PINHOOK

            Pinhook was a small community in Durham County that, by 1906, was a suburb of the city of Durham. Why the place was called Pinhook is not known, but it went by that name for a number of years before the Civil War.

Some questionable characters kept a resort at Pinhook, and near by was a grog shop. Close by this place was a camping place where wagons stopped on their way to Raleigh (Wake Co.) and other eastern towns before the time of railroads. The campers got water from the Pinhook well and made use of the grove near by where they tied their horses and were protected somewhat by the trees from the weather.

It is said that a man, who later was a citizen of Durham and became quite rich, was a pale, sallow-looking boy at the time Pinhook was experiencing its balmiest days. He carried watermelons out to the old camp ground, piled them up in the fence corners, and sold them to the wagoners who doubtless found them refreshing after their long draughts of fiery corn liquor which they bought from the Pinhook grog shop. In this way, he started a fortune which became quite considerable before his death.

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            Besides being a favorite stopping place for the wagoners, Pinhook was known for miles around. Its fame spread as far as twelve or fifteen miles northwest, as may to this day be learned from the old inhabitants of the country communities and even the students of the University at Chapel Hill had the habit of coming over when they wished to go off on a lark. It was known as a place of brawls and rough-and-tumble fights, drinking, gambling and other forms of amusement, where the natives and visitors met to have a rough, roaring, and to them, glorious time.

[Taken from An Annual Publication of Historical Papers: Published by the Historical Society of Trinity College

, Durham, N. C. 1906]