Bull City Blues

Bull City Blues is a North Carolina historical marker in Durham County, dedicated 1967.

Fayetteville Street at Simmons Street in Durham

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During the 1920s-1940s, Durham was home to African American musicians whose work defined a distinctive regional style. Blues artists often played in the surrounding Hayti community and downtown tobacco warehouse district. Prominent among these were Blind Boy Fuller (Fulton Allen) (1907-1941) and Blind Gary Davis (1896-1972), whose recordings influenced generations of players.

TodayHistorical map

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David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1847 · Virginia (H. S. Tanner, 1847) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1864 · Middle Virginia and North Carolina (Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library)
1901 · Map of North Carolina (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1927 · N. & S. Carolina. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1950 · Sanborn Fire Insurance Map — Durham, N.C. (1950) (OldInsuranceMaps.net — Sanborn Map Collection)

Map of North Carolina, 1901, covering the location of Bull City Blues, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Map of North Carolina, 1901, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

From one family's 77-marker roster

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The marker isn't at this spotOur pin may be off. If you know where it stands, tell us.I couldn't find the markerWe record what the source recorded. We have not been to look.The sign reads differentlyThat would be an error, and we can pass it to the program.The historical map looks wrongThe period map behind the pin, not the marker itself.Something else

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This marker is part of the North Carolina Highway Historical Marker Program, run by the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources jointly with the N.C. Department of Transportation. Marker texts and locations are the program's own, as the Department publishes them.

More markers nearby

Algonquin Tennis Clubunder 1 mi
North Carolina Central Universityunder 1 mi
Helen G. Edmonds 1911-1995under 1 mi
John Sprunt Hill 1869-1961under 1 mi

On the National Register nearby

Stokesdale Historic District270 ft

Places within about 300 feet of this marker that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A nearby listing is not always the marker's own subject.