
Please add profiles of those who were born, lived or died in the city of Durham, North Carolina.
Durham is the county seat of Durham County in the Piedmont Region on the Eno River.
Official Website
A railway depot was established on land donated by Bartlett S. Durham in 1849, the namesake of the city. Following the American Civil War, the community of Durham Station expanded rapidly, in part due to the tobacco industry. The town was incorporated by act of the North Carolina General Assembly, on April 1869. The establishment of Durham County was ratified by the General Assembly 12 years later, in 1881. It became known as the founding place and headquarters of the American Tobacco Company. Textile and electric power industries also played an important role. While these industries have declined, Durham underwent revitalization and population growth to become an educational, medical, and research centre.
Durham is home to several recognized institutions of higher education, most notably Duke University. It is also a national leader in health-related activities, which are focused on the Duke University Hospital and many private companies. The university and its Duke University Health System are the largest employers in the city. North Carolina Central University, part of the University of North Carolina system, is also situated in Durham. It is one of the vertices of the Research Triangle area; central to this is the Research Triangle Park south of Durham, which encompasses an area of 11 square miles and is devoted to research facilities.
On the Duke University campus are the neo-Gothic Duke Chapel and the Nasher Museum of Art. Other notable sites in the city include the Museum of Life and Science, Durham Performing Arts Center, Carolina Theatre, and Duke Homestead and Tobacco Factory. Bennett Place commemorates the location where Joseph E. Johnston surrendered to William T. Sherman in the American Civil War. The city is served, along with Raleigh, by Raleigh–Durham International Airport.
Cemeteries
Links
Bennett Place (Largest surrender of the Civil War)
Vietnam Veterans Living Memorial