It is named in honor of tobacco magnate and philanthropist Washington Duke and his sons, who were instrumental in the building of the church.

Blackwell & Co. as well as thriving cotton firms like that of Julian Carr were bringing throngs of new workers to the edges of the city.

Washington Duke was at our house one day and he said…“We’ve got to build another Church.” The factory was just beginning to go and people were moving in here.

Durham at this point was an economic boom-town, with the potential to become a rowdy and unorganized industrial city like many others in the American south and west.

Sam Jones, a famous evangelist of the day, publicly converted Durham tobacco magnate William T. Blackwell at one such revival.

And, although the vast majority of the community remained Protestant, the first Roman Catholic congregation in Durham was established in 1887.

Amos Gregson was appointed pastor of the West End Church and its companion in the east side of town.

The West End Church did not yet have a building, but on May 2, 1886 Gregson conducted the first services at Washington Duke, Sons & Co Tobacco Factory.

The building, measuring 40 × 70 feet and made of red brick, was located on the southeast corner of Main and Gregson Streets.

On April 24 of the following year the Main Street Methodist Church was dedicated with Bishop Charles B. Calloway present for the service.

The church directory from 1889 reports that in that year alone 138 members were added, 29 by certificate of transfer from other congregations and 109 by making first-time professions of faith.

Trinity College, formerly located in Randolph County, North Carolina, was brought to Durham largely thanks to Washington Duke and Julian Carr.

Dr. W. I. Cranford, a very well-liked professor of psychology and philosophy, drew many students and church members to his Sunday school class.

J.P Breedlove, the Trinity College librarian, helped select and purchase books of all kinds with funds from sympathetic members.

It soon became clear that the Main Street Church building, after only twenty years of service, was no longer able to accommodate its growing congregation.

The overwhelming presence of university faculty is one example of the church's importance among Durham's more educated and wealthier residents.

[20] In 1926, the opening of Duke's School of Religion would be celebrated with a formal convocation service at the church.

Duke offered to liquidate the remaining $19,000 of debt if the church members would raise enough to pay the $7,000 in interest and the cost of completing the basement.

If I ever amount to anything in this world, I owe it to my daddy and the Methodist church.”[26] Washington Duke took his personal faith seriously, and it motivated much of his philanthropy.

That giving to the support of the gospel has been a part of his life…He has ever tried to carry the religion idea all the way through.” [27] Washington Duke carried the religion idea through in eminently practical ways, generously giving to churches and institutions of education.

[8] Outside of the church, Washington Duke made the single largest gift of money to education by one man in North Carolina up to that point with his $500,000 donation to Trinity College.

[27] As Durham became a modern city, men like Washington Duke hoped to build a better community by means of religious activity and education.

[26] He memorably advised the same group of black workers, “Only by living a God-fearing, honest, sober, and industrious life can you be happy.”[27] Washington Duke's sons carried on his legacy in many ways.

They frequently gave money for the most routine repairs to church buildings, but also to help establish new congregations.

[29] The Memorial Church Messenger from September 1915 reports: Mr. J.B. Duke has recently added another to his many gifts, and this time it is to North Carolina Methodism.

It is an annual donation in three parts; the first is fifteen thousand dollars to Church Extension, to aid in building churches at weak points; the second is ten thousand dollars for Home Missions, to help on the salaries of men at weak places; the third is ten thousand for the old preachers who have served their day in the ranks and are not more able to work…Many benefited by these donations will have good reason to thank Mr. Duke.

The Duke Endowment continues to support Methodist churches in North Carolina and their clergy as well as a number of institutions of higher education.

[29] Their older brother Brodie L. Duke made significant donations of land to both Main Street Church and for a parsonage for the presiding elder of Durham's district.

The exterior is made of white pressed brick with granite trimming, contrary to the original plans for a gothic structure of stone.

A shop in East Durham reworked the bells and a firm in Cincinnati overhauled the playing mechanism.