Durham County
31 places on the trail: 28 highway markers, 3 battlefields and state sites.
People of Durham County in Carolina Quotes
April Parker JonesBorn in DurhamBart D. EhrmanLived in DurhamBree NewsomeBorn in DurhamFred BrooksBorn in DurhamFredric JamesonDied in DurhamFritz LondonDied in DurhamJim ValvanoDied in DurhamJohn HartBorn in DurhamJohn Hope FranklinDied in DurhamMichael MaloneBorn in DurhamMike KrzyzewskiLived in DurhamOrrin H. PilkeyDied in DurhamPauli MurrayLived in DurhamThomas MortonBorn in DurhamWilliam McDougallDied in Durhamadrienne maree brownLived in Durham
Revolution and founding, 1775-1789
- G-41JAMES O'KELLY ca. 1735-1826Founded the Christian Church, after dissenting from Methodist-Episcopal Church, 1792. His grave is 4 miles south.
- G-65MOUNT BETHEL METHODIST CHURCHNon-denominational meeting house built ca. 1784 by Archer Harris. By 1808 Methodist. Home church to Washington Duke.
- G-29STAGVILLEPlantation established by Richard Bennehan in 1776. Later a part of vast holdings of the Cameron family. House is 7 mile...
The young state, 1790-1860
Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861-1877
The New South, 1878-1929
- G-138ALGONQUIN TENNIS CLUBEst. in 1922 by African Americans. Hosted many American Tennis Assoc. tournaments. Durham Committee on Negro Affairs org...
- G-116BLACK WALL STREETIn the early decades of the 1900s, Durham acquired national reputation for entrepreneurship. Businesses owned by African...
- G-85BULL CITY BLUESDuring the 1920s-1940s, Durham was home to African American musicians whose work defined a distinctive regional style. B...
- G-97DUKE UNIVERSITYFormerly Trinity College. Name was changed in 1924 to honor Washington Duke whose son James B. Duke endowed the institut...
- G-113DURHAM COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARYOldest public library in North Carolina supported by local taxpayers. In 1898 opened its doors at site 1/2 mile west.
- G-57JAMES E. SHEPARDNegro educational and religious leader. Founder of a college (1910), now N.C. Central University, its president to 1947....
- G-109JOHN MERRICK 1859-1919Black business leader. In 1898 he founded what is now N.C. Mutual Life Insurance Company. His grave is 85 yds. N.W.
- G-102JOHN SPRUNT HILL 1869-1961Banker and attorney. Leader in credit union movement. Benefactor, UNC Library. Lived here.
- G-101JULIAN S. CARR 1845-1924Industrialist & civic leader. Benefactor of Trinity College. Headed United Confederate Veterans. Grave 1/4 mi. S.
- G-112N.C. SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICSOpened in 1980 as state-supported, residential high school. Campus was site of Watts Hospital (1909-1976), built by Geo....
- G-98N.C. SOCIETY OF ENGINEERSOrganized in 1918 in the Malbourne Hotel, which stood here. J. N. Ambler elected first president.
- G-53NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL UNIVERSITYFounded 1910 by James E. Shepard for Negroes. State liberal arts college, 1925-1969. Now a regional university.
- G-114RURAL CREDIT UNIONLowes Grove credit union, first in South, formed to serve local farmers. Est. Dec. 9, 1915, on initiative of John Sprunt...
- G-50STEPHEN B. WEEKSHistorian, bibliographer, collector of North Carolina books and manuscripts, professor at Trinity College, 1891-93. Grav...
Modern North Carolina, 1930 on
- G-48PAULI MURRAY 1910-1985First African American female Episcopal priest; lawyer, activist, poet, & human rights champion. Wrote Proud Shoes, 1956...
- G-130ROSE BUTLER BROWNE 1897-1986Educator & civil rights activist. Chair, Education Dept., N.C. College for Negroes, 1948-63. Her grave is 100 yds. N.E.
- G-123ROYAL ICE CREAM SIT-INSegregation protest at an ice cream parlor on this site, June 23, 1957, led to court case testing dual racial facilities...
- G-68WILLIAM B. UMSTEADGovernor, 1953-54, U.S. Senator, congressman; Democratic leader; and lawyer. Birthplace is 6 1/2 mi., grave 5 1/2 mi., N...
Battlefields, sites and undated markers
- G-148AR-RAZZAQ ISLAMIC CENTER
- SiteBENNETT PLACE STATE HISTORIC SITECivil War, military history.
- G-141BOOKER T. SPICELY
- G-63DUKE HOMESTEADBirthplace of J. B. and B. N. Duke, tobacco and hydroelectric magnates, philanthropists (Duke University, the Duke Endow...
- SiteDUKE HOMESTEAD STATE HISTORIC SITETobacco history, agriculture, industy, mid-19th century vernacular architecture.
- SiteHISTORIC STAGVILLE STATE HISTORIC SITEAgriculture, 18th century architecture, African American history, slavery, plantation life.
- G-144TERRY SANFORD
- G-32TRADING PATHColonial trading route, dating from 17th century, from Petersburg, Virginia, to Catawba and Waxhaw Indians in Carolina p...