The Brodie Duke Warehouse (right) is one of the oldest tobacco buildings in Durham. It was built in 1878 with solid brick walls more than 36 inches thick at the base. It is currently under adaptive renovation by Measurement, Inc. for their test-scoring business.

A tour guide (upper left) explains how the bricks used in different parts of the Brodie Duke Warehouse give architectural historians clues to the history of the building. The friable old bricks were carefully cleaned during the current renovation by blasting them with baking soda and walnut shells. The renovation architects also refinished the original wood floors to add warmth and character to the spaces.

A highlight of the tour was the American Tobacco Campus. The vast courtyard at American Tobacco (right) is lined on the east side by the Washington Buildings. Two buildings erected in 1907 were joined together in 1913 to create this massive complex which runs the length of the courtyard, past the power plant, the Lucky Strike smokestack, and the water tower.

Tour goers follow the yellow and white balloons to the Toms Warehouse (left), part of West Village. New apartments have been created in three buildings in the old Liggett and Myers complex. Built in 1903, Toms and Hicks Warehouses are both fine examples of the decorative brickwork used on so many of Durham's tobacco buildings, and are unique in the band of "mouse-tooth" decoration between their two stories.

The vast complex of buildings at American Tobacco is slated to be redeveloped into apartments, offices, retail stores, and restaurants by the Capital Broadcasting Company. A tent provided welcome shelter on a hot Durham day as tour goers waited for guides to show them around the long deserted factory.

A tour group learns about the 1900 Hill Building (left). This building is another example of the decorative brickwork and stepped chimneys that can be seen on buildings all over downtown Durham.