A monument to the past adapted for the future
The warehouses at Brightleaf Square have been home to entrepreneurial ingenuity since their construction. While they originally stored the bright leaf tobacco that built the turn-of-the-century economies of Durham and North Carolina, they are today a center for business, commerce, and community that connects the modern city with its industrial origins.
Built to bolster an industrial empire
Constructed in 1904 by the American Tobacco Company and the distinguished Duke family, the Watts and Yuille Warehouses that today make up Brightleaf Square were innovative even for their time. The building’s stately red-brick masonry, ornate cornices, and decorative chimneys were as much an advertisement for the business and testament to the “Duke’s of Durham" empire as they were a function of its operations and expansion.
Preservation of history
The American Tobacco Company was famously broken up in a wave of antitrust reform in 1911, but the Watts and Yuille Warehouses continued to serve the tobacco industry throughout the 20th century as downtown Durham grew up around them.
Purchased by a development firm in the early 1980s and registered as a national historic landmark, the buildings were revitalized for a new age of industry, opening the iconic spaces to the public and making room for a burgeoning generation of entrepreneurialism while maintaining the historic romanesque revival architecture and post-and-beam interiors.
Readapted for the future
A space that once housed one family’s monopoly has been revitalized to become a place where community, careers, and commerce thrive. Filled with national retailers, local boutiques, and best-in-class dining, the square is also home to a new wave of the Durham economy, featuring office space for academic and medical research and technology firms among its upper floors.
