Durham, North Carolina

 city, county seat

Durham, North Carolina: The City of Medicine

City with an estimated population of 217,847 in 2007. County seat of Durham County. Development began in 1853 when Bartlett Durham, a local physician, donated land on which to build a fueling depot on the railroad between Raleigh and Hillsborough. Durham Station was chartered as a city in 1869. Became a major source of tobacco after veterans of the Civil War who served in North Carolina popularized the local brightleaf tobacco nation-wide. Demand fueled the growth of the Bull Durham Tobacco Company, which in turn caused the town to grow hugely in the first decades of the 20th century. The city suffered from the regional collapse of the textile industry and the shrinking national demand for cigarettes in the second half of the 20th century.

The site of Duke University, the premiere university in the South, and North Carolina Central University. Co-founder of the Research Triangle Park.

Website: www.durhamnc.gov/

== Get Around ==

GoTriangle (trip planner): www.gotriangle.org
Interactive Maps: gisweb2.ci.durham.nc.us/sdx/imap_launch.html

== Photos ==

Wikimedia Commons: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Durham%2C_North_Car...
Photos @ TrekEarth: www.trekearth.com/gallery/North_America/United_States/S...
Photos by bunchofpants @ Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/bunchofpants/sets/374332/