Raleigh, North Carolina

Raleigh is the capital of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County. Often referred to as the "City of Oaks," Raleigh blends modern technology with colonial charm. Home to three major research universities, the region has become a center of business and technology. Forbes magazine has consistently ranked Raleigh among the best metropolitan regions in the nation for businesses and careers; in 2018, it landed in second place on the list. In 2023, Forbes named Raleigh the eleventh safety large city in the United States.

Landscape

Raleigh is located in the central Piedmont area of North Carolina, halfway between the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Great Smoky Mountains to the west. At 434 feet above sea level, the city is set amidst gently rolling pine woods.

The city was designed with the Capitol at the center of a grid pattern. Part of the "Research Triangle" of Raleigh, Chapel Hill, and Durham, Raleigh is located about twenty-five miles southeast of the other two cities.

January's average temperature is 39 degrees Fahrenheit, while July's is 78 degrees Fahrenheit. In mid-spring and mid-autumn, the temperature averages 60 degrees Fahrenheit.

Raleigh receives an average of about forty-seven inches of annual precipitation. Only eight inches of that total arrives in the form of snow. The national average for rainfall is thirty-seven inches per year; Raleigh's forty-seven inches per year exceeds that. More than one hundred days of a year show measurable precipitation. Despite this rain and snow, the city also experiences drought. Hurricanes also sometimes pummel the city. In 1996, Hurricane Fran, a category 3 storm, left behind flooding and damages of nearly $275 million.

Like the rest of North Carolina, Raleigh has been affected by climate change. The average temperature in 2023 was 4.2 percent higher than normal. The precipitation in 2023 was 7.01 inches, which was 207% more than than usual.

People

After Charlotte, Raleigh is the second largest city in North Carolina, with a population of approximately 476,587 residents, according to a 2022 estimate by the US Census Bureau. In 2022, approximately 28.1 percent of the city was Black or African American. An estimated 52.5 percent of the city's population was White. The city is also home to a growing Latino American community, and Latino and Hispanic residents represented 11.6 percent of the population. Asian Americans made up a smaller minority, representing 4.5 percent of Raleigh's population. Raleigh's foreign-born population was estimated to be 13.0 percent between 2018 and 2022. The number of individuals living below the poverty level was 11.8 percent in 2022.

Economy

Agriculture was the state's top industry for many years; by the 1920s, North Carolina was the nation's top producer of textiles, furniture, and tobacco. Following World War II, the city attracted various factories that manufactured items such as processed food, electronic and telecommunications equipment, and computers. It has also become a center for chemicals and textiles. Several insurance companies also have regional headquarters or home offices in Raleigh. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, in December 2018, the metropolitan area of Raleigh had an unemployment rate of 3.3 percent.

Scientific research began to expand in the 1960s, when government and business leaders brought together the talents of three universities. North Carolina Sate University in Raleigh, along with Duke University in Durham and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, joined to form the Research Triangle Park in 1959. The concentration of talent and research facilities brought pharmaceutical and technology companies to the region. As of 2019, the Park was home to over 250 academic, corporate, and government agencies, employing at least fifty thousand people.

The region is known for its educational facilities, including North Carolina State University. Other colleges include Meredith College and William Peace University. St. Augustine's University and Shaw University are historically black institutions founded shortly after the American Civil War. Shaw was the first coeducational institution of higher education for African Americans in the country.

The goods produced by Raleigh companies include electronic equipment, metal products, processed food, pharmaceuticals, and electrical machinery. Products head to market via rail service or truck; the city has access to the deep-water port of Wilmington through Interstate 40. Located within five hundred miles of half of the nation's population, Raleigh is well situated as a highway hub.

Landmarks

The city has several well-preserved historic sites, including the oldest building in the city, the Joel Lane House. Also known as Wakefield (after Margaret Wake, the wife of the royal governor), it was built around 1760.

The Oakwood Historic District is comprised of more than four hundred private residences, all of which were constructed in the nineteenth century. President Andrew Johnson's birthplace, a structure built in 1808, is another historic home, located near the capitol building and within the bounds of Mordecai Historical Park. Once one of the largest plantations in Wake County, the grounds include an 1847 chapel and an herb garden.

The North Carolina Museum of History includes items such as photographs from the Civil War era, a model of the Wright brothers' airplane, and the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame.

The only dinosaur with a fossilized heart, Willo, and a dinosaur nicknamed "Terror of the South" are just two of the attractions at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. This museum is the southeast's biggest natural history museum. In addition to interactive exhibits, there are exhibits on the five habitats of North Carolina.

In 1840 the State Capitol opened, housing all three branches of government. Currently a national historic landmark, it is part museum, part government building. A copper dome tops the building's ten stories, with a statue of George Washington garbed as a Roman general beneath it in the rotunda.

The African American Cultural Complex is composed of several cottages along a nature trail. It features documents, artifacts, and displays of the contributions made by African Americans.

History

During the 1760s, a number of thinly populated colonial settlements began in present-day Raleigh. Isaac Hunter and Joel Lane bought large tracts of farmland in the region. They also established taverns to cater to patrons traveling the main north-south road through the central part of the state. In 1771, Wake Crossroads, as it was known, was established and also served as Wake County's seat.

Soon after the conclusion of the American Revolutionary War, several states, including North Carolina, moved their capitals inland. North Carolina's capital had been moved to several cities. In 1788, the site that would become Raleigh was selected for its central location; four years later, the city was marked out of a tract of forest purchased from Joel Lane.

Named for seventeenth-century British explorer Sir Walter Raleigh, the city's first capitol building was finished in 1794. In 1831, that building burned and was replaced by the 1840 Greek revival structure currently used.

On May 20, 1861, state legislators voted for secession from the Union. The first Confederate training camp in the state was Camp Ellis, established east of the city. Raleigh was a Confederate headquarters during the Civil War. Following General Robert E. Lee's surrender, General William Tecumseh Sherman entered the city with eighty thousand Union troops without meeting any resistance. Unlike many southern capitals, Raleigh escaped major destruction.

Following the war, Raleigh developed as a retail area, and publishing became an important segment of the economy. A housing boom occurred in Raleigh after World War II. In 1949, the first suburb was developed near the first shopping center of the southeast, Cameron Village. The city experienced another growth spurt during the 1960s, when Research Triangle Park opened, drawing many to work at high-tech companies.

University of North Carolina sociologist Dr. Howard Odom envisioned the Research Triangle as a way to harness the abilities of many graduates of the region moving away to find lucrative careers elsewhere. When International Business Machines (IBM) established its research facilities in the Triangle in 1965, the concept was firmly rooted.

The civil rights movement affected Raleigh deeply. During the spring of 1960, about two hundred people met at Shaw University to form the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). This group sought direct, nonviolent ways to speed integration and ensure voting rights for African Americans. Ella Baker, who was a graduate of Shaw, suggested the organization.

Raleigh also became the first major Southern city to elect a black mayor with the election of Clarence Lightner in 1973. Four years later, the city welcomed its first woman mayor, Isabella Cannon, who was also the first female mayor of a capital city anywhere in the United States.

Raleigh's suburban area has grown rapidly since the 1970s, particularly to the north. Recognized as a center for both basic and applied research, the city has made efforts to revitalize its downtown area with the Downtown Raleigh Alliance, which has overseen several major projects, including the development of City Plaza and the construction of new apartments, condominiums, and hotels. At the same time, the city has made concerted efforts toward sustainability, particularly in the twenty-first century. In 2017, Raleigh was designated as a Bee City USA, which committed the city to creating sustainable pollinator habitats and raising awareness about the significance of pollinators.

Bibliography

Butler, Douglas J. North Carolina Civil War Monuments: An Illustrated History. McFarland, 2013.

Kulikowski, Jennifer A., and Kenneth E. Peters. Historic Raleigh. Arcadia, 2002.

Mobley, Joe. Raleigh: A Brief History. History, 2009.

"QuickFacts: Raleigh City, North Carolina." United States Census Bureau, US Dept. of Commerce, www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/raleighcitynorthcarolina/PST045218. Accessed 22 Feb. 2024.

"Raleigh Demographics." City of Raleigh, City of Raleigh, 19 July 2017, www.raleighnc.gov/government/content/PlanDev/Articles/LongRange/RaleighDemographics.html. Accessed 22 Feb. 2024.

The Research Triangle Park, www.rtp.org/. Accessed 26 Apr. 2019.

"Southeast Information Office: Raleigh." Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Dept. of Labor, www.bls.gov/regions/southeast/nc‗raleigh‗msa.htm#eag‗nc‗raleigh‗msa.f.2. Accessed 26 Apr. 2019.

Rohe, William M. The Research Triangle: From Tobacco Road to Global Prominence. U of Pennsylvania, 2012.

"Warmer and Wetter Winter in Raleigh Area Has Climate Change Footprint According to Scientists." WRAL News, 4 Jan. 2024, www.wral.com/story/warmer-and-wetter-winter-in-raleigh-area-has-climate-change-footprint-according-to-scientists/21221624/. Accessed 22 Feb. 2024.