Durham

Durham has a long and rich history of agriculture and farming. An unincorporated town, Durham has historically depended upon an engaged citizenry to guide its growth and ensure a quality environment for its residents. Named for the Durham family, including Robert W. Durham, who was the business manager for forty-niner Samuel Neal, and Robert's nephew W. W. Durham, the town now boasts a population of 2,500. The Durham Land Colony, a state-sponsored experiment in socialism, brought a large influx of residents to the area in 1918, divided large land holdings into small farms, and established the Durham Park. The colony failed, but the farmers stayed, and they and their descendants took on positions of leadership in the evolving community.

Authors Adriana Farley and Jan Holman, residents of Durham since the mid-1960s and graduates of California State University, Chico, are longtime devotees of local history. Both are advocates of autonomous local decision making and have worked successfully to preserve the historic Durham Cemetery and to improve the quality of life in the community by keeping large tracts of land from being turned into subdivisions. The collection of photographs for this book came from numerous local residents and the archives of CSU Chico and Butte County museums.