Duke In Durham

Whether you know of Durham as the “City of Medicine” or the “Bull City” it’s easy to see why so many residents and businesses call Durham home.

Located halfway between the Great Smoky Mountains and the beaches of the Atlantic, Durham is a community that is home to over 300 restaurants, more than 40 annual festivals, Duke and North Carolina Central universities, Durham Bulls Triple-A baseball, art and science museums, and world-class medical facilities just to name a few. With more than 5.2 million visitors annually, Durham is the top destination of arrivals at RDU International Airport.

Durham was nicknamed the “Bull City” in the late 1800s when the Blackwell Tobacco Company named its product “Bull” Durham Tobacco. By the time James B. Duke of the American Tobacco Company purchased the Blackwell Tobacco Company in 1898, Bull Durham was the most famous trademark in the world.

The “Bull City” prospered as a manufacturing hub for the tobacco industry and textiles for many decades, but has since transformed itself into a place where shopping thrives and high-tech industry flourishes with upscale housing in the same classic buildings where tobacco giants American Tobacco and Liggett-Meyers once made this City their industrial home.

Research, Innovation and Technology

The cities of Durham, Chapel Hill and Raleigh, known as the Triangle, are a nucleus for many start ups and a vibrant hub for innovation and technology. Groups like InnovateCarolina, the Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) and events like Triangle Entrepreneurship Week and the Duke Start-Up Challenge provide resources and opportunities business ideas. Located between these three is the Research Triangle Park (RTP) is one of the most prominent high-tech research and development centers in the U.S. housing operations such as GlaxoSmithKline, IBM, Cisco and SAS. RTP currently employs more than 60,000 employees and more than 300 companies.