Durham 2008 Official Visitors Guide - Where Good Things Happen - (Page 4) Where great things happen VISITOR INFORMATION CENTER WELCOME 4 Durham Visitor Information Center Find helpful information on the great things to see and do in Durham by speaking with a friendly information specialist at the Visitor Information Center: 101 East Morgan Street, Downtown Durham (919) 687-0288 or (800) 446-8604 Hours: 8:30 am to 5 pm ET, Monday-Friday, and 10 am to 2 pm ET, Saturday. (After-hours information bins and a computer kiosk are also available evenings and weekends.) DURHAM’S NATIVE AMERICANS HISTORY WAR BETWEEN THE STATES LONG AND COLORFUL www.durham-nc.com Official Durham # website for visitors CVB bsite we orth a Americ and newcomers features searchable event calendar, interactive maps, travel packages, things to see and do, and more. inN 1 Long before the Bull City was named for Dr. Bartlett Durham in the 1800s, the community was making history. Before Europeans arrived, two Native American tribes—the Eno and the Occaneechi, related to the Sioux—lived and farmed here. Durham is thought to be the site of an ancient Native American village named Adshusheer. The Great Indian Trading Path is traced through Durham, and Native Americans helped to mold Durham by establishing settlement sites, transportation routes, and environmentally-friendly patterns of natural resource use. EUROPEANS In 1701, Durham’s beauty was chronicled by the explorer John Lawson, who called the area “the flower of the Carolinas.” During the mid-1700s, Scots, Irish, and English colonists settled on land granted to John Carteret, Earl of Granville, by King Charles I (for whom the Carolinas are named). Early settlers built gristmills, such as West Point, and worked the land. REVOLUTIONARY WAR Prior to the American Revolution, pioneers in what is now Durham were involved in the “War of Regulation.” According to legend, Loyalist militia cut Cornwallis Road through this area in 1771 to quell the rebellion. Later, William Johnston, a local shopkeeper and farmer who forged Revolutionary ammunition, served in the Provincial Capital Congress in 1775, and helped underwrite Daniel Boone’s westward explorations. 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. In 1849, Dr. Bartlett Durham, for whom the city is named, provided land for a railroad station. Interactive Durham Map For a fully interactive Durham map, populated with over 1,000 points of interest and specialized views of RTP, Downtown, and the region, log onto www.officialdurhammap.com. Due to a disagreement between plantation owners and farmers, North Carolina was one of the last states to secede from the Union. Durhamites fought in several North Carolina regiments. Seventeen days after Lee surrendered his army at Appomattox, Union General Sherman and Confederate General Johnston negotiated the largest surrender and the end of the Civil War at Bennett Place in Durham. TOBACCO AND MILLS After the ceasefire in Durham, Union and Confederate troops celebrated together and discovered Brightleaf tobacco—with a taste that led to the ultimate success of Washington Duke and his family and spawned one of the world’s largest corporations (which included American Tobacco, Liggett & Myers, R.J. Reynolds, and P. Lorillard). Tobacco soon inspired other Durham developments. Erwin Mills, the South’s first denim mill, and Durham Hosiery Mills, once the nerve center of the world’s largest hosiery mill complex, were both established in Durham during this time. EDUCATION In 1887, Trinity College moved from Randolph County to Durham. Durhamites 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 was renamed Duke University in 1924. In 1910, Durham Traveler Information Stations: www.durham-nc.com For up-to-date information and current events, tune into: • 650 AM along Interstate 85 • 1220 AM along Interstate 40 DCVB http://www.durham-nc.com http://www.officialdurhammap.com http://www.durham-nc.com
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