Preserving the past: NC ranks number 8 for most historic homes in the United States
As the Triangle rapidly grows and changes, many fear losing their hometown's history and character.
In 2022 alone, Raleigh residents watched as multiple iconic cultural hubs were changed forever. This year, many locals were disheartened to learn the NC State Fair planned to demolish 'Restaurant Row,' which has served people for generations. Earlier this year, City Hall issued a demolition permit for a historic modernist home from the 1950s, which was once a protected as a historic landmark -- until a previous owner had those protections removed.
Last September, a large number of citizens pulled together to fight to save the historic Seaboard Station from being deleted from downtown.
However, according to data from the National Park Service, North Carolina ranks number 8 out of 50 for having the most historic homes.
New data from Assurance IQ revealed that NC has over 3,000 historic homes, falling only slightly behind the Top 5:
- New York – 6,416 historic homes
- Massachusetts – 4,462 historic homes
- Ohio – 4,180 historic homes
- Pennsylvania – 3,556 historic homes
- Kentucky – 3,488 historic homes
The National Average is 1,935 historic homes per state.
With many northern states ranking higher in the list, North Carolina also stood out as a southern state which a large amount of historic preservation, compared with places like:
- Alabama -- 1,352 historic homes
- Mississippi - 1,507 historic homes
- Louisiana -- 1,508 historic homes
- South Carolina -- 1,647 historic homes
- Tennessee -- 2,200 historic homes
- Georgia -- 2,210 historic homes
- North Carolina -- 3,108 historic homes
- Virginia -- 3,349 historic homes
North Carolina has slightly fewer preserved historic homes than Virginia and Kentucky, which ranked higher among the overall Top 8.
For travelers who want to take in local history and culture: New Bern, NC ranked as the city with the most historic homes in our state.
Historic homes and historic districts in Raleigh
According to information from the Raleigh Historic Development Commission, Raleigh has over 170 historic landmarks and a diverse range of historic districts.
If you're looking to buy a historic home in Raleigh or just explore some Raleigh history, driving through any of these neighborhoods will provide a snapshot of the city's culture and heritage.
Here is a glimpse at a few of Raleigh's popular historic districts.
1. Blount Street
Developed in the 1870s through the 1910s, this was Raleigh's "most fashionable neighborhood between the Civil War and World War I," according to RHDC.
Here you'll find large Victorian-style, Second Empire or Italianate mansions with dramatic central towers, iconic porch posts and ornate brackets. The long-abandoned and finally restored Heck-Andrews House is a picturesque representation of the era.
The Executive Mansion sits among these historic homes, and there was once a castle along this strip of road.
2. Boylan Heights
Developed around 1907 through the 1920s, this historic district was one of Raleigh's first planned suburbs, marking an era when people began moving out of downtown.
Boylan Heights was built in response to a housing shortage caused by economic expansion in the early 1900s.
Instead of ornate Victorian manors seen in some other historic districts, here you'll more commonly find bungalows built to attract middle-class homeowners and families away from the city.
3. Capitol Square
"Two centuries of Raleigh historic are represented in the architecture of the Capitol Square Historic District," according to RHDC.
It was developed from 1792, the year Raleigh was founded, all the way through the 1950s -- creating a diverse range of architecture and a large representation of Raleigh's history.
William Christmas laid out the plan for Raleigh, creating a grid of five squares, of which Union Square, which holds the Capitol, is one. The State Capitol, a Greek Revival structure from the mid-1800s, is central to this district.
Other historic buildings in this district include Gothic Revival churches, as well as taller Romanesque buildings and government structures. However, some houses like Haywood Hall or the White Holman House also stand within this district.
4. Moore Square Historic District
Developed in the 1870s through 1930s, the Moore Square Historic District includes the historic City Market, as well as the area formally known as 'Black Main Street,' an important cultural and commercial hub for Raleigh's African-American community.
Black Main Street ran along Hargett Street and included historic structures such as:
The Delany Building: First Black public library in Wake County
The Lightner Arcade and Hotel: Cultural hub for Raleigh's Black community
Hamlin Drug Store: Oldest drug store in Raleigh, opened in 1904 as 'People's Drug Store'
Hotels, furniture stores, grocery stores, blacksmiths and saloons also filled the Moore Square Historic District.
5. Historic Oakwood
Developed in 1880 through 1930, the historic Oakwood neighborhood often draws crowds during Halloween and Christmas for the striking collection of Victorian-era, Second Empire and Italianate style homes and vibrant architectural landscape.
During the holidays, the historic neighborhood offers a popular candlelight tour, allowing visitors a rare peek inside some of the beautiful homes and a visual tour of the historic wonderland, decked out with traditional holiday decor.
"Oakwood is Raleigh's only intact 19th-century neighborhood. It was the first area in the city to be listed in the National Register, and is Raleigh's oldest and largest local historic district," according to the National Park Service.
6. Prince Hall
Developed in the mid-to-late 1800s through the early 1900s, Prince Hall is Raleigh's first African American and Mixed Use District, according to RHDC.
According to RHDC, Raleigh's African American community began growing and building in this area following the emancipation of enslaved men and women in Raleigh, as well as the establishment of Shaw University in 1865.
Shaw University includes multiple historic firsts, including the first four-year medical school in the United States, as well as the first structure built for the higher education of African American women.
The district was located conveniently close to Black Main Street, which was in Moore Square Historic District.
The district has a number of Queen Anne homes, Triple-A shotgun houses, as well as minimal traditional homes. The area houses several historic landmarks, such as the Gothic Revival style Tupper Memorial Baptist Church and the Prince Hall Masonic Temple.
7. Glenwood-Brooklyn
Developed from the early 1900s through the 1950s, the Glenwood-Brooklyn neighborhood was a streetcar suburb running alongside CP&L's trolley system along Glenwood Avenue.
The Glenwood-Brooklyn neighborhood was built for middle-class white families during a time when Raleigh's residential areas were growing increasingly segregated, according to RHDC.
"They achieved this through deed restrictions that excluded African Americans and required minimum costs for houses built on the subdivided parcels," says RHDC on their website.
Many homes here reflect the middle-class nature of the neighborhood, featuring craftsman bungalows – and some were mass produced or mail-ordered Sears kit houses, which were popular in that era.
8. Historic Oberlin Village
Developed in the 1870s through the late 1900s, Historic Oberlin Village is "the longest surviving and most intact Reconstruction-Era freedman's colony in Wake County," according to RHDC.
Oberlin Village was built in the aftermath of the emancipation, when hundreds – if not thousands – of men, women and children were freed from slavery in Raleigh. Many formed communities, called Freedman's Villages, around the city. There were originally 13; however, only 2 remain today.
Before and during Jim Crow, many families within Oberlin Village flourished, building their own businesses, establishing universities and churches, and finding roles within the government. Many of the beautiful and stylish homes, some such as the Willis Graves House and Plummer T. Hall House which are still standing today, had ornate stained glass windows, gables or wrap-around porches.
The historic Wilson Temple AME Church is also still standing, an eye-catching brick Gothic Revival-style structure.
Several factors, including the construction of Wade Avenue and urbanization of the area, caused the historic district to begin losing its character – and some historic sites, like the final remnants of an entire African American university, were lost forever.
