History Of Raleigh

Raleigh's history is bountiful. In 1792, Raleigh was created to be North Carolina's seat of government. To fully appreciate this uniquely blessed city, one must contemplate the history and delightfully complex composition of the state that created Raleigh. Home to the Native American Iroquoian, Siouan and Algonquian tribes, it is also the birthplace of Virginia Dare, the first child born of English parents in the new world during the first attempt by the English to settle the western hemisphere. One of the original 13 colonies, North Carolina was the first to officially call for independence with the Halifax Resolves in 1776.

A state of yeoman farmers and among the South's first industrial areas, North Carolina was no home place to the gentry, but rather a state of working men and women who valued education and established the nation's first state university. North Carolina's appreciation of education also created a notable public school system and the nation's best community college system. Though firmly in the grip of the hard times of the 1920s, North Carolina invested in a statewide network of paved thoroughfares and became known as "the good roads state," recognizing that the lifeline of economic growth was a statewide transportation network.

That diverse composition of people, that love of freedom, that gritty work ethic, that esteem for education and that common sense approach to economic development combined to create the robust environment in which North Carolina's capital city today thrives.

Listed below are key dates and events in the history of this great city.

• 1587: Under direction of Sir Walter Raleigh, John White founds the "Cittie of Raleigh." The only known site is in the vicinity of the settlement built in 1585 by the Ralph Lane Colony on the north end of Roanoke Island, about 190 miles from present-day Raleigh. John White returns to England.
• 1590: John White returns, but the colony has disappeared. Today, it is popularly referred to as The Lost Colony. The word, "Croatoan," carved on a tree, was considered a clue as to the colony's fate.
• December 17, 1770: Joel Lane presents a petition to the General Assembly to create a new county.
• January 5, 1771: A bill creating Wake County passes in the General Assembly. Wake County is formed in March from portions of Cumberland, Orange and Johnston counties. Many historians believe the county was named after Margaret Wake Tryon, the wife of Royal Gov. William Tryon. The county seat was Bloomsbury.
• October 1784: Meeting in New Bern, the General Assembly voted to fix the seat of North Carolina government.
• November 1787: The General Assembly authorizes the Constitutional Convention to establish the state's permanent capital.
• August 4, 1788: The Constitutional Convention votes to locate the new capital within 10 miles of Issac Hunter's Wake plantation.
• January 5, 1792: The General Assembly appoints commissioners to select a site for the new capital.
• March 20, 1792: After 10 days of viewing the proposed sites, the commissioners select a tract of land owned by Joel Lane for the new capital at a cost of $2,756. Sen. William Christmas, a surveyor, is hired to lay out the new city. The sale of lots begins.
• November 1792: The North Carolina General Assembly chooses the name "Raleigh" for its capital city.
• December 30, 1794: General Assembly meets for the first time in Raleigh new Statehouse.
• January 21, 1795: General Assembly charters Raleigh. Seven commissioners are appointed to govern the new city. John Haywood is named the first Intendant of Police (later renamed Mayor).
• 1799: N.C. Minerva and Raleigh Advertiser is the first newspaper published in Raleigh.
• 1800: Raleigh's population is 669.
• 1801: At the cost of $374, the City purchases its first fire engine which expels water at 80 gallons per minute.
• 1803: Amended charter grants voting rights to city residents. Raleigh voters elect first commissioners.
• December 29, 1808: Andrew Johnson, the nation's seventeenth President, is born at Casso's Inn, which was located between Morgan, Fayetteville and Willington streets.
• September 1818: Raleigh's first water system is completed. Pumps were operated by waterwheel on Rocky Branch and the water flowed by gravity through wooden spouts along Hargett and Fayetteville streets. The pipes frequently clogged with mud and burst and the scheme soon was abandoned.
• March 1819: Raleigh forms a volunteer fire company. The City buys a pump fire engine.
• 1820: Raleigh is North Carolina's third largest city with a population of 2,674.
• December 22, 1821: The first regular fire company is formed.
• June 21, 1831: Fire destroys the Statehouse. In December of 1832, the General Assembly votes to rebuild the Capitol.
• January 1, 1833: The first railroad in the state is completed in Raleigh. Horse-drawn cars haul quarried granite to the construction site of the new Capitol. Riding the train is a popular means of entertainment for Raleigh society.
• 1840: Raleigh & Gaston Railroad is chartered, opening on March 24 with 86 miles of track. The steam locomotives were given the spirited names of "Tornado," "Whirlwind," "Volcano" and "Spitfire." In June, Raleigh, which had 2,244 people and was the fourth largest city in the state, celebrated the completions of the new railroad and the new Capitol.
• 1842: St. Mary's School for Women is founded by the Rev. Aldert Smedes.
• April 17, 1844: Sitting under one of the city's finest and oldest oak trees, Presidential candidate Henry Clay writes the "Raleigh Letter," arguing against the annexation of Texas. The Henry Clay Oaks stood for many centuries on the north side of North Street, west of the intersection with North Blount Street. After losing the presidential nomination to North Carolina native James K. Polk, Clay retorted: "Sir, I would rather be right than be president."
• February 14, 1848: The first telegraph message is sent through Raleigh. The line connects the city with South Carolina and Virginia.
• January 29, 1849: The General Assembly authorizes the State Hospital for the Insane after an appeal and campaign by Dorothea Dix, for whom the hospital was named when it opened Feb. 22, 1856 in southwest Raleigh.
• February 1852: The City reorganizes the Fire Department and employs its first paid chief.
• October 1853: The first state fair is held near Raleigh.
• 1857: Raleigh extends it city limits for the first time and established a new charter.
• March 1858: Raleigh ends its citizen guard and hires a paid watch.
• 1860: Raleigh is North Carolina's fourth largest city with a population of 4,780.
• April 15, 1865: President Abraham Lincoln is assassinated and Union troops camped in Raleigh are prepared to rampage through the city in retaliation. But Union Gen. John A. Logan intervenes with threats that he backs up with gun emplacements pointed at his own troops.
• December 1, 1865: Shaw University begins with theological classes offered to freedmen by Dr. Henry M. Tupper. Originally called the Raleigh Institute, Shaw was the first coed college for African-Americans in the nation - perhaps the world.
• 1867: St. Augustine's College founded is founded by Episcopal clergy for the education of freed slaves.
• June 3, 1867: President Andrew Johnson visits Raleigh for the dedication of a monument in honor of his father, Jacob, who died from pneumonia after saving two leading citizens from drowning.
• July 1868: Gov. Holden appoints new Raleigh Commissioners, including the first African-Americans, James Henry Harris, editor of the North Carolina Republican and Handy Lockhart.
• November-December 1868: A series of fires culminates in the destruction of Raleigh City Market.
• January 4, 1869: North Carolina opens the nation's first school for blind and deaf African-Americans in Raleigh.
• April 1869: The Method community is established by freedmen.
• January 6, 1870: The State Penitentiary opens in a log building.
• April 1871: Raleigh Commissioners make provision for Mount Hope Cemetery.
• 1872: Peace Institute is opened by the Rev. Robert Burwell.
• 1875: Shaw University secures its charter; Raleigh's governing board is renamed the Board of Aldermen, increase to 17.
• 1879: North Carolina's first telephone exchange opens in Raleigh.
• 1880: Raleigh's population of 9,265 makes it the state's second largest city; The News and The Observer are consolidated.
• 1884: Free home-delivery of mail begins for Raleigh.
• December 1, 1886: Fayetteville Street is paved.
• December 25, 1886: Mule-drawn street railway starts operations. The Raleigh Street Railroad Company switched to electricity after 1890.
• March 22, 1897: Raleigh resident R. Stanhope Pullen donated property for Pullen Park.
• August 27, 1888: The Raleigh Chamber of commerce is organized.
• October 3, 1889: North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts is opened with the donation of $8,000 from the City of Raleigh and land given by R. Stanhope Pullen. The college was later named North Carolina State University.
• August 21, 1892: Union rail passenger station opens.
• May 1894: Rex Hospital opens. Its nursing school is the state's first.
• 1898: Automobiles are first seen on Raleigh streets.
• 1899: Raleigh adopts a flag.
  -- Baptist Female University (later Meredith College) opens.
  -- The Tucker Building, Raleigh's first skyscraper, is erected.
  -- A&M (NCSU) trustees vote to admit women students.
• 1900: Raleigh's population of 13,643 makes it the state's fifth largest city.
  CONTINUED: 1900-2000