When the Dust Settles: A Photographic Survey of the Former Liggett & Myers Tobacco Factory in Durham, NC, 2006-2008

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Anderson's captions and introductory text are included with the photographs, and are also reproduced here:

For more than a century, the sweet scent of tobacco drifted through the streets of downtown Durham, North Carolina--the one-time world capital of cigarette production. To many, it was the smell of money. The ornate brick factories that sprung up along the main rail line served as impressive castles of industry to multiple generations of North Carolinians who enjoyed the benefits of the booming market.

By the late 1990s, the tobacco industry had gone bust in Durham and the Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company, which occupied a sprawling complex of factories west of downtown, moved its operations up the road to Mebane. In December 2005, D.L. Anderson began photographing inside the vacant warehouses where thousands had once worked. The Liggett & Myers factory complex had been purchased by Blue Devil Partners, a local development firm, with plans to renovate it into mixed-use residential and commercial property-ensuring the future existence of the historic buildings. The following photographs provide a parting glimpse of a once mighty empire as it underwent a massive transformation to a new era of growth for the Bull City.

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