Durham

Durham is where tobacco money built two economies—one white, one Black. Incorporated in 1869 at the dawn of the tobacco boom, Durham became the seat of the Duke family empire. Washington Duke and his sons built W. Duke Sons and Company after the Civil War, and James Duke's partnership with James Bonsack's cigarette-rolling machine created the American Tobacco Company in 1890. For nearly a century, tobacco drove Durham's economy.

But the Dukes did something unusual: they tripled Black employment in their factories, enraging white workers who sometimes protested. The Black wages enabled something unprecedented—Parrish Street, known nationally as 'Black Wall Street.' John Merrick, a barber who cultivated relationships across racial lines, founded North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company in 1898. It became the nation's largest Black-owned business. Mechanics and Farmers Bank opened in 1908 and still operates today. For decades, Parrish Street was a four-block monument to Black economic self-determination.

Tobacco collapsed starting in the 1950s—automation reduced jobs, and health findings devastated demand. But Durham pivoted to knowledge. Research Triangle Park, stretching into southern Durham County, became a hub for biotech, pharma, and tech companies. Duke University's hospital and research facilities anchor a healthcare economy. BioLabs NC in downtown Durham nurtures life science startups.

Historic Parrish Street is now part of downtown revitalization. The city that tobacco built, and that Black entrepreneurs built within, is being rebuilt once more around research and medicine. By 2026, Durham bets that the same entrepreneurial energy that created Black Wall Street can create whatever comes next.