Historic tobacco?

I sure am glad that Chapel Hill and environs do not have to suffer with a center called historic tobacco, as does Durham. Why do they want to retain that word and why does WUNC feel obliged to repeat it every time they promote something at their studio there? We don't want to forget the history of tobacco in Durham and all the pain and deaths it has caused, but surely we don't have to celebrate it by naming buildings or districts after the death-causing weed, do we?