The R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJR) is an American tobacco manufacturing company based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and headquartered at the RJR Plaza Building. Founded by R. J. Reynolds in 1875, it is the largest tobacco company in the United States. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Reynolds American, after merging with the U.S. operations of British American Tobacco in 2004.
Durham is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County and Wake County. With a population of 283,506 in the 2020 census, Durham is the fourth-most populous city in North Carolina and the 70th-most populous city in the United States. The city is located in the east-central part of the Piedmont region along the Eno River. Durham is the core of the four-county Durham–Chapel Hill metropolitan area, which had an estimated population of 608,879 in 2023. 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.
The American Tobacco Company was a tobacco company founded in 1890 by J. B. Duke through a merger between a number of U.S. tobacco manufacturers including Allen and Ginter, Goodwin & Company, and Kinney Brothers. The company was one of the original 12 members of the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 1896. The American Tobacco Company dominated the industry by acquiring the Lucky Strike Company and over 200 other rival firms. Federal Antitrust action begun in 1907 broke the company into several major companies in 1911.
Washington Duke was an American tobacco industrialist and philanthropist. During the American Civil War he enlisted in the Confederate States Navy. In 1865, Duke founded the W. Duke, Sons & Co., a tobacco manufacturer that would be merged with other companies to form conglomerate American Tobacco Company in 1890.
Liggett Group, formerly known as Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company, is the fourth largest tobacco company in the United States. As of 2014, Liggett Group was the fourth largest American tobacco company by gross revenue, though it was considerably smaller than the top three. Its headquarters are located in Durham, North Carolina, though its manufacturing facility is 30 miles to the west in Mebane, North Carolina. The company is a subsidiary of holding company Vector Group.
Stagville Plantation is located in Durham County, North Carolina. With buildings constructed from the late 18th century to the mid-19th century, Stagville was part of one of the largest plantation complexes in the American South. The entire complex was owned by the Bennehan, Mantack and Cameron families; it comprised roughly 30,000 acres (120 km2) and was home to almost 900 enslaved African Americans in 1860.
Duke Homestead State Historic Site is a state historic site and National Historic Landmark in Durham, North Carolina. The site belongs to the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural resources and commemorates the place where Washington Duke founded the nation's largest early-20th-century tobacco firm, the American Tobacco Company.
The Playmakers Theatre, originally Smith Hall, is a historic academic building on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Built in 1850, it was designated a National Historic Landmark for its architecture, as an important example of Greek Revival architecture by Alexander Jackson Davis. It is now a secondary venue of the performing company, which is principally located at the Paul Green Theatre in the Joan H. Gillings Center for Dramatic Art.
The Reynolds Homestead, also known as Rock Spring Plantation, is a slave plantation turned historical site on Homestead Lane in Critz, Virginia. First developed in 1814 by slaveowner Abram Reynolds, it was the primary home of R. J. Reynolds (1850–1918), founder of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, and the first major marketer of the cigarette. Upon liberation of the plantation in 1863, 88 people were freed from captivity and enslavement. It was later designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977. The homestead is currently an outreach facility of Virginia Tech, serving as a regional cultural center. The house is open for tours.
Linthicum & Linthicum was an architectural firm in North Carolina. It was a partnership of Hill Carter Linthicum (1860–1919) who was a prolific architect, and H. Colvin Linthicum, his son.
The Bright Leaf Historic District is a national historic district located at Durham, Durham County, North Carolina. It encompasses 22 contributing buildings and seven contributing structures in an industrial section of Durham. The majority of the buildings were built from the 1870s to the World War II period, and are massive two- to four-story structures, usually rectangular in form with flat or very shallow gable roofs and of fireproof construction with brick exteriors. Notable buildings include the B. L. Duke Warehouse, the Italianate style W. Duke Sons and Company Cigarette Factory (1884), the Watts and Yuille Warehouses, Liggett and Myers Office Building, Chesterfield Building, Flowers Building (1916), Imperial Tobacco Company Factory (1916), White Warehouse (1926), and five Romanesque Revival style buildings built by The American Tobacco Company trust—Walker Warehouse (1897), Cobb Building (1898), O'Brien Building (1899), Hicks Warehouse (1903) and Toms Warehouse (1903).
Bull Durham Smoking Tobacco, also known as "Genuine Bull Durham Smoking Tobacco", was a brand of loose-leaf tobacco manufactured by W. T. Blackwell and Company in Durham, North Carolina, that originated around the 1850s and remained in production until August 15, 1988. Over the years, the brand often changed ownership yet continued to be one of the most successful tobacco brands. The brand is most commonly associated with its advertising campaigns. William Thomas Blackwell, an original investor and owner of the Blackwell Company, contributed greatly to the success of the product. Blackwell and his company's tactics with the brand paved the way for other corporations to succeed through the acquisition of the Bull Durham trademark. The success of the product is ultimately due to the successful advertising campaigns that made Durham world famous, brought jobs to the city, and made Durham the tobacco capital of the United States.
The American Tobacco Historic District is a historic tobacco factory complex and national historic district located in Durham, Durham County, North Carolina. The district encompasses 14 contributing buildings and three contributing structures built by the American Tobacco Company and its predecessors and successors from 1874 to the 1950s. Located in the district is the separately listed Italianate style W. T. Blackwell and Company building. Other notable contributing resources are the Romanesque Revival style Hill Warehouse (1900), Washington Warehouse (1902–07), the Lucky Strike Building (1901–02), and Reed Warehouse; Noell Building ; Power Plant and Engine House (1929–39); and the Art Moderne style Fowler (1939) Strickland (1946) and Crowe (1953) buildings.
Smith Warehouse is a historic tobacco storage warehouse located at Durham, Durham County, North Carolina. It was built in 1906, and is a two-story Romanesque-style brick structure divided into 12 70-foot-wide units by projecting corbeled firewalls. The building measures 850 feet long and 100 feet wide and features ornamental brickwork. It is an example of "slow burn" masonry and wood factory construction. It was the last of the 12 brick tobacco storage warehouses erected by The American Tobacco Company trust beginning in 1897. The building has been converted for academic and administrative uses.
Watts and Yuille Warehouses, also known as Brightleaf Square, are two historic tobacco storage warehouses located at Durham, Durham County, North Carolina. They are part of the Bright Leaf Historic District. They were built in 1904, and are two identical buildings parallel to each other with a courtyard in between. They are two-story Romanesque-style brick structures, seven bays wide and twenty bays long. Each unit of the warehouses is 75 feet by 118 feet, for a total of 35,400 square feet on each floor. They are an example of "slow burn" masonry and wood factory construction. They were among the 12 brick tobacco storage warehouses erected by The American Tobacco Company trust beginning in 1897. The buildings have been converted to retail and office use.
Venable Tobacco Company Warehouse is a historic tobacco storage warehouse located at Durham, Durham County, North Carolina. It consists of three storage units: Unit 1 and Unit 2 were built in 1905 and Unit 3 in the 1910s. It is a two-story, brick structure and is an example of "slow burn" masonry and wood factory construction. The warehouse is located adjacent to the Venable Tobacco Company Prizery and Receiving Room, which collectively are the only structures that remain of a larger complex.
Venable Tobacco Company Prizery and Receiving Room is a historic tobacco prizery located at Durham, Durham County, North Carolina. The prizery was built about 1930, and is a three-story, brick building. The trapezoidal shaped, one-story, concrete block receiving room was added in 1952. It is an example of "slow burn" masonry and wood factory construction. The prizery is located adjacent to the Venable Tobacco Company Warehouse, which collectively are the only structures that remain of a larger complex.
Wright's Automatic Machinery Company, also known as Wright Machinery Company and Wright's Automatic Tobacco Packing Machine Company, is a historic machine factory located at Durham, North Carolina.
Academy Hill Historic District is a national historic district located at Statesville, Iredell County, North Carolina. It encompasses 40 contributing buildings in a mixed-use neighborhood of Statesville. The district includes notable examples of Late Victorian architecture including primarily brick educational and industrial buildings and one and two-story frame dwellings. They were mainly built between 1885 and 1930. Notable buildings include the former Statesville Male Academy (1874), Statesville Graded School (1892), J. C. Steele & Sons Brick Machinery Plant, Ash Tobacco Factory, O. W. Slane Glass Company, J. C. Steele House (1880s), C. M. Steele House (1901), H. Oscar Steele House, and William E. Webb House.
For the tobacco factory in Southville, Bristol see Tobacco Factory.
