Carolina Theatre Opens

In the heart of downtown Durham since 1926, the beautiful Beaux-arts Carolina Theatre has become one of its city’s most beloved institutions. After opening as the Durham Auditorium, the venue was renovated three years later and renamed the Carolina Theatre, a movie theater that also presented stage shows and concerts.

1926

Pauli Murray Graduates From Hillside High School

A champion for civil and human rights, Pauli Murray grew up in Durham. She later started a campaign to join the all-white University of North Carolina, led sit-ins and other peaceful protests during the Civil Rights Movement, and became the first African American woman to become an Episcopal priest.

1957

First Sit-In Of The Civil Rights Movement

Six African Americans demanded to be served inside the segregated Royal Ice Cream Parlor in 1957, three years prior to the famed sit-ins at The Woolworth’s in Greensboro. It marked the first peaceful demonstration to end in arrests and led to anti-segregation protests for years to come.

1958

Urban Renewal Dismantles Hayti

The Durham Redevelopment Commission created in 1958 oversaw seven different projects to rebuild areas deemed blighted, build a freeway to connect the newly planned Research Triangle Park to downtown, and more – effectively dismantling the once thriving Hayti community. Urban renewal leaders did not make good on promises to the African American community, failing to provide adequate replacements for lost housing and businesses – leading to protests, unrest, and distrust in the community.

1959

The Research Triangle Park Brings More Innovation

Since its founding in 1959, The Research Triangle Park (RTP), has produced many game-changing innovations. Today, it is the world’s largest university-related research park. A few of the discoveries launched from RTP companies include Astroturf, the barcode, AZT, 3D Ultrasound, LED lighting, and the Periodic Table of Elements.

1960

Martin Luther King Jr. Encourages The South To ‘Fill Up The Jails’

In February 1960, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Junior gave an impassioned speech at the White Rock Baptist Church on one of his many trips to Durham. The speech was the first time King called for Black Durhamites to take direct action, famously encouraging African Americans to “fill up the jails of the South.”

1981

Y’all Means All

Love and liberation have always been a part of Durham’s story. In 1981, about 300 people participated in North Carolina’s first gay and lesbian march, called “Our Day Out,” in Downtown Durham.

1988

Bull Durham Premieres at Carolina Theatre

A cult-favorite romantic comedy sports film, Bull Durham launched the careers of Kevin Costner, Tim Robbins, and Susan Sarandon – and created national attention for the Durham Bulls. It was filmed at the Durham Athletic Park and premiered at the Carolina Theatre. Sports Illustrated has ranked the film as the greatest sports movie of all time.