Welcome to The City of Durham

Congratulations on your employment with the City of Durham! We are glad you have joined our progressive and innovative team. Please read below to learn about The City’s history, mission and values.

The City of Durham
Durham’s official birthday is April 26, 1853, when the U.S. Post office was established. It was incorporated on April 10, 1869, by the General Assembly. The town was named after Dr. Bartlett Snipes Durham who in the 1840’s offered the N.C. Railroad a four-acre tract of his land to build a station. To recognize his gift, the railroad named the station Durhamville after Dr. Durham. From its official birth date until today, Durham has grown from a small village of less than 100 people into the one of the largest cities in North Carolina. Durham was nicknamed the “Bull City” in the late 1800s when the Blackwell Tobacco Company named its product “Bull” Durham Tobacco.

Durham was known as a banking and tobacco center and although both industries have continued to flourish, the City has also drawn many other industries to our area. Between 1900 and 1925, two famous educational institutions were founded, North Carolina Central University and Duke University. These institutions have established Durham as a city of high academic acclaim. With the birth of the Research Triangle Park (RTP) in the 1950s, Durham began to take on a new look that has evolved this community into a global center for information technology, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and medicine. The City of Durham is famously known as the “City of Medicine,” with healthcare as a major industry including more than 300 medical and health-related companies and medical practices.

Inside City Hall
You are now one of our 2,400 valued employees working in one of the City’s 24 departments serving 245,475 city residents.

Our Values
The City is committed to seven core values which are Integrity, Customer Service, Teamwork, Leadership, Open Communication, Fairness and Our Employees. All employees are expected to model these values and demonstrate them every day. These values help improve services and operations to our citizens and our customers both internal and external.

Our Mission
You will be critical in helping to promote our mission; to provide quality services to make Durham a great place to live, work, and play.

Our Vision
Your goals will be tied into the City’s vision, making Durham a leading city in providing an excellent and sustainable quality of life.

Click on the menu to the right to learn more about making Durham a great place to work, live and play! We are excited to meet you during new employee orientation and working with you during your first year of employment with The City!

Congratulations again on choosing to work for our progressive and innovative city.

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