Raleigh

Lore & Background

Raleigh is an early example in the United States of a planned city. Following the American Revolutionary War when the U.S. gained independence, the area was chosen as the site of the state capital in 1788 and incorporated in 1792 as such. The city was originally laid out in a grid pattern with the North Carolina State Capitol at the center, in Union Square. During the American Civil War, the city was spared from any significant battle. It fell to the Union in the closing days of the war and struggled with the economic hardships in the postwar period, related to the reconstitution of labor markets, over-reliance on agriculture, and the social unrest of the Reconstruction Era. The establishment of the Research Triangle Park in 1959 helped create thousands of jobs in the fields of science and technology.

In Their Own Story

The sky over downtown Raleigh is the deep bruised purple that means a storm is coming in off the coast, and the air smells like wet asphalt and sweet tea. Inside PNC Arena, the lights dim and the crowd noise swells into a single, sustained roar as the home team skates out. A kid in a too-big Ron Francis jersey presses her face against the glass, and her dad—black-and-red scarf wrapped three times around his neck—taps the bench and whispers, 'This is the one, baby.' The puck drops. The storm outside is nothing compared to the one in here.

Reader's Guide

Raleigh is home to North Carolina State University and is part of the Research Triangle, which includes Durham (home to Duke University and North Carolina Central University) and Chapel Hill (home to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill). The Research Triangle area, centered around Research Triangle Park, has a population of over 2.37 million people. The Raleigh–Cary metropolitan statistical area alone has an estimated population of 1.51 million. Raleigh lies primarily in Wake County, with a small portion of the city extending into Durham County. Nearby suburbs include Apex, Cary, Clayton, Fuquay-Varina, Garner, Holly Springs, Knightdale, Morrisville, Rolesville, Wake Forest, Wendell, and Zebulon.

Did You Know?

• Raleigh was named after Sir Walter Raleigh, who sponsored the lost Roanoke Colony.
• The city was planned and built specifically to serve as a state capital, one of the few such cities in the United States.
• The North Carolina State Capitol is located at the center of the city in Union Square.
• The Research Triangle Park, established in 1959, spurred job growth in science and technology.