Golden Belt

Until recently an art studio and now opening as a coffee shop, 1004 Morning Glory started life as the Free Will Baptist Church, built sometime before 1919.

943-947 East Main, 05.07.07 943-949 East Main appears to have been built in the mid-1920s, replacing earlier frame stores that stood on the site. The tenants varied significantly over the course of the mid 20th century. 1928 945 Edgemont Mercantile Co. 947 Crown Cafe 949 Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company 1933 943 Edward D. Glenn, Grocer 945 Parker's Drug Store 947 William Bros. Grocers

Building One, looking southwest, 1950s. Building Two, Warehouse A+B, and Building One, 1901, moving from foreground to background (Courtesy Duke Archives) The history of Blackwell's Durham Tobacco (later American Tobacco) and the Golden Belt Manufacturing Co. are inextricably mingled. In 1887, the Golden Belt Manufacturing Co. originated in a...

A textile factory intimately linked with tobacco production, the Golden Belt Manufacturing Company started in the Old Bull Building at American Tobacco before Julian Carr constructed the large plant on East Main Street to cut and sew bags for loose leaf tobacco. The company later branched into hosiery production and paper products - cartons and packaging for Lucky Strike cigarettes were made here. After outlasting all of of its early textile contemporaries, Golden Belt closed in 1994. In 2008, the property was redeveloped as s a mixture of residences, artists studios, office space, and retail.

Building Two at Golden Belt was the original bag factory - where the sheeting from the Cotton Mill (Building One) was cut and sewn into bags for Bull Durham tobacco. As of 2012, it is a repurposed mixed-use building housing retail, office, and event space.

11.13.13 (Photo by Gary Kueber)

Under construction, 1901. (Courtesy Duke Archives) The history of Blackwell's Durham Tobacco (later American Tobacco) and the Golden Belt Manufacturing Co. are inextricably mingled. In 1887, the Golden Belt Manufacturing Co. originated in a portion of the Bull Durham Tobacco Factory (the white building at the northern extent of the American Tobacco...

A dye house built for the Golden Belt Manufacturing company in 1927, Building Five became part of Hillcrest Hosiery Mills in the 1940s before reverting to GBMC. It was restored and renovated by Scientific Properties as office space in 2008-2009.

Building 6, 1950s (Courtesy Herald-Sun) The history of Blackwell's Durham Tobacco (later American Tobacco) and the Golden Belt Manufacturing Co. are inextricably mingled. In 1887, the Golden Belt Manufacturing Co. originated in a portion of the Bull Durham Tobacco Factory (the white building at the northern extent of the American Tobacco complex)...