Timeline of Raleigh, North Carolina

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

Prior to 19th century

• 1587 - In a venture sponsored by Sir Walter Raleigh, John White and a group of colonists land on Roanoke Island at the site of a former, abandoned settlement to found the "Cittie of Raleigh," about 190 miles from present-day Raleigh, NC. John White returns to England for supplies, leaving behind his granddaughter Virginia Dare, the first English child born in the New World.[1]
• 1590 - His return delayed by threats against England by the Spanish Armada, John White secures passage on a privateer. As the party stepped ashore, there was no sign of the colonists except the letters "CROATOAN" carved on a tree. This abandoned site later became known as the "Lost Colony."
• 1701 - John Lawson, English explorer, led a 600-mile expedition starting in Charleston, SC and ending at the mouth of the Pamlico River. His journey took him close to the site of what later became Raleigh, NC.[2]
• 1770 - Joel Lane, a planter, successfully lobbies the colonial   General Assembly to create Wake County.[3]
• 1781 - Lane's property was the setting for a session of the state General Assembly. At this time the settlement was known as Wake Courthouse, or Bloomsbury and contained a courthouse, a jail, a tavern or inn, and a log church called the Asbury Meetinghouse.[4]
• 1792
  • The NC legislature authorizes the purchase of 1,000 acres (4 km2) of Joel Lane's land upon which to establish the city of "Raleigh" as the new center of state government.
  • Raleigh is founded as the capital of North Carolina.[5]
• 1794
  • State House built.[4]
  • December: State General Assembly convenes.[6]
• 1798 - Cemetery established.
• 1799 - The North-Carolina Minerva and Raleigh advertiser relocates from Fayetteville to become the first Raleigh Newspaper.[7]
• 1800 - Raleigh population is 669.[4]

19th century

• 1801 - Raleigh Academy established.[4]
• 1804 - Casso's Inn opens.[4]
• 1813 - State Bank of North Carolina built.
• 1817 - Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina established in Raleigh
• 1819 - Raleigh Auxiliary Society for Colonizing the Free People of Colour of the United States established.[4]
• 1820 - Population: 2,674.[8]
• 1831
  • January: A great fire destroys the capitol building.[6][9]
  • June: Capitol building burns down.[6]
• 1840
  • Raleigh and Gaston Railroad begins operating.[2]
  • North Carolina State Capitol building constructed.[5]
• 1846 - Raleigh Guards established.[4]
• 1850 - Charles Lee Smith house built.[5]
• 1853 - Christ Episcopal Church built.[4]
• 1857
  • William Dallas Haywood becomes mayor.
  • Peace Institute founded.[4]
• 1861 - May 20: North Carolina secedes from the United States and joins the Confederate States of America.
• 1865
  • April 13: Raleigh taken by Union forces.[10]
  • Raleigh Institute founded.[11]
  • Daily Sentinel newspaper begins publication.[12]
• 1868 - July 4: North Carolina readmitted to the United States.
• 1875 - Institute for Colored Deaf, Dumb and Blind built.[13]
• 1878 - Court Room and Post Office built.[14]
• 1880 - The News & Observer in publication.[12]
• 1881 - Tabernacle Baptist Church built.
• 1889 - North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts opens.
• 1890 - Union Station built.
• 1891
  • North Carolina Confederate Soldiers’ Home opens.[10]
  • Baptist Female University chartered.[13]
  • Electric streetcar begins operating.
  • Governor's Mansion built.[4]
• 1892 - Centennial of city founding.
• 1898 - First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company established.[15]
• 1900
  • North Carolina Literary and Historical Association founded.[16]
  • Population: 13,643.[17]

20th century

1900s-1940s

• 1901 - Raney Memorial Library opens.[18]
• 1903 - North Carolina Division of Archives and History headquartered in Raleigh.[19]
• 1904 - Raleigh Woman's Club founded.[20]
• 1905 - James I. Johnson becomes mayor.
• 1910 - Population: 19,218.[17]
• 1912 - City Auditorium opens.
• 1913 - State Supreme Court Building constructed.[4]
• 1914 - Daughters of the American Revolution Caswell-Nash Chapter formed.
• 1915 - North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation headquartered in Raleigh.[19]
• 1920
  • City area expanded.[4]
  • Population: 27,076.[17]
• 1922 - WPTF radio begins broadcasting.[21]
• 1923 - State Agricultural Building constructed.[4]
• 1924
  • State Theatre opens.[22]
  • Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh officially established
• 1929 - Raleigh Municipal Airport opens.
• 1930 - The Mecca Restaurant opens.[23]
• 1932 - Raleigh Memorial Auditorium opens.
• 1936 - Raleigh Little Theatre established.
• 1938
  • State Office Building constructed.[4]
  • Cooper's Barbeque in business.[24]
• 1940 - Carolinian newspaper begins publication.[25]
• 1943 - Raleigh–Durham Airport opens.
• 1945 - Area of city: 12.5 square miles.[26]
• 1948 - Hi-Mount developed.[26]
• 1949 - Cameron Village shopping centre in business.[26]

1950s-1990s

• 1950
  • Southern Railway station built.
  • Population: 65,679.[27]
• 1951 - York Industrial Center established near city.[26]
• 1952 - Southland Speedway opens.
• 1954 - Farm Bureau Insurance Company building constructed.[26]
• 1955 - Raleigh Farmers Market built.[26]
• 1956
  • WRAL-TV (television) begins broadcasting.[28]
  • North Carolina Museum of Art opens.
  • Occidental Life Insurance Company building constructed.[26]
• 1959 - Research Triangle Park development begins near city.
• 1960
  • Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee founded in Raleigh.[29]
  • First Federal Bank Building constructed.[26]
• 1961 - Center Drive-In cinema active.[22]
• 1962 - Northwestern Mutual Insurance Company building constructed.[26]
• 1965 - Area of city: 34.1 square miles.[26]
• 1967 - North Hills Mall in business.
• 1970 - Population: 122,830.[5]
• 1971 - Daughters of the American Revolution Micajah Bullock Chapter formed.
• 1972
  • Crabtree Valley Mall in business.
  • State Bank of Raleigh[15] and Capital Area Preservation nonprofit[19] established.
• 1975 - Raleigh Transit Authority established.
• 1977 - Isabella Cannon becomes mayor.
• 1978 - Haywood Hall Museum House established.[19]
• 1979 - Jain Study Center of North Carolina founded.[30]
• 1980 - Artsplosure begins.
• 1985 - Piedmont Zen Group formed.[31]
• 1986 - Sister city relationship established with Hull, UK.[32]
• 1987 - David Price becomes U.S. representative for North Carolina's 4th congressional district.[33]
• 1988 - 1988 Raleigh tornado outbreak.
• 1989 - Sister city relationship established with Compiègne, France.[32]
• 1990 - Population: 207,951.[8]
• 1993 - Raleigh City Museum opens.
• 1995 - Historic Oak View County Park established.[19]
• 1998 - Animazement convention begins.
• 1999 - 1999 Special Olympics World Summer Games.
• 2000 - Population: 276,093.[34]

21st century

2000s

• 2001
  • November: Raleigh mayoral election, 2001 held.
  • December: Charles Meeker becomes mayor.
  • Sister city relationship established with Rostock, Germany.[32]
• 2002 - Triangle Town Center shopping mall in business.
• 2005 - Raleigh Home Movie Day begins.
• 2007 - Marbles Kids Museum opens.
• 2008
  • Raleigh Public Record in publication.
  • David Price becomes U.S. representative for North Carolina's 4th congressional district again.[35]
  • Sister city relationship established with Xiangyang, China.[32]

2010s

• 2010 - Population: 403,892.[36]
• 2011
  • Tornado outbreak of April 14–16, 2011.
  • Contemporary Art Museum of Raleigh opens.[24]
  • CityCamp NC begins.
  • Nancy McFarlane becomes mayor.
• 2012 - Sister city relationship established with Nairobi, Kenya.[32]
• 2013 - April: Moral Mondays protest begins.[37]
• 2017 - Fire breaks out at Downtown Raleigh building, the largest the city has seen since the 1920s[38]

See also

• Raleigh history
• List of mayors of Raleigh, North Carolina
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Wake County, North Carolina
• List of museums in Raleigh, North Carolina
• Timeline of North Carolina[39]
• Timelines of other cities in North Carolina: Asheville, Charlotte, Durham, Fayetteville, Greensboro, Wilmington, Winston-Salem

References

1. "Learn NC: Fort Raleigh and the Lost Colony".
2. Chamberlain 1922.
3. "Joel Lane House". National Park Service. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
4. Federal Writers’ Project 1939. sfn error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFFederal_Writers’_Project1939 (help)
5. Nergal 1980.
6. "Calendar for 1905 with Dates of Important Events". Pocket Manual for the Use of Members of the General Assembly of North Carolina. 1905.
7. "Eighteenth-Century American Newspapers in the Library of Congress".
8. Population of the 100 Largest Cities and Other Urban Places in the United States: 1790 to 1990, US Census Bureau, 1998
9. "History of the Justice Building". North Carolina Judicial Branch. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
10. North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources. "(Raleigh)". This Day in North Carolina History. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
11. William Cathcart, ed. (1883). Baptist Encyclopaedia. Philadelphia: L.H. Everts.
12. "US Newspaper Directory". Chronicling America. Washington DC: Library of Congress. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
13. State Board of Agriculture (1896). North Carolina and its Resources. M.I. & J.C. Stewart, public printers and binders.
14. Wodehouse 1967.
15. "Institution Directory". Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Archived from the original on May 10, 2000. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
16. Frontis W. Johnston (1976). "North Carolina Literary and Historical Association, 1900-1975". North Carolina Historical Review. 53 (2): 155–167. JSTOR 23529619.
17. North Carolina Manual. Raleigh: North Carolina Historical Commission. 1921.
18. American Library Annual, 1917-1918. New York: R.R. Bowker Co. 1918.
19. American Association for State and Local History (2002). "North Carolina: Raleigh". Directory of Historical Organizations in the United States and Canada (15th ed.). ISBN 0759100020.
20. "Doers and Duties in One Club: Raleigh Women Meet Civic Needs", Life, 41 (26: The American Woman: Her Achievements and Troubles), December 24, 1956
21. Jack Alicoate, ed. (1939), "Standard Broadcasting Stations of the United States: North Carolina", Radio Annual, New York: Radio Daily, OCLC 2459636
22. "Movie Theaters in Raleigh, NC". CinemaTreasures.org. Los Angeles: Cinema Treasures LLC. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
23. "Growth Continues to Thrive in Downtown Raleigh". WRAL.com.
24. 36 Hours in Raleigh 2014.
25. "African American newspapers in North Carolina". Research Guides for North Carolina. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
26. National Park Service 2009.
27. US Census Bureau (1957). Government in North Carolina. 1957 Census of Governments. U.S. Government Printing Office.
28. Charles A. Alicoate, ed. (1960), "Television Stations: North Carolina", Radio Annual and Television Year Book, New York: Radio Daily Corp., OCLC 10512206
29. Robert L. Harris Jr.; Rosalyn Terborg-Penn (2013). "Chronology". Columbia Guide to African American History Since 1939. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-51087-5.
30. Pluralism Project. "Raleigh, NC". Directory of Religious Centers. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
31. Buddhism and barbecue: a guide to Buddhist temples in North Carolina, Univ. of North Carolina, 2001
32. "Raleigh's Sister Cities". City of Raleigh. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
33. "North Carolina". Official Congressional Directory. Washington DC: Government Printing Office. 1991–1992.
34. "Raleigh (city), North Carolina". State & County QuickFacts. U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on March 14, 2009.
35. Civic Impulse, LLC. "Members of Congress". GovTrack. Washington, D.C. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
36. "Raleigh (city), North Carolina". State & County QuickFacts. U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 15, 2014. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
37. "More than 150 arrested at 'Mega Moral Monday' protest". WRAL. June 3, 2013. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
38. "Cleanup from largest Raleigh fire in decades to last into weekend". WRAL. March 17, 2017. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
39. Federal Writers’ Project (1939). "Chronology". North Carolina: a Guide to the Old North State. American Guide Series. p. 567+ – via Open Library.

Bibliography

Published in 19th century

• Bishop Davenport (1838). "Raleigh". Pocket Gazetteer, or, Traveller's Guide through North America and the West Indies. Philadelphia: George & Byington. hdl:2027/uc2.ark:/13960/t9k35ng8g.
• R.H. Long (1863), "Raleigh", Hunt's Gazetteer of the Border and Southern States, Pittsburgh, Pa.: John P. Hunt
• Raleigh Directory. 1875
  • 1883
  • 1896
• "Wake County". Branson's North Carolina Business Directory. 1884.
  • 1896
• Kemp Plummer Battle (1893). Early History of Raleigh. Raleigh: Edwards and Broughton, printers.

Published in 20th century

• Raleigh Directory. 1903
  • 1927
• Moses Neal Amis (1913). Historical Raleigh. Raleigh, NC: Commercial Printing Company.
• Hope Summerell Chamberlain (1922). History of Wake County, North Carolina. Raleigh: Edwards & Broughton Printing Co.
• Federal Writers’ Project (1939). "Raleigh". North Carolina: A Guide to the Old North State. American Guide Series. p. 233+.
• Lawrence Wodehouse (1967). "Alfred B. Mullett's Court Room and Post Office at Raleigh, North Carolina". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. 26 (4): 301–305. doi:10.2307/988457. JSTOR 988457.
• Steven Stolpen, Raleigh: A Pictorial History (Norfolk, 1977).
• Ory Mazar Nergal, ed. (1980), "Raleigh, NC", Encyclopedia of American Cities, New York: E.P. Dutton, p. 274+, OL 4120668M
• Elizabeth Reid Murray, Wake: Capital County of North Carolina, Vol.1 of Prehistory through Centennial (Raleigh, 1983)
• R.B., Reeves III, ed., Raleigh 1792-1992: A Bicentennial Celebration of North Carolina's Capital City (Raleigh, 1992)
• Candy Lee Metz Beal, Raleigh: The First 200 Years (Raleigh, 1992)
• Linda Harris Edminsten and Linda Simmons-Henry, Culture Town: Life in Raleigh's African American Communities (Raleigh, 1993)
• David Perkins, ed., The News and Observer's Raleigh: A Living History of North Carolina's Capital (Winston-Salem, 1994)

Published in 21st century

• Jennifer A. Kulikowski and Kenneth E. Peters, Images of America: Historic Raleigh (Charleston, 2002)
• William S. Powell, ed. (2006), "Raleigh", Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press (via NCpedia)
• "Post-World War II and Modern Architecture in Raleigh, North Carolina, 1945-1965" (PDF), Multiple Property Documentation Form, National Register of Historic Places, United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 2009
• "36 Hours in Raleigh, N.C." New York Times. March 6, 2014.
• Raj Chetty; Nathaniel Hendren (2015), City Rankings, Commuting Zones: Causal Effects of the 100 Largest Commuting Zones on Household Income in Adulthood, Equality of Opportunity Project, Harvard University, archived from the original on 2015-05-06, Rank #95: Raleigh, North Carolina

External links

• Items related to Raleigh, North Carolina, various dates (via Digital Public Library of America)
• "City of Raleigh". North Carolina History Project. Raleigh, NC: John Locke Foundation.
• "History of Raleigh". City of Raleigh.
• Raleigh-related archived websites: "(Raleigh)" – via Internet Archive, Archive-It.
• Humanities and Social Sciences Division. "Resources for Local History and Genealogy by State: North Carolina". Bibliographies and Guides. Washington DC: Library of Congress.