Originally owned by Washington Duke, it was shifted by from tobacco farming to tobacco processing that eventually becomes the American Tobacco Company in 1890. It became the largest tobacco company in the world, but in 1911, an antitrust suit broke it up.

The farm was bought by the Duke University in 1931. And in 1966, the Duke Homestead was designated a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service. Eventually, it became a North Carolina State Historic Site in 1974 by the North Carolina State Division of Archives and History. Today, the site is converted into a museum where tourist can view. The site features the Tobacco Museum that exhibits about tobacco farming, processing and the history of tobacco.