Durham's Monikers
Durham, North Carolina, USA—the Bull City; the City of Medicine, USA; and a County with MERIT. Where did those monikers come from, and what does each one mean?
“BULL CITY”
For more than a hundred years Durham has affectionately been known as the "Bull City." Ironically, the origin of this Durham nickname has nothing to do with local cattle!
Early Durham tobacco entrepreneur John R. Green, needing a gimmick to distinguish his smoking tobacco from the competition, branded his product “Bull” Durham Tobacco after the British Colman’s Mustard, which used a breed of bull on its logo known as a “Durham” and was produced in Durham, England. The marketing tactic proved to be a success, and Green’s tobacco empire evolved to become Blackwell Tobacco Company.
Bull Durham tobacco became one of the most recognized brands ever, and the word and image of “Bull” became synonymous with Durham, N.C. Eventually the bull became the symbol for the entire city. Research indicates that “Bull City” is effective for marketing to leisure visitors.
“CITY OF MEDICINE, USA”
The 1910 invention and introduction of BC Powder in Durham may have been the city’s first step toward its “City of Medicine, USA” designation. This designation is built on Durham’s outstanding hospitals and major national and multinational health care companies; it is also built on the city’s cutting-edge research companies, specialty clinics, nationally recognized medical teaching facilities, and acclaimed centers for weight management.
Durham has become synonymous with medicine. Nearly one in four people in Durham works in a health-related field, making medicine the city’s leading employment sector. The City of Medicine has more than 300 medical and health-related companies and medical practices, with a combined payroll that exceeds $1.5 billion annually.
“A COUNTY WITH MERIT”
“A County with MERIT” (Medicine, Education, Research, Industry, and Technology) reflects Durham’s professional workforce, its related meetings and conventions, and overall creativity. Durham is home to two major universities, one of the state's top community colleges, the state's first high school for science and math, a benchmark public school system, six hospitals, three major centers for weight management, Research Triangle Park, and many more “creative class” businesses and organizations.
In a Center of Creativity Scorecard compiled by economists at Carnegie Mellon University, Durham ranked 1st among 274 similar-sized counties nationwide on the Creativity Index. Over the years, Durham has spawned some pretty remarkable ideas. From bar code scanners and childproof caps to Astroturf and the “Ctrl-Alt-Delete” computer command, inventions and discoveries by Durham professionals have led the way.
In 1959, Durham took the lead in helping to carve Southeast Durham pinelands into Research Triangle Park, a special Durham county tax district and the namesake for an entire region. Durham-based Research Triangle Park is the most renowned park of its kind in the world. Encompassed by the City of Durham, more than a thousand hotel rooms and scores of restaurants, RTP is now surrounded by a variety of other Durham business parks in the fields of pharmaceuticals, microelectronics, semiconductors, biotechnology, textiles, instrumentation, telecommunications, medical devices, and many others.
THREE NICKNAMES, ONE PLACE: DURHAM, NC
Any way you say it, Durham is a dynamic community that always has been at the heart of American innovation and achievement. That tradition continues as artists, historians, high-tech engineers, doctors, restaurateurs, horticulturists, economists, business people, and a legion of other community leaders continue to evolve and nurture this genuine, textured, and authentic community.
Last updated 7/11/05
