North Carolina has always been known for farming and plantations, and you’ll learn why at the Duke Homestead. The Duke family became famous for developing the largest tobacco company in the world, the American Tobacco Company. You’ll hear their family history as you walk their fields.
After watching soldiers sample bright leaf tobacco during the Civil War, Duke went into production. Soldiers turned citizens were so fond of his product Duke had to expand out of his homestead and into a factory. By 1874, ten years after their business opened, the Dukes used machines to manufacture and package cigarettes. In 1890 the Dukes, along with other tobacco manufacturers, formed the American Tobacco Company. The Duke family invested a lot of their fortune back into the community, and Trinity College later became known as Duke University.
Today the Duke Homestead takes you back to the 1800s with their “living museum of tobacco history.” You get detailed descriptions of life on a farm, the tobacco cultivation process, tobacco production and the influence this cash crop had on North Carolina.
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Things to know:
Region: North Carolina Heartland
Dates and Prices: The Duke Homestead is open Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free to the public.
Getting there: From the south, take I-85 North to Durham. Exit onto Guess Road. Turn left onto Guess. Turn right on the second street on your right, which is Duke Homestead Road. Go about a 1/2 mile down the road; Duke Homestead is on the right. The north, take I-85 South to Durham. Take the Guess Road exit. Turn right onto Guess Road. Turn right onto the second street on your right, which is Duke Homestead Road.
Related Onsite Offerings: A sales desk, located in the visitor center, has books, T-shirts, and other items related to Duke Homestead and the history of tobacco.
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