View source for Duke Homestead and Tobacco Factory

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name                 = Duke Homestead and Tobacco Factory
| nrhp_type            = nhl
| image                = DukeHomestead.jpg
| caption              = Tobacco Barns at Duke Homestead
| nearest_city         = [[Durham, North Carolina]]
| coordinates          = {{coord|36|2|6|N|78|55|16|W|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin             = North Carolina#USA
| built                = 1852
| architecture         =
| added                = November 13, 1966
| designated_nrhp_type = November 13, 1966<ref name="nhl">{{cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=429&ResourceType=Building|title=National Historic Landmark summary|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=2009-10-15|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090620030002/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=429&ResourceType=Building|archive-date=2009-06-20}}</ref>
| area                 = {{convert|43.8|acre}}
| refnum               = 66000590<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2009a}}</ref>
}}

'''Duke Homestead State Historic Site''' is a state historic site and [[National Historic Landmark]] in [[Durham, North Carolina|Durham]], [[North Carolina]].<ref name=nhl/>  The site belongs to the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural resources and commemorates the place where [[Washington Duke]] founded the nation's largest early-20th-century tobacco firm, the [[American Tobacco Company]].

==History==
[[File:Duke Homestead - Durham, NC.jpg|thumb|left|Duke Homestead - Durham, NC]]
The Duke Homestead was built about 1852 by [[Washington Duke]], on a farm that was about {{convert|300|acre|ha}} in size when the [[American Civil War]] broke out.  During the war, the property was, like many others, looted by [[Union Army]].  With little left beyond a small supply of tobacco, the family shifted from tobacco farming to tobacco processing, introducing [[cigarette]]s in 1881 to compete with loose-leaf tobacco.

This property is where the Dukes did their early tobacco processing, eventually moving into downtown Durham in 1874.  The Duke business was incorporated as the [[American Tobacco Company]] in 1890, and was the largest tobacco company in the world until an antitrust suit broke it up in 1911.

In 1931, the farm was purchased by [[Duke University]], and in 1966, the Duke Homestead was designated a [[National Historic Landmark]] by the [[National Park Service]]. It became a North Carolina State Historic Site in 1974, administered by the North Carolina State Division of Archives and History.

==Description==
[[File:Duke Homestead and Tobacco Museum Tobacco Packhouse, Durham, NC.jpg|thumb|Duke Homestead tobacco pack house]]
The property now consists of more than {{convert|40|acre|ha}} of the original Duke lands, on which stand the original Duke Homestead and several barn-like "factory" structures in which the Dukes cured, processed, and packed their tobacco.  The very first building in which they worked, a log barn, was destroyed by fire, and was reconstructed in 1931.

==Museum==
Today, the site is a museum where tourists can view the restored 1852 Duke Homestead with four furnished rooms, tobacco barns and various [[Artifact (archaeology)|artifacts]]. The visitor center features the Tobacco Museum, with exhibits about tobacco farming, processing and the history of tobacco.  Various readings and presentations are available in the Visitor Center.

==See also==
*[[List of National Historic Landmarks in North Carolina]]
*[[National Register of Historic Places listings in Durham County, North Carolina]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060712030755/http://www.ibiblio.org/dukehome/ Duke Homestead and Tobacco Museum]
* [http://www.nchistoricsites.org/duke/duke.htm Duke Homestead] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090321001802/http://www.nchistoricsites.org/duke/duke.htm |date=2009-03-21 }} - North Carolina State Historic Sites

{{Historic_Sites_of_North_Carolina}}
{{National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina}}
{{American Tobacco Company}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:Museums in Durham, North Carolina]]
[[Category:Historic house museums in North Carolina]]
[[Category:American Tobacco Company|D]]
[[Category:Open-air museums in North Carolina]]
[[Category:National Historic Landmarks in North Carolina]]
[[Category:Houses completed in 1852]]
[[Category:Duke family residences]]
[[Category:History of Durham, North Carolina]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Durham, North Carolina]]
[[Category:University museums in North Carolina]]
[[Category:Agriculture museums in the United States]]
[[Category:North Carolina State Historic Sites]]
[[Category:Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina]]
[[Category:Tobacco buildings in the United States]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Durham County, North Carolina]]
[[Category:Houses in Durham, North Carolina]]
[[Category:1852 establishments in North Carolina]]
[[Category:Barns in North Carolina]]