Marker 1: (Coat & Hat) Corner of Parrish and Corcoran streets

Visionary Leadership in the New South
Building upon positive race relations, black leaders John Merrick, J. A. Dodson, R.B. Fitzgerald, J.R. Hawkins, A.M. Moore, W.G. Pearson, J. E. Shepard, C.C. Spaulding, G.W. Stephens, and S.L. Warren created successful business, educational and cultural institutions in Durham.

Marker 2: (Penny) In front of M&F Bank

A Black Capital for the World to See
The North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company, Mechanics and Farmers Bank, the Mutual Building and Loan Association and North Carolina College were model financial and educational institutions devoted to entrepreneurship and self-help in Durham.

Marker 3: (Bell) On Orange Street

A Legacy of Community and Institutional Connections
White Rock Baptist Church, St. Joseph A.M. E. Church, Stanford L. Warren Library, Lincoln Hospital, John Avery Boys and Girls Club, North Carolina College, Durham Public Schools are all connected historically to black businesses on Parrish Street as beneficiaries of leadership, vision, and means.

Marker 4: (Chain) In front of small Park at W. Parrish
and Mangum streets

Financial and Professional Impact in Durham
John Merrick's admonition, "Let us think more of our employment" guided the development of Parrish Street as the center city address of many ambitious bankers, doctors, lawyers, and accountants whose investments in a growing African American community made it possible for barbers and beauticians, pharmacists, nurses, architects, educators and artists to thrive in Durham.

Marker 5: (Tobacco Leaf) E. Parrish St. In front
of church parking lot

Tobacco and E.J. Parrish
Named for tobacco tycoon E.J. Parrish and his father, Parrish Street was the site of his expansive 1879 warehouse. Early tobacco entrepreneurs Parrish, James B. Duke, Julian Carr, John Green, and W.T. Blackwell transformed Durham’s business landscape.

Marker 6: (Bronze Arcs) On the NE corner of E. Parrish and Church streets

Empowering and Diverse Opportunities
Through strategic leadership and funding, Black entrepreneurs on Parrish Street were active participants in the founding of the Durham Business and Professional Chain, the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People, Black newspapers in Durham and in the election of African Americans to the Durham County Commissioners, Durham City Council, and Durham School Board.