“A Worthy Place”: Durham, Duke, and the World of the 1920s-1930s

In the 1920s and 1930s, Durham was a manufacturing hub with tobacco and other crops brought in for processing. Locals and newcomers worked at textile mills and tobacco plants, often living in company-owned villages nearby. Duke Power introduced electricity and developed bus and trolley networks, enabling suburban growth. Anti-immigrant sentiment prompted praise for the majority native-born population in Durham, although Italian, French, and Jewish immigrants contributed to the city’s development. Hayti residents had established Black Wall Street, offering a vibrant community for Black inhabitants. Durham’s most affluent citizens, who amassed wealth from tobacco, manufacturing, and power, influenced various aspects of city life.

Panoramic photograph of Parrish Street in Durham, 1926. The top image features the six-story headquarters of the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company, the right panel of this photograph features the Durham County Courthouse (erected in 1916) and the Union Depot, both designed by Milburn and Heister Company, architects.

Panoramic photograph, American Tobacco factory in Durham looking to the East, 1926. The second view shows the factory of the American Tobacco Company, the original home of the W. T. Blackwell & Company enterprise, producer of Bull Durham Smoking Tobacco. This view was shot from the western edge of the factory complex looking eastward over the Washington Building.

Panoramic photograph of the American Tobacco Company and downtown Durham, circa 1925.The third image features the historic W.T. Blackwell and Company Factory on the left, at the horizon in the center panel are the twin steeples of Duke Memorial Church and the Liggett & Myers plant; railyards and commercial buildings sit in the foreground. The right panel features buildings near the intersection of Main and Corcoran streets including the Durham Loan & Trust Building, the Washington Duke Hotel, the United States post office (built in 1904), Wright Corner, and the Geer Building.

Panoramic photograph, view of Erwin Cotton Mills, 1926. The bottom image includes Erwin Cotton Mills, originally established in 1892 by Benjamin N. Duke and his partners. Remaining structures from the Erwin Cotton Mill, are located near Main and Ninth Streets in Durham.