About Durham County
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About Durham County
There are three points to the well-known Triangle area–Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, with world-renowned Research Triangle located here as well–80 percent of it in Durham. Though Durham is now known as the "City of Medicine" for its wealth of medical offerings, it was originally called "The Bull City" after the "Bull Durham" tobacco brand made famous here in the late 19th century. Today the city offers an eclectic mix of culture and cosmopolitan; its residents are drawn here from around the globe, mainly because the area has completely transformed from the textile and tobacco-based town it was a century or so ago to a flourishing high-tech region with industries such as information technology, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and medicine. Duke University, one of the nation's premier private universities, is located here, along with its highly renowned medical center, and serves as the city's top employer. Durham is also home to an extensive and thriving arts community, along with an abundance of shopping, museums and galleries, plus more than 300 restaurants.
Outside the city limits, Durham County changes its eclectic, metropolitan feel to one that is refreshingly rural. Small towns such as Rougemont, Timberlake and Bahama dot the landscape. The countryside is rolling and, in some parts, almost mountainous, rising as high as 730 feet above sea level in the northern part of the county. Natural points of interest include Falls Lake State Park, a large park with trails, picnicking and water sports; and also Eno River State Park, with its steep, flowering bluffs and fast-moving river waters. The well-known Festival on the Eno is held here every Fourth of July weekend and hosts family-friendly activities, river races and more than 100 bands offering live music. At other times of the year, the Park stays busy with various hands-on activities for visitors, and the Eno River is additionally home to hiking and nature-watching, canoeing and kayaking down the rapids, and discovering historic mills that are nestled into the river's banks.