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The Commemorative
Quarter for
North Carolina

The Commemorative Quarter for North Carolina





Welcome to Durham ...

The city of Durham is primarily located in Durham County<1> and is the County Seat for Durham County. A portion of Durham extends into Orange County.

The pronunciation of Durham: DERR-um<2>

When the people of Durham refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Durhamite<3>

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Durham has a population of 281,049 people<4> (see below for details).

Durham is 340 feet [104 m] above sea level.<5>.

Time Zone: Durham lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area codes for Durham: (919) and (984)<6>

The community of Durham was established in 1853.

Websites for Durham ...

Official Website: www.ci.durham.nc.us/

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Durham had an population of 281,049 people. This is an increase of 23.09% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 50.27% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Durham had a population of 228,330 people (which is 85.33% of the total population of Durham County). This makes Durham the county's 2nd most populous community.

The population of Durham represents 2.39% of the total population of North Carolina (which has 9,535,483 people), making it the state's 5th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 228,330 people, the population of Durham increased 22.08% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 187,035 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Durham.

Communities Also Named Durham ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 31 communities that are also named Durham - they are located in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana (2), Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey (2), New York, Nova Scotia, Oklahoma, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas (3), Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Durham.

Communities near Durham ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Durham.

  • Cary
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cary
    • Cary lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<7> to the south of Durham.
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 173,587 people
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cary have been provided by the GNIS.<8> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to Google Maps centered on Cary
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cary<9>
  • Apex
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apex
    • Apex lies 18 miles [29 km]<7> to the south of Durham.
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 64,388 people
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Apex have been provided by the GNIS.<8> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to Google Maps centered on Apex
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Apex<9>
  • Chapel Hill
  • Morrisville
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morrisville
    • Morrisville lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<7> to the south of Durham.
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 30,495 people
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Morrisville have been provided by the GNIS.<8> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to Google Maps centered on Morrisville
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Morrisville<9>
  • Carrboro
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carrboro
    • Carrboro lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<7> to the southwest of Durham.
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 21,239 people
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carrboro have been provided by the GNIS.<8> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to Google Maps centered on Carrboro
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Carrboro<9>
  • Butner
  • Hillsborough
  • Creedmoor
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creedmoor
    • Creedmoor lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<7> to the northeast of Durham.
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,615 people
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Creedmoor have been provided by the GNIS.<8> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to Google Maps centered on Creedmoor
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Creedmoor<9>
  • Stem
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stem
    • Stem lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<7> to the northeast of Durham.
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 474 people
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stem have been provided by the GNIS.<8> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to Google Maps centered on Stem
  • The American Village
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The American Village
    • The American Village lies 4 miles [6.4 km]<7> to the west of Durham.
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for The American Village have been provided by the GNIS.<8> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to Google Maps centered on The American Village

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Durham. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Durham.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Durham. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Durham.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Durham. Our list includes 44 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Durham.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Durham ...

Looking for more information about Durham? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Durham, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Durham.

Adding Durham to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Durham in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention that we've found for Durham was the Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).

We also found Durham on a map titled Rand McNally Map of North Carolina (1911).

For more details about the above, see References and Mentions for Durham.

The official website for Durham: www.ci.durham.nc.us/

The official website for Durham County: www.co.durham.nc.us/

The official website for State of North Carolina: https://www.nc.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of North Carolina's counties, including Durham, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>The pronunciation we've provided is our attempt to give a phonetic pronunciation for Durham. While it might not be exactly right, hopefully it will be close. If we have it wrong or there's a better way to pronounce the name, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
<3>A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Durham refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a city's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Durham may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different.
<4>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Durham.
<5>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Durham - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<6>Area code (984) is an overlay for area code (919).
<7>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Durham) to Point B.If you need the driving distance (or directions), we recommend that you use one of the Mapping Services listed on our Map Page for Durham. Since we usually use Google Maps, we've provided the following link for your convenience: Google Map and Driving Directions starting from DurhamOur distance measurements begin at a specific point in Durham. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.9930, Longitude: -78.8991    
<8>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<9>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.




 

 

 

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This page was last modified/updated: 20 Mar 2023