Facilities

History

Prior to the American Revolution, frontiersmen in what is now Durham were involved in the "War of Regulators." According to "Durham County: a history of Durham County, North Carolina" by Jean Bradley Anderson the Royal Governor Tryon marched his troops through a section of southern Durham County and built a road along their route (creating a path between Raleigh and Hillsborough). Some historians identify this road with the current Cornwallis Road. Tryon himself called it the Ramsgate Road, and portions of that original route can still be seen in undisturbed locations like Leigh Farm Park. Though some traditions have identified the road with a later British general, Lord Cornwallis, and the American Revolutionary War, maps of the time show that this portion of Durham County was not included in his march across the region.