Wake County
88 places on the trail: 86 highway markers, 2 battlefields and state sites.
People of Wake County in Carolina Quotes
Andrew JohnsonBorn in RaleighAnna J. CooperBorn in RaleighClara Leach Adams-EnderBorn in Willow SpringClay AikenBorn in RaleighJacob TobiaBorn in RaleighJesse HelmsDied in RaleighJonathan W. DanielsBorn in RaleighJosephus DanielsDied in RaleighL. Lin WoodBorn in RaleighMark PilgrimLived in ApexMary Robinette KowalBorn in RaleighPhillip GriffithsBorn in RaleighThomas Dixon Jr.Died in RaleighTom ReganDied in RaleighWilliam Woods HoldenDied in Raleigh
Colonial North Carolina, 1585-1774
Revolution and founding, 1775-1789
The young state, 1790-1860
- H-54'ELMWOOD'Home of chief justices John L. Taylor & Thos. Ruffin; of Wm. Gaston, Romulus M. Saunders, & Samuel A. Ashe. Built about ...
- H-11ANDREW JOHNSON 1808-1875The small kitchen in which the seventeenth President of the United States was born stands 64 yards west.
- H-6ANDREW JOHNSON 1808-1875President of the United States, 1865-69. Born near here in a kitchen now located 1 mile N.E.
- H-7DOROTHEA DIX HOSPITALAuthorized 1849, largely through work of Dorothea L. Dix, crusader for better care of the mentally ill. 500 yards southw...
- H-22EXPERIMENTAL RAILROADEst. 1833. Horses hauled granite for the Capitol over a railroad from a quarry 1 1/4 miles S.E.
- H-45FIRST N.C. STATE FAIRSponsored by the State Agricultural Society, it opened 2 blocks South, October 18, 1853. Moved to new location in 1873.
- H-100FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHOrganized 1816. Site of Constitutional Convention of 1835. State Supreme Court met here, 1831-40, after Capitol fire. Th...
- H-99GALES FAMILYJoseph, Raleigh Register founder, 1799; his wife Winifred, early novelist; sons Joseph and Weston, editors, lived 2 blks...
- H-8GOVERNOR'S PALACECompleted 1816. Vance was the last governor to reside there, 1862-5. Stood 50 yards south.
- H-13JOHN CHAVIS ca. 1762-1838African American teacher, preacher, & Revolutionary War veteran. Taught free black & prominent white students in school ...
- H-55JOHN L. TAYLOR 1769-1829First Chief Justice of N.C. Supreme Court, 1819-1829; author of numerous legal works. Grave is 1/2 mi. E. Home is 1 mi. ...
- H-71JOHN S. RAVENSCROFTFirst Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese of N.C., 1823-1830. Active in the revival of the Church. Interred in church 50 yds...
- H-52L. O'B. BRANCHConfederate brigadier general; president of Raleigh and Gaston Railroad, 1852-55; member of Congress, 1855-61. Home here...
- H-125LUNSFORD LANE 1803-1879Enslaved. Bought freedom in 1835. An abolitionist, nationally known orator, and entrepreneur. Wrote his Narrative in 184...
- H-70MEDICAL SOCIETY OF NORTH CAROLINASuccessor to earlier group founded in 1799. Formed here in 1849. Dr. Edmund Strudwick was first president.
- H-35N.C. STATE MUSEUM OF NATURAL SCIENCESCollection began with 1851 geological survey; a museum since 1879; H. H. Brimley, curator from 1895 to 1946.
- H-65NORTH CAROLINA DENTAL SOCIETYOrganized in 1856 in the Guion Hotel, which stood here. Dr. W. F. Bason, Haw River, first president.
- H-93NORTH CAROLINA STATE FAIRAgricultural fair. Was first held in 1853 and moved to this location, its third, in 1928.
- H-85NORTH CAROLINA STATE LIBRARYEstablished 1812 under Wm. Hill, Sec. of State; James F. Taylor first state librarian, 1843. Moved here in 1968.
- H-9PEACE COLLEGEFounded by Presbyterian elder Wm. Peace 1857 as school for women; opened 1872. Main building used as Confederate hospita...
- H-23RALEIGH AND GASTON RAILROADChartered in 1835 and completed in 1840. Length 85 miles. Its southern terminus was 400 ft. W.
- H-36SAINT MARY'SEpiscopal school for girls. Established 1842 by Rev. Aldert Smede on the site of an earlier Episcopal boys school.
- H-4STATE CAPITOLBuilt 1833-40. Ithiel Towne, A. J. Davis and David Paton, architects. First State House built here, 1796; burned, 1831.
- H-46THE GOVERNOR MOREHEAD SCHOOLEstablished for visually impaired students in 1845 under leadership of John Motley Morehead. Present plant is 500 yards ...
- H-47THE GOVERNOR MOREHEAD SCHOOLEstablished for visually impaired students in 1845 under leadership of John Motley Morehead. Present plant is 3 blocks s...
- H-68WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITYBaptist; coeducational. Opened as Wake Forest College, 1834. Moved to Winston-Salem, 1956. University since 1967.
- H-69WILLIAM BOYLANPresident of Raleigh and Gaston Railroad; president of the State Bank; publisher of the Raleigh "Minerva" 1803-1810. Hom...
- H-104WILLIAM POLK 1758-1834Revolutionary War officer; first president of State Bank, 1811-19. In 1825 hosted Lafayette in house that stood here.
- H-92WILLIAM W. HOLDEN 1818-1892Editor. Appointed provisional governor, 1865. Elected governor, 1868; impeached and removed, 1871. Home stood here.
Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861-1877
- H-112ARTIFICIAL LIMBSNorth Carolina was first state to provide limbs to Confederate amputees. Factory, which operated 1866-67, was 1/4 mi. NE...
- H-66CENTRAL PRISONState prison site since 1869. Original buildings completed in 1884. First supt., W. J. Hicks. New facility finished 1983...
- H-29FALL OF RALEIGHCommissioners of North Carolina's capital met officers of Sherman's army near this spot, on April 13, 1865, and surrende...
- H-109FREEDMEN'S CONVENTIONDelegates resolved to seek equal rights for state's freed blacks. Met, Sept. 29-Oct. 3, 1865, one block north.
- H-31GENERAL GRANTIn the Governor's Palace April 24-27, 1865, Grant conferred with Sherman and approved new terms for surrender of Johnsto...
- H-86JAMES H. HARRIS 1832-1891Black legislator & orator; member 1868 convention; a founder of Republican Party & Union League in N.C. Home was 1 block...
- H-27LEONIDAS L. POLK 1837-1892President of National Farmers' Alliance, 1889-1892; began Progressive Farmer, 1886; a founder of N.C.S.U. and Meredith C...
- H-67OAKWOOD CEMETERYGovernors Aycock, Bragg, Fowle, Holden, Swain, and Worth, other notables and Confederates buried there. 3 blocks E.
- H-30OLD BREASTWORKSBreastworks were thrown up around Raleigh, 1863, by order of Governor Vance, for protection against Federal raids. Remai...
- H-91R. STANHOPE PULLEN 1822-1895Businessman. Benefactor of NCSU, UNC-G, and Peace College. Gifts included land for Pullen Park. Birthplace here.
- H-32SHAW UNIVERSITYFounded 1865 by Baptist missionary Henry Martin Tupper. Chartered 1875; named for benefactor Elijah Shaw of Mass.
- H-96ST. AUGUSTINE'S COLLEGEFounded in 1867 by the Episcopal Church as a normal school for freedmen. Since 1928 a four-year college. 4 blocks N.
- H-56THE GOVERNOR MOREHEAD SCHOOLOpened in 1869, it was first state-supported school in U.S. for African American blind & deaf students. Located on this ...
The New South, 1878-1929
- H-80ALEXANDER B. ANDREWS 1841-1915Railroad builder and financier. Vice-president, Southern Railroad; superintendent, North Carolina Railroad. Home is here...
- H-119ANNA J. COOPER 1858-1964Educator, orator, & early black feminist. Graduate, St. Augustine's. Author, A Voice from the South (1892). Grave 2 1/2 ...
- H-77BERRY O'KELLY SCHOOLBegun 1910. Early Negro teacher training school. Named for benefactor. Later used as elementary school. Closed in 1966.
- H-26CAMP BRYAN GRIMESSpanish-American War camp, 95 acres, named for the Confederate general, was located here. Only U.S. Army camp in the sta...
- H-103CHARLES N. HUNTER 1852-1931Black teacher, writer, & reformer. Principal, Berry O'Kelly School; a founder, N.C. Industrial Assoc. Lived 1 block S.
- H-101CLARENCE POE 1881-1964Editor and publisher of the Progressive Farmer, 1903-1954. Social and agricultural reformer. Lived 400 yards S.E.
- H-90EDWARD A. JOHNSON 1860-1944Politician, businessman, philanthropist, author, and educator. First black to publish a N.C. textbook. Home was here.
- H-117EXECUTIVE MANSIONOfficial residence, N.C. governors, it was completed 1891 on Burke Square using prison labor. Architects, A.G. Bauer & S...
- H-120FAIRGROUNDS SPEEDWAYAfter 1928 popularized Indy-style car racing. Site hosted the last NASCAR race on dirt track, 1970. Half-mile oval was 2...
- H-110FANNIE E. S. HECK 1862-1915Social activist; writer. Led the Baptist Woman's Missionary Union after 1892. A benefactor of present Meredith College. ...
- H-53J. MELVILLE BROUGHTON 1888-1949Governor, 1941-45; U.S. Senator, 1948-49. Member, General Assembly, 1927, 1929. Home was two blocks west.
- H-87JAMES H. YOUNG 1860-1921Colonel of black N.C. regiment in war with Spain; edited Raleigh Gazette; legislator. Home was 25 ft. W.
- H-95JANE McKIMMON 1867-1957Home economist. From 1911 to 1937 she organized and led N.C.'s home demonstration program. Lived here.
- H-39JOSEPHUS DANIELS 1862-1948Secretary of the Navy, 1913-21; ambassador to Mexico; author; editor, News and Observer. His home was here.
- H-111LEONARD MEDICAL SCHOOLNation's first four-year medical school. Trained 400 African American physicians. Operated here from 1882 to 1918.
- H-58MANGUM TERRACESoil conservation land mark. Erosion-checking terrace built ca. 1885 by Priestley H. Mangum 2 mi. north. Technique adopt...
- H-38MEREDITH COLLEGEAn independent women’s college chartered 1891 as Baptist Female University. Named 1909 for education advocate Thos. Mere...
- H-115METHODIST ORPHANAGEEst. by Methodist Church, 1899; served children in central & eastern N.C. Campus here until 1979.
- H-124N.C. COLORED STATE FAIROperated 1879-1930 by N.C. Industrial Assoc. to accommodate the state's black citizens. Was held, 1891-1925, fifty yds. ...
- H-82N.C. OFFICE OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORYOrganized as the N.C. Historical Commission in 1903; R. D. W. Connor, first secretary. Moved to this building, 1968.
- H-89N.C. PHARMACEUTICAL ASSOCIATIONOrganized in 1880 at a meeting held in the Senate Chamber. E. M. Nadal of Wilson was the first president.
- H-34N.C. STATE FAIR, 1873-1925 / STATE EXPOSITION OF 1884 / CAMP POLK, 1918
- H-106NORTH CAROLINA BAR ASSOCIATIONOrganized here, Feb. 10, 1899, in room then used by N.C. Supreme Court. Platt Walker of Charlotte, group's first preside...
- H-48NORTH CAROLINA MUSEUM OF HISTORYCollection gathered by Fred Olds merged 1902 with state's artifacts to create Hall of History. Moved here in 1994.
- H-25NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY AT RALEIGHChartered 1887. Opened 1889 as a land grant college. Since 1931 campus of Consolidated University.
- H-33PETTIGREW HOSPITALSite of Confederate hospital, U.S. Army barracks, Confederate Soldiers' Home, 1891-1938.
- H-5STATE BANK BUILDINGFirst State Bank, est. 1814; housed Christ Church rectory, 1873-1951. Reopened 1969 as bank 50 yds. N.W.
- H-79THOMAS R. JERNIGAN 1847-1920U.S. negotiator in China for 30 years. Consul in Japan and China. Editor, author, and lawyer. His home was 2 blocks E.
- H-81W. N. H. SMITHN.C. Chief Justice, 1878-1889; state legislator; U.S. & Confederate Congressman. Home was one blk. W.; grave 3/4 mi. E.
- H-20WALTER HINES PAGE 1855-1918Journalist, editor, and publisher. Ambassador to Great Britain, 1913-1918. His birthplace stood 400 yards north.
Modern North Carolina, 1930 on
- H-105C. C. CRITTENDEN 1902-1969Historian, archivist, & editor. Promoted "History for all the people" as head of N.C.'s state historical agency, 1935-19...
- H-116EUGENICS BOARDState action led to the sterilization by choice or coercion of over 7,600 people, 1933-1973. Met after 1939 one block E.
- H-59JOSIAH W. BAILEYUnited States Senator, 1931-1946. A Baptist leader and editor of "The Biblical Recorder." Home was here.
- H-94LAMAR STRINGFIELD 1897-1959Musician and composer. First conductor of the N.C. Symphony, 1932-38. Boyhood home 3 blks. E.
- H-76NORTH CAROLINA MUSEUM OF ARTOutgrowth of N.C. Art Society. In 1947 state funded purchase of art. Museum opened, 1956. Moved here, 1983.
- H-121ST. AGNESHospital. First nursing school in N.C. for African Americans, 1896-1961. Founded by Sarah Hunter. Building four blocks N...
- H-107STUDENT NONVIOLENT COORDINATING COMMITTEECivil rights organization, an outgrowth of sit-in movement, had origins in conference at Shaw University, Apr. 15-17, 19...
- H-64WILLIS SMITHUnited States Senator, 1950-53, speaker N.C. House of Representatives, president American Bar Assn. Home is 100 yds. W.,...