Digital Mapping Project

In April 2019, Durham, North Carolina, celebrated its 150-year anniversary as a city. Durham is a very unique city in the South that showcases an interesting intersection of black and white economic and political interests. This rich history is showcased in the Digital Mapping Project, which was made possible through the collaboration of GoDurham, GoTriangle, and the Department of History at North Carolina Central University.

The objective of the project was to produce audio recordings of important historical land markers and sites so that they could be played on GoDurham Transit Routes 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6B. Since the GoDurham buses have GPS sensors, the audio recordings are triggered when passing the site that corresponds with its recording. Malcolm Tillerson and Mattison Bond, both North Carolina Central University graduate students, researched and composed scripts of the historical land markers and sites in Durham. Upon completion, Mr. Tillerson, Ms. Bond, and Dr. Jim C. Harper II (Department Chair of History at North Carolina Central University) went to the GoDurham transit headquarters to record narratives about selected sites in the city.

The “Bull City” has reacted extremely well to this project. The recordings play Thursday through Saturday on the routes previously mentioned for buses that leave Durham Station at 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., and 3:30 p.m. The recordings are also available on the "Explore Durham Historic Tours" page hosted by the Triangle transit system. This collaborative project between the GoDurham transit system and the Department of History at North Carolina Central University signifies a huge milestone for the legacy of public history in Durham.