 This industrialist’s decision to reach over the race barrier is part of what made Durham “the City of the New South.” The Edgemont Neighborhood is just one of many examples of how Durham became one of the more progressive and tolerant locations for African Americans in the country.The city of Durham materialized off a railroad because it was considered "healthy land," starting its journey towards the tobacco center of the South nearly 100 years later.In a nearby newspaper in 1855, John A. McMannen proposed to develop the area near the train stop by advertising land in the new location.