Durham, NC HyperLocal City Guide featuring Neighborhoods, Zip Codes and Yellow Pages.

Durham was at the center of the nation's tobacco industry after Washington Duke, a Carolina farmer, came home from the Civil War with the idea of producing cigarettes. By 1890, he and his three sons had formed the America Tobacco Company, one of the nation's most powerful businesses.

In 1924, the Duke family's $40 million endowment to the previously small-scale Trinity College enabled it to expand into a world-respected medical research facility and named it Duke University. The Museum of Art has special exhibits with African, pre-Columbian, medieval and Asian collections. The Gothic west campus centers on the soaring cathedral-style chapel which has one of the most powerful Flentrop organs in the world.

Accommodations
Numerous choices are available for fine accommodations in Durham. Some of the options include: La Quinta Inn and Suite; Sheraton Imperial Hotel and Convention Center; Doubletree Guest Suites; and the Marriott at Research Triangle Park.

Restaurants
A variety of cuisines include: Sal's Pizza, Nana's Restaurant, Bean Traders, and George's Garage-known for an excellent buffet. The Magnolia Grill serves traditional southern cuisine, and it is a nationally known landmark, and a favorite with local celebrities.

Shopping
Antique Shops & Collectibles Collectors and scavengers are sure to discover hidden treasures and rare finds at Durham’s many antique and collectibles shops.

Downtown shops thrive in the west end of downtown Durham. Anchored by namesake Brightleaf Square, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, includes turn-of-the-century brick tobacco warehouses with art galleries, jewelers, clothiers, and specialty shops.

The Streets at Southpoint is a super-regional mall including an outdoor cityscape called Main Street having over 1.3 million square feet of retail space, and more than 150 shops and restaurants. The regional mall is recognized as one of the nation’s “10 great places to spend it all in one place.”

Northgate, a regional shopping landmark for more than 45 years has over 160 stores. The Ninth Street Shopping District, is an eclectic shopping district near Duke University's East Campus.

Major Attractions
More than 5.2 million people visit Durham each year to enjoy a wealth of things to see and do. Many of those choices include entertainment events, golf, history, nature places, and sports. Durham is widely acclaimed for festivals and special events as well.

Excellent golf is in the Durham area, and some of those courses include the following. The Crossings Golf Course, designed by Ron Garl; this course measures 6,600 yards from championship tees. The course was ranked by "Carolina Golf" magazine in 1999 as one of the top 10 best new golf courses in the Carolinas. The Washington Duke Inn, designed by Robert Trent Jones and Rees Jones, the course measures 7,111 yards from the championship tees. This course was ranked by "Golf Digest" as the 15th best golf course in North Carolina.

The American Association of Textile Chemists & Colorists is world's largest technical and scientific textile membership society. Practically all dyes, finishes, and textile chemicals produced in the U.S. are checked by the association's test methods. The organization has workshops and symposiums, conferences and exhibits.

At the North Caroline Museum of Life and Science visitors can encounter dinosaurs on a prehistoric trail, view NASA artifacts, and ride a train through a wildlife sanctuary. The three-story Magic Wings Butterfly House has a tropical-butterfly conservatory.

The Sarah P. Duke Gardens provides a place of beauty, education, horticulture, solitude, discovery, study, renewal and inspiration. The Duke Gardens are often referred to as the "Crown Jewel of Duke University." Fifty-five acres in the center of the University's West Campus, and adjacent to Duke University Medical Center, the premier public gardens bring in more than 300,000 visitors from all over the world each year.

The Duke University Chapel was built in the early 1930s; the tower of Duke Chapel soars 210 feet into the sky. Fine ornamentation, stained glass and four beautifully crafted organs, and superior acoustics showcases the Chapel. Each day 50 bells of the chapel's carillon play.

Written by: Karen J. Lee