Most of the area had been the farm of William Gaston Vickers. In the late 1870s and 1880s, he sold hillside parcels overlooking tobacco factories south of downtown to several well-to-do businessmen who built imposing residences along South Duke Street and Morehead Avenue. Eugene Morehead's house, built on the highest of these lots, gave the area its name. Morehead Hill was the most prestigious neighborhood in the city.

Today, housing in Morehead Hill contains single-family homes and multi-family rental properties. Some of the large historic homes have been converted to businesses, apartments and clinics. 

For more information, see our Morehead Hill Neighborhood History section, and visit the Durham City-County Planning Department Historic Preservation web page. 

TIP: There are also several detailed posts about various Morehead Hill sites in the Open Durham blog. Also search the blog using street names for some very interesting reading.

The map below shows the current boundaries of the Morehead Hill Local and National Historic Districts. The Morehead Hill 'neighborhood' incorporates the entirety of both Historic Districts and a number of additional properties, as its boundaries extend somewhat further to the north, west, and south.