US/NC/Durham/history

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Historical notes on Durham, NC, eventually to be expanded into a more complete history when there is enough material.

According to an article in the 2005-11-05 Durham News (Real Estate section, "History in the Making" by Nancy E. Oates, Real Estate Editor, p.B-1):

Prior to the turn of the 20th century, Durham's wealthy businessmen lived near their factories and mills, along with the laborers who worked for them. But in the late 1800s, a trend began of business owners building their houses somewhat removed from downtown. William Gaston Vickers, Durham's first superintendant of schools, owned a farm much of which was called Vickers Woods. As development sprung up around his acreage, he developed part of his land by building affordable houses for working class families. The highest land, along what became Vickers Avenue, he saved for larger homes for the upwardly mobile. After the expressway cut through the northeast corner of Morehead Hill, residents worked to have the neighborhood deemed a national historic district.