Paper Manufacturing

Building One, looking southwest, 1950s. Building Two, Warehouse A+B, and Building One, 1901, moving from foreground to background (Courtesy Duke Archives) The history of Blackwell's Durham Tobacco (later American Tobacco) and the Golden Belt Manufacturing Co. are inextricably mingled. In 1887, the Golden Belt Manufacturing Co. originated in a...

A textile factory intimately linked with tobacco production, the Golden Belt Manufacturing Company started in the Old Bull Building at American Tobacco before Julian Carr constructed the large plant on East Main Street to cut and sew bags for loose leaf tobacco. The company later branched into hosiery production and paper products - cartons and packaging for Lucky Strike cigarettes were made here. After outlasting all of of its early textile contemporaries, Golden Belt closed in 1994. In 2008, the property was redeveloped as s a mixture of residences, artists studios, office space, and retail.

Building Two at Golden Belt was the original bag factory - where the sheeting from the Cotton Mill (Building One) was cut and sewn into bags for Bull Durham tobacco. As of 2012, it is a repurposed mixed-use building housing retail, office, and event space.

Building 6, 1950s (Courtesy Herald-Sun) The history of Blackwell's Durham Tobacco (later American Tobacco) and the Golden Belt Manufacturing Co. are inextricably mingled. In 1887, the Golden Belt Manufacturing Co. originated in a portion of the Bull Durham Tobacco Factory (the white building at the northern extent of the American Tobacco complex)...