DUKE FACTORY (OLD CIGARETTE FACTORY)

Durham

Businesses:

People:

1884

The Duke Cigarette Factory was built in 1884 to replace the wooden structure that Washington Duke constructed just to the west of the site in 1874.

The original wood frame tobacco factory. Taken from approximately present-day West Chapel Hill Street (west of the railroad tracks) looking north. Washington Duke's original house is on the left.
(From the Durham Historic Inventory)

The replacement building was originaly a 4-story, brick, Italianate structure, with main facades fronting the railroad tracks (south) and facing east.

This somewhat unusual picture shows the brick factory, the old factory, the original Washington Duke House, and Fairview.

By 1893, the original factory and Washington Duke's original house were torn down to expand the factory to the west, transforming the original building into a three sided structure with wings facing west and east.

Looking northeast.

Its styling was somewhat similar to the orginal appearance of the W.T. Blackwell Bull Durham Tobacco building, built in 1874 (the north-most building in the present-day American Tobacco complex.)

The above picture was taken looking northwest from the approximate location of today's Amtrak station. The edge of the Walker warehouse is on the right.
(Courtesy Duke Archives)

This picture is from 1901, looking north. The factory is in bunting for President McKinley's death.
(Courtesy Durham County Library)

This picture is taken from the other side, looking southeast. The photographer is standing on the parcel of land at the northeast corner of Duke and Main Sts. The office building, to the west (right) of the factory in this picture was moved across the street during the 1940s prior to construction of the New Cigarette Factory (big blocky building with black lines).
(Courtesy Duke Archives)

An aerial shot howing the full structure in the 1920s.
(Courtesy Durham County Library)

Taken from the current site of the New Cigarette Factory , looking northeast, with the main factory building to the right. The Chesterfield sign has replaced the "Duke of Durham" sign that once was on the face of the building. Notice that the office building is now located on the north side of Main Street.
(Courtesy Duke Archives)

Old Cigarette Factory, from the top of the Graybar Building
(Courtesy Herald - Sun)

Very soon after the New Cigarette Factory was completed in 1948, the original factory building was 'decapitated'. I'm not really sure why this was done, although I've been told that it was related to costs of fire insurance. You can see in the late 1940s photo below the now two-story building to the east of the new Cigarette Factory.

The building was used for storage until Liggett left Durham several years ago. It is slated to be part of the Blue Devil Ventures/Partners West Village II renovation. Evidently the BDV folks made some effort to try to rebuild the top two floors, but the National Park Service would not let them do so as part of their historic tax credit, and this idea was abandoned.

The factory building, 2006

Looking north.