Area less than one acre NRHP Reference # 74001346 Opened 1873 Added to NRHP 10 September 1974 | Built 1873 (1873) Designated NHL December 22, 1977 Architectural style Italianate architecture | |
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Part of American Tobacco Company Manufacturing Plant (#00001163) Similar Bennett Place, Old North Carolina Mutual Lif, Durham Bulls Athletic P, Duke Homestead and Toba, American Tobacco Campus | ||
W.T. Blackwell & Co. Tobacco was a tobacco manufacturer in Durham, North Carolina. It was best known as the original producer of Bull Durham Tobacco, the first nationally-marketed brand of tobacco products. The Blackwell tobacco factory in Durham, built in 1874, was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1977. It is included in the American Tobacco Company Manufacturing Plant historic district, and is now occupied by apartments.
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History
During the occupation of Durham by various military forces in the American Civil War, the quality of some of its tobacco was recognized. Former soldiers sought to acquire the tobacco produced by John Ruffin Green, who created the Bull Durham logo. Green in 1868 partnered with William T. Blackwell, who after Green's death formed a partnership with Julian S. Carr to continue producing and marketing the brand. The company experienced rapid growth, due in part to one of the nation's first nationwide advertising campaigns, which made the Bull Durham logo widely recognizable. The Bull Durham brand continued, through ownership changes, until 1988.
Factory
The Blackwell factory, located at the corner of West Pettigrew and Blackwell Streets in Durham, was built in stages between 1874 and 1903. It is a four story brick building, with commercial Italianate style. It has a central courtyard, and was, at 94,000 square feet (8,700 m2), once billed as the world's largest tobacco factory. The Bull Durham brand was manufactured at this facility until 1957, when its manufacture was transferred to a plant in Richmond, Virginia.