Raleigh is the capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeast, the 41st-most populous city in the U.S., and the largest city of the Research Triangle metro area. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees, which line the streets in the heart of the city. The city covers a land area of 148.54 square miles (384.7 km2). The U.S. Census Bureau counted the city's population as 467,665 at the 2020 census. It is one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States. It is ranked as a sufficiency-level world city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. The city of Raleigh is named after Sir Walter Raleigh, who established the now-lost Roanoke Colony in present-day Dare County.
Roanoke Island is an island in Dare County, bordered by the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It was named after the historical Roanoke, a Carolina Algonquian people who inhabited the area in the 16th century at the time of English colonization.
New Bern is a city in and the county seat of Craven County, North Carolina, United States. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 31,291. It is located at the confluence of the Neuse and the Trent rivers, near the headwaters of Pamlico Sound on the North Carolina coast. It lies 112 miles (180 km) east of Raleigh, 89 miles (143 km) north of Wilmington, and 162 miles (261 km) south of Norfolk.
Wilmington is a port city in and the county seat of New Hanover County in coastal southeastern North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 at the 2020 census, it is the eighth-most populous city in the state. Wilmington is the principal city of the Wilmington, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes New Hanover, Brunswick, and Pender counties. Its metropolitan statistical area had an estimated population of 467,337 in 2023.
Mebane is a city located mostly in Alamance County, North Carolina, United States, and partly in Orange County. The town was named for Alexander Mebane, an American Revolutionary War general and member of the U.S. Congress. It was incorporated as "Mebanesville" in 1881, and in 1883 the name was changed to "Mebane". It was incorporated as a city in 1987. The population as of the 2020 census was 17,768. Mebane is one of the fastest-growing municipalities in North Carolina. Mebane straddles the Research Triangle and Piedmont Triad Regions of North Carolina. The bulk of the city is in Alamance County, which comprises the Burlington Metropolitan Statistical Area, itself a component of the Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point Combined Statistical Area. Two slivers in the eastern portion of the city are in Orange County, which is part of the Durham-Chapel Hill Metropolitan Statistical Area, itself a component of the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill Combined Statistical Area.
Benedict College is a private historically black college in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1870 by northern Baptists, it was originally a teachers' college. It has since expanded to offer majors in many disciplines across the liberal arts. The campus includes buildings in the Benedict College Historic District, a historic area listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Nutbush is a rural unincorporated community in Haywood County, Tennessee, United States, in the western part of the state, approximately 50 miles northeast of Memphis. It was established in the early 19th century by European-American settlers who bought enslaved African Americans to develop the area's cotton plantations. The houses and churches that were built during this time still stand.
Fourth Ward is one of the historic six wards of Houston, Texas, United States. The Fourth Ward is located inside the 610 Loop directly west of and adjacent to Downtown Houston. The Fourth Ward is the site of Freedmen's Town, which was a post-U.S. Civil War community of African-Americans.
The Capitol Area Historic District is a national historic district located at Raleigh, North Carolina. The district encompasses 25 contributing buildings and was developed after 1792. The district includes notable examples of Classical Revival and Late Gothic Revival style architecture. Located in the district are the following separately listed buildings:
The Mordecai House, built in 1785, is a registered historical landmark and museum in Raleigh, North Carolina that is the centerpiece of Mordecai Historic Park, adjacent to the Historic Oakwood neighborhood. It is the oldest residence in Raleigh on its original foundation. In addition to the house, the Park includes the birthplace and childhood home of President Andrew Johnson, the Ellen Mordecai Garden, the Badger-Iredell Law Office, Allen Kitchen and St. Mark's Chapel, a popular site for weddings. It is located in the Mordecai Place Historic District.
The Rev. M.L. Latta House was a historic home located in the Oberlin neighborhood of Raleigh, North Carolina. It was the last remaining building from Latta University, a trade school for African Americans that operated from 1892 until 1920. The house was named after Morgan London Latta, a freedman and former slave who graduated from Shaw University after the Civil War. It was built about 1905, and was a substantial, two-story Queen Anne style residence with a Tuscan order wraparound porch. He founded Latta University to educate freedmen and orphans in Raleigh's African-American community and built the campus next to his house. His house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002, and designated a Raleigh Historic Landmark.
The Moore Square Historic District is a registered historic district located in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, the district is centered on Moore Square, one of two surviving four-acre parks from Raleigh's original 1792 plan. The park is named after Alfred Moore, a North Carolina judge who became an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court. Originally a residential neighborhood, Moore Square developed into a primary commercial hub in the city throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The district includes East Hargett Street, once known as Raleigh's "Black Main Street", because it once contained the largest number of businesses owned by African-Americans in the city. City Market, Marbles Kids Museum/IMAX theatre, Pope House Museum, Artspace, and the Long View Center are located in the Moore Square district. Events that take place in Moore Square include the Raleigh Arts Festival, Artsplosure, Movies in the Park, the Street Painting Festival, and the Moore Square Farmer's Market The approximate district boundaries include Person, Morgan, Wilmington, and Davie Streets.
The Willis M. Graves House, also known as the Graves-Fields House and Oakcrest, is a historic home located on Oberlin Road in Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina. It was built about 1884 in the freedmen's village of Oberlin, and is a two-story, frame Queen Anne style dwelling. It has a projecting, two-story polygonal bay capped by a very large gable; one-story wraparound porch; and a projecting, two-story square tower with a pyramidal roof. It was built by Willis M. Graves, an African-American brick mason.
James Henry Harris was an American civil rights advocate, upholsterer, and politician. Born into slavery, he was freed as a young adult and worked as a carpenter's apprentice and worker before he went to Oberlin College in Ohio. For a time, he lived in Chatham, Ontario, where he was a member of the Chatham Vigilance Committee that aimed to prevent blacks being transported out of Canada and sold as slaves in the United States.
Historic Oakwood is a neighborhood in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, United States, on the National Register of Historic Places, and known for its Historic Oakwood Cemetery, its many Victorian houses and its location close to the Mordecai Plantation Manor. Located near the State Capitol and St. Augustine's Chapel, during the 19th century Historic Oakwood was home to prominent members of Raleigh's society. It is North Carolina's largest, intact 19th Century residential neighborhood and Raleigh's earliest white middle-class suburb. Unlike later suburbs, it developed lot-by-lot over time, instead of by platted sections. Its Victorian-era architectural styles include Second Empire, Queen Anne, and Italianate. Later infill brought the bungalow, the American Foursquare, American Craftsman style, and the Minimal Traditional house to the area.
Method is a neighborhood in Raleigh, North Carolina. A former village it was established by emancipated African Americans after the American Civil War. It contains several historic buildings. It includes the Berry O'Kelly Historic District an 8.4 acres (3.4 ha) historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.
Calvin Esau Lightner was an American architect, building contractor, and mortician. He was born in South Carolina and moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, to study architectural design at Shaw University. After graduation he took industrial courses at Hampton Institute and studied embalming in Tennessee. He and his brother established the C. E. Lightner and Brothers construction company and built numerous homes for members of Raleigh's black middle class.
The African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund is a program formed in 2017 to aid stewards of Black cultural sites throughout the nation in preserving both physical landmarks, their material collections and associated narratives. It was organized under the auspices of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The initiative which awards grants to select applicants and advocates of Black history has been led by architectural historian Brent Leggs since 2019. It is the largest program in America to preserve places associated with Black history.
Rev. Morgan London Latta L.L.D. was an African American educator who was found guilty of operating a fraudulent university as part of a scheme to solicit and misappropriate funds. He founded the fictitious "Latta University" in Raleigh, North Carolina, exploiting the goodwill of Northern donors during the post-Reconstruction era.
