The Office of Management and Budget also includes Durham as a part of the Raleigh–Durham–Cary, NC Combined Statistical Area, commonly known as the Research Triangle, which had an estimated population of 2,368,947 in 2023.

Other notable sites in the city include the Museum of Life and Science, Durham Performing Arts Center, Carolina Theatre, and Duke Homestead and Tobacco Factory.

William Johnston, a local a farmer and shopkeeper, made munitions for the Continental Army, served in the Provincial Congress in 1775, and financially supported Daniel Boone on his westward explorations.

[17][18] Prior to the arrival of the railroad, the area now known as Durham was the eastern part of present-day Orange County and was almost entirely agricultural, with a few businesses catering to travelers (particularly livestock drivers) along the Hillsborough Road.

Steady population growth and an intersection with the road connecting Roxboro and Fayetteville made the area near this site suitable for a US Post Office.

The wood-burning steam locomotives of the time had to stop frequently for wood and water and the new North Carolina Railroad needed a depot between the settled towns of Raleigh and Hillsborough.

The residents of what is now downtown Durham thought their businesses catering to livestock drivers had a better future than "a new-fangled nonsense like a railroad" and refused to sell or lease land for a depot.

[21] In 1849, a North Carolina Railroad depot was established on a four-acre tract of land donated by Dr. Bartlett S. Durham; the station was named after him in recognition of his gift.

[22] Durham Station, as it was known for its first 20 years, was a depot for the occasional passenger or express package until early April 1865, when the Federal Army commanded by Major General William T. Sherman occupied the nearby state capital of Raleigh during the American Civil War.

As both armies passed through Durham, Hillsborough, and surrounding Piedmont communities, they enjoyed the mild flavor of the area's Brightleaf tobacco, which was considered more pleasant to smoke or chew than was available back home after the war.

Washington Duke was a good businessman, but his sons were brilliant and established what amounted to a monopoly of the smoking and chewing tobacco business in the United States by 1900.

These businesses — the best known of which are North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company and Mechanics & Farmers Bank — were centered on Parrish St., which would come to be known as "Black Wall Street".

[27] In 1910, Dr. James E. Shepard founded North Carolina Central University, the nation's first publicly supported liberal arts college for African-Americans.

Spaulding, Louis Austin, Conrad Pearson, and James E. Shepard, has been cited nationally for its role in fighting for black voting rights.

In 1957, Douglas E. Moore, minister of Durham's Asbury Temple Methodist Church, along with other religious and community leaders, pioneered sit-ins throughout North Carolina to protest discrimination at lunch counters that served only whites.

Widely credited as the first sit-in of the civil rights movement in North Carolina, on June 23, 1957, Moore and six others assembled at the church to plan the protest.

[35] Durham's growth began to rekindle during the 1970s and 1980s, with the construction of multiple housing developments in the southern part of the city, nearest Research Triangle Park, and the beginnings of downtown revitalization.

[40] The American Tobacco Historic District, adjacent to both the athletic park and performing arts center, is one such project, having successfully lured a number of restaurants, entertainment venues, and office space geared toward hi-tech entrepreneurs, investors, and startups.

The downtown corridor along West Main St. has seen significant redevelopment including bars, entertainment venues, art studios,[44] and co-working spaces,[45] in addition to shopping and dining in nearby Brightleaf Square, another former tobacco warehouse in the Bright Leaf Historic District.

Other current and future projects include expansion of the open-space surrounding the American Tobacco Trail, new hotels and apartment complexes, a $6.35-million facelift of Durham City Hall, and ongoing redevelopment of the Duke University Central Campus.

Durham receives abundant precipitation, with thunderstorms common in the summer and high temperatures from 80 to 100 degrees F. The region sees an average of 7 inches (180 mm) of snow per year, with any snowfall usually melting within a few days.

People of English descent made up 9.3% of the population of the town, followed by German at 7.7%, Irish at 6.8%, Italian at 3.0%, American at 3.0%, Sub-Saharan African at 2.6%, Polish at 2.0%, Scottish at 1.9%, French at 1.4%, Scotch-Irish at 1.3%, Caribbean (excluding Hispanics) at 0.9%, Dutch at 0.8%, Norwegian at 0.8%, Swedish at 0.8%, Russian at 0.7%, and Welsh at 0.6%.

Other prominent companies based in Durham include Center for Community Self-Help, Liggett Group, North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Bronto Software, Counter Culture Coffee, Burt's Bees, McKinney (advertising agency), Sugar Hill Records, Mechanics and Farmers Bank, Southern Express.

[80] A center of Durham's culture is its Carolina Theatre, which presents concerts, comedy and arts in historic Fletcher Hall and Independent and repertory film in its cinemas.

Popular bands and musicians include Branford Marsalis, Iron & Wine, Carolina Chocolate Drops, The Mountain Goats, John Dee Holeman, 9th Wonder, Red Clay Ramblers, The Old Ceremony, Megafaun, Curtis Eller, Mount Moriah, Hiss Golden Messenger, Sylvan Esso, Mel Melton, Hammer No More the Fingers, Yahzarah, G Yamazawa, and Jim Mills.

The university was founded by James E. Shepard in 1910 as the National Religious Training School and Chautauqua to address the needs of the region's black population, and now grants baccalaureate, master's, professional and doctoral degrees.

The Durham-based Independent Weekly, noted for its progressive/liberal perspective, provides political and entertainment news for the greater Research Triangle; it began publication in 1983.

The State of North Carolina, in cooperation with Amtrak, operates four additional daily Piedmont trains between Raleigh and Charlotte which also stop in Durham.

One downtown railroad underpass has attracted national media coverage because it provided only 11 feet 8 inches of clearance, damaging the roofs of many trucks.

[112] On October 26, 2019, the underpass was temporarily closed to both automotive and train traffic so that the track could be raised to improve the railway grade in that location and increase the clearance underneath to 12 feet 4 inches.