Losing Black history: Major fire destroys segregation-era funeral home near Shaw University in Raleigh

A landmark in the Raleigh Black community burned early Tuesday. The former Lightner Funeral Home on Person Street went up in flames around 1 a.m. It wasn't clear whether the storms from Monday night were a cause of the fire.

Posted 9:38 a.m. Aug 8 — Updated 12:34 p.m. Aug 9

Heather Leah

, WRAL multiplatform producer & Shelle Jackson, WRAL reporter

RALEIGH, N.C. — A landmark in the Raleigh Black community burned early Tuesday. The former Lightner Funeral Home on Person Street went up in flames around 1 a.m. It wasn't clear whether the storms from Monday night were a cause of the fire.

Sky 5 flew over the building Tuesday morning to see the roof destroyed and parts of the funeral home were charred by the fire. In some places, the roof was gone and the interior was open to the elements.

The fire started on the second floor, according to officials, ripping through the attic and the roof.

The fire was brought under control by 3 a.m., but video from the scene showed large flames high on the rooftop and heavy smoke filling the air. Firetrucks had their ladders extended to help reach the flames.

The current location of the Lightner Funeral Home – towering brick, with long pillars and cloaked in ivy – was not the first location, but rather a later location for the funeral home. Still, it was nearly a century old and a grandiose piece of Raleigh's Black history.

A graduate of Shaw University, Calvin E. Lightner established the funeral home in 1911. It was one of the oldest funeral homes in Raleigh, and it served the city's Black population during the era of segregation.

Lightner was the first licensed African American mortician in Raleigh, according to research from NC State on North Carolina Architects and Builders. "Funeral homes operated by Black owners for Black clients were a vital part of the community, as they offered important and dignified services for their clientele not always available otherwise," they wrote.

Lightner was known for far more than his funeral home, however. Considered a trailblazer from his era, he was an architect who built the homes for Raleigh's prominent African American residents, as well as many of the buildings that made up Black Main Street – a cultural hub on Hargett Street for the Black community.

Black Main Street: Murals mark the lost history of Hargett Street in downtown Raleigh

"He was an architect and a homebuilder. He built buildings and houses through Raleigh and Durham back in the early 1900s, which was quite a feat," grandson Bruce Lightner said. "I remember hearing stories that my father told me about how my grandfather and his crew would load up building materials on a horse and buggy."

Clarence Lightner, son of C.E. and father of Bruce, took over the funeral home business and was Raleigh's first Black mayor.

The Lightner Arcade and Hotel was one of C.E. Lightner's most famous buildings. It burned down in the 1970s.

The property was purchased about a year ago by Duke's Properties and Construction. A spokesman said the fire damage was so extensive, the building will likely have to be torn down.

"Growing up in that business and living in that building for a long time, I felt naturally a kinship to that building," Bruce Lightner said.

Suggest A Correction