Durham, NC Museums, History & Culture

History and culture run deep in Durham, NC, where visitors can view historic sites such as Civil War battlegrounds, modern works of art at the Nasher Museum and see nationally-acclaimed, off-Broadway shows and superstar acts at the Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC).  Here are a few of our favorites of all there is to see and do in Durham, NC.

• The Nasher Museum of Art holds a fantastic collection of art, with nearly 13,000 pieces within the museum and its grounds.  You can spend a day or just an hour, plus lunch at the Cafe is a must for upscale, locally-sourced cuisine!
• Visit the site where the Civil War was ended and emancipation began; the historic Bennett Place is just a few miles from the Inn.
• Take a trip to Durham’s past and visit Historic Stagville, the center of one of the largest plantations in antebellum North Carolina.
• To enjoy off-Broadway performances and superstar concerts, visit the Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC) in the American Tobacco District.

The original Lipscomb Manor House (Arrowhead Inn Manor House), built in 1775, was surrounded by a 2,000 acre plantation extending from the Eno River to the Little River. Catawba & Waxhaw Indians traveled the old colonial trading path from Petersburg, VA to Hillsborough, NC, the colonial capital of North Carolina. An Arrowhead monument erected in 1931 sits at the property entrance and marks the intersection of the Old Trading Path. The ten- foot stone monument contains a tablet of an Indian chief’s portrait and the words, “Here Passed The Trading Path 1700”.