The neighborhood went through a transition and in the late 20th century many of the old houses had been divided into apartments and rental properties. Today, Old North Durham is seeing a revival as many young families are restoring these old homes to updated single-family homes with modern conveniences complimenting their historical amenities.

Old North Durham was the site of the 2006 Old Durham Tour.

Many of the early mansions in Morehead Hill were demolished during the later part of the 20th century to make way for large office buildings, and the Durham Freeway cuts across the northeast corner of the neighborhood. South Duke Street and South Vickers Street are busy one-way thoroughfares through the neighborhood. However, residents of Morehead Hill today are working to keep their neighborhood of comfortable family homes a great place to live.

Morehead Hill was named a National Historic District in 1985 and is also a Local Historic District.

Many of the homes were built between the 1920s and the 1940s. Comfortable bungalows and revival styles taken from plans in popular magazines characterize the neighborhood. Some were built from plans and materials sold as a package in Sears mail order catalogs. Durham builder James Whitted is credited with building a number of these homes.

Fayetteville Street has been nominated for the National Register of Historic Places. As the home of the President of North Carolina College (now NC Central University), the Prairie Style James E. Shepard House on Fayetteville Street was a social center and host to many African American cultural and academic leaders. The house is currently undergoing restoration.

Fayetteville Street was featured with Forest Hills on HPSD's 1998 Old Durham Home Tour.

These small but comfortable mill houses contrast with the elegant Queen Anne style mansions built in the neighborhood by the textile company owners. The Neoclassical Revival style E. K. Powe elementary school was built in 1928, and wings were added in 1949 and 1961. Several handsome churches also grace the neighborhood.

Merchants moved to Ninth Street, the commercial heart of West Durham, creating a business district that still thrives today, home to restaurants, bookstores, and boutiques. The Neoclassical Revival bank built in 1922 is now a popular bagel store.

William Erwin was a pioneer in employee relations, and built a park for his workers as early as 1895 and Erwin Auditorium in 1922. The building, now demolished, included game rooms, a library, and even a swimming pool. Although these landmarks are now gone, the old Erwin Mill buildings have been adapted into offices and housing, and new buildings, including a gas station and office buildings, have been designed to fit into the ambience of this thriving neighborhood.

West Durham was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

East Durham grew up around the old Durham Cotton Manufacturing Company, founded by Julian S. Carr. Today, giant, leafy trees act as a canopy over streets where trollies once ran between rows of pyramidal cottages, cozy bungalows, and gable-and-wing houses. Built as private homes, these homes are historically and architecturally distinct from the mill villages to the south and west. The majority of lots in the district were platted and sold by the Durham Land and Security Company, formed in 1886 by banker Eugene Morehead, attorney W.W. Fuller, Robert I. Rogers, owner of the Durham Marble and Brownstone works, and Dr. John L. Watkins, a leaf tobacco dealer. The Kirkland Brothers developed the area from Liberty Street to Holloway Street in the late 1930s.

Carr Methodist Church and the East Durham Baptist Church got their start in connection with the nearby mill. Other local landmarks are the Fidelity Bank Building on South Driver Street, the 1920s-era showplace home built by Dr. George Ross at 2111 E Main Street, and Seagroves Grocery.

HPSD's survey of East Durham was instrumental in this neighborhood being added to the National Register of Historic Places. Over 1600 properties were photographed and during the survey, which was supported by the City of Durham and the Marion Stedman Covington Foundation. The survey's findings were compiled into the East Durham Pattern Book, which includes floor plans and dozens of photos of architectural details of the many popular early 20th century house tyles that are preserved in East Durham.

HPSD plans programs to educate homeowners about the history of the neighborhood and to help facilitate renovation projects. Historic Districts make property owners eligible for state Historic Tax Credits of up to 30% for all acceptable renovation projects that exceed $25,000. HPSD plans to join forces with banks, corporations, and government agencies to develop a multifaceted approach to revitalizing East Durham.

East Durham was named a National Historic District in 2004.

The development of Forest Hills reflects the history of 20th Century America. The neighborhood contains some of the earliest houses in Durham, traces of the farms that once occupied this land. But the Carroll House and the Wells House at the north end of the neighborhood are all that remain of the 19th century. In the early 1920s, the New Hope Realty Company purchased farmland along University Drive to create new homes for the successful professional class arising in the city. To lure people away from prestigious Victorian era neighborhoods closer to downtown, the developers put in a nine-hole golf course, a swimming pool, and a clubhouse.

Construction of suburban villas came to an abrupt halt, however, when New Hope Realty went out of business after the stock market crash of 1929, and the land was auctioned off. Individual buyers still wanted and could afford luxury homes, and hired architects like H. Raymond Weeks, Northup and O'Brient, and George Watts Carr to design homes in popular revival styles. Colonial, Tudor, and English Cottage style homes characterize Forest Hills today, lining gracefully winding streets shaded by huge hardwood trees.

After World War II, the neighborhood saw more change, as University Drive changed from a country road to a busy arterial street. The private club became a city park. The area was still desirable, however, and residential development continued. By the 1970s most of the lots were occupied. Despite the changes, Forest Hills remains a popular family neighborhood.

Forest Hills was featured on HPSD's 2004 Old Durham Tour. and with Fayetteville Street on the 1998 Old Durham Home Tour.

Hope Valley was Durham's first full-fledged country club suburb, developed around an 18-hole golf course in the late 1920s. Traces of the farms that occupied the land in the 19th Century remain around the suburban landscape created by renowned landscape architect Robert Cridland. Hope Valley was developed by Mebane & Sharpe, Inc. to attract the newly successful young professionals that were thriving in Durham's tobacco, textile, and health care industries, as well as faculty from the then new Duke University and rapidly expanding UNC. .

The golf course was designed by Donald Ross to give privacy to golfers and is often flanked by roadways and greenspace. The French Eclectic style clubhouse was designed by Aymar Embury II, well known society architect and designer of structures on the Princeston Campus and in New York City. The Club was "freshened" in the 40's and a major renovation was done by Robert Winston (Judge) Carr's firm in the early 60's. Most recently a Charlotte firm reworked the north and south ends leaving the Carr work essentially untouched.

The early homes in Hope Valley are an eclectic mix of revival styles popular in the 1920s and 1930s: Tudor, English Cottage, Colonial, Norman Provincial, and even Spanish. Winding, narrow roads conforming to the hilly terrain weave their way throughout the neighborhood. Many of the houses in Hope Valley have interesting histories. The Sheperd-Mebane House was built on the Sheperd Farm on Hope Valley Road perhaps as early as the turn of the 19th Century. The Sheperd family sold it in the 1920s to Mebane & Sharpe, Inc., and R. J. Mebane moved it to its present location, where he remodeled and enlarged it with two large wings. The Alyea House was not only built in Tudor style, but with 16th Century building methods, taking three years to complete. Raleigh architect Murray Nelson designed the Norman Provincial style Forbus House (NR) using a variety of dormers, towers, and decorative brick work to create a picturesque facade. The Hubert Teer House is well known for the exact miniature model of it that Mr. Teer built on the grounds as a playhouse for his daughter.

Hope Valley was the site of HPSD's 2002 Old Durham Tour.