Raleigh history

Raleigh, NC US - History

One of the Hi-Tech American Cities Raleigh, the capital of the State of North Carolina, US, was established in 1792. The county was named after Margaret Wake, the wife of Governor William Tyron. The General Assembly purchased one thousand acres of land from Joel Lane, one of the settlers of the Wake County. It was on this region where the City of Raleigh was established and then got named after Sir Walter Raleigh.  Raleigh became the ‘first permanent state capital’ of the State as the region was a popular stop for travellers through the region.

The name “Raleigh” means “meadow of the deer” in Anglo-Saxon capturing the essence of the peaceful setting of the city. The city of Raleigh was surveyed and planned in April 1792 by William Christmas. The Union Square was reserved as the statehouse for the center and all the streets radiating from the place were named for the eight different state districts. The plan of the city also included four parks that were named after the first three governors (Caswell, Nash and Burke) and Attorney general Alfred Moore.

After the construction and competition of the brick statehouse in the year of 1794, Raleigh was called as a “city of streets without houses.”  During the nineteenth century, the city of Raleigh grew at a slow and steady pace as most of the residents were dependent on the business of agriculture. There were some towns that developed along market centers and railroad lines.

The original Statehouse was burnt in 1831. During this time, the legislature agreed to make the new State House a more durable one. Construction of the new state house was performed by prison inmates using solid granite. The city of Raleigh was lucky that it did not experience much suffering at the hands of Union Forces compared to other cities and towns. The growth of city got a tremendous boost after the ending of the Second World War in 1945.

Modern renaissance sew the city after 1950, as the world famous research Triangle Park was created on the North Carolina. The area of Raleigh boomed after IBM’s facilities were established in 1965. Raleigh is now recognized all over the world because of the basic applied research and development carried out in the Research Triangle Park. A new 500,000 sq-ft convention center was established in 2005, which is bound to revitalise the city. Raleigh enjoys two of the best economic characteristics namely rising incomes and low unemployment. The city is all set to attract newcomers to the area making it one of the attractive destinations of the nation.