Raleigh Audio Walking Tour

Highlights

• Shaw University

  Shaw University began on December 1, 1865, with a theological class of freedmen in the Guion Hotel. Founded on December 1, 1865, Shaw is noted in its record as the oldest HBCU to begin offering courses in the Southern United States.

• William Peace University

  William Peace's $10,000 gift bought the eight acres of Peace Institute, founded in 1857 and now William Peace University. Take a moment to imagine how this place began in 1857 as Peace Institute, founded by a group of men in the Presbyterian Synod of North Carolina.

• 
  Reynolds Coliseum

  Rain ruined an outdoor meeting at Farmers' Week in 1940, and William Neal Reynolds Coliseum grew from alumnus David Clark's petition for indoor space. This building was conceived to host agricultural expositions and NC State basketball games, and its life has followed that broad, public purpose.

• 
  North Carolina State Capitol

  Look up at the Greek Revival dome anchoring Union Square. This Greek Revival building was raised after the destruction by fire of the first North Carolina State House in 1831, and its cornerstone was laid with Masonic honors by Grand Master Simmons Jones Baker on July 4, 1833.

• St. Augustine's University

  Episcopal clergy founded Saint Augustine's University in 1867. It is a private, unaccredited, historically Black Christian college here in Raleigh, North Carolina.

All 36 stops

• North Carolina State Capitol (Union Square)

  Look up at the Greek Revival dome anchoring Union Square.

• Presidents North Carolina Gave the Nation (Union Square)

  Notice the bronze grouping of Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson, and James K. Polk, the three U.S. presidents born in North Carolina, here on the grounds…

• Church of the Good Shepherd (Downtown Raleigh)

  A dispute over pew rentals in 1874 gave Raleigh the Church of the Good Shepherd, its second oldest Episcopal parish.

• First Baptist Church (downtown Raleigh)

  Picture this congregation's 1812 start with 23 members, here in downtown Raleigh across from the Capitol.

• State Library of North Carolina (Raleigh)

  The State Library of North Carolina on East Jones Street is the main depository for the state's publications.

• State Archives of North Carolina (Raleigh)

  Founded as the North Carolina Historical Commission in 1903, the State Archives of North Carolina keeps the state's historically significant records here at 109 East…

• North Carolina Museum of History (Downtown Raleigh)

  Picture Frederick Augustus Olds gathering stories from every county.

• North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (Downtown Raleigh)

  Raleigh's North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences is the oldest museum in the state.

• Moore Square Historic District (downtown Raleigh)

  Picture two surviving four-acre parks from Raleigh's 1792 plan.

• Marbles Kids Museum (Moore Square Historic District)

  Picture a museum born in 2007 from the merger of Exploris and Playspace, tucked into downtown Raleigh.

• Fayetteville Street Historic District (Fayetteville Street Historic District)

  Eleven buildings on the National Register of Historic Places stand within the Fayetteville Street Historic District here in Raleigh.

• Sir Walter Raleigh Hotel (Fayetteville Street)

  North Carolina's third house of government was the Sir Walter Hotel on Fayetteville Street.

• Briggs Hardware Building (Downtown Raleigh)

  Thomas H. Briggs raised the four-story Briggs Hardware Building in 1874, once called Raleigh's first skyscraper.

• Masonic Temple Building (Fayetteville Street)

  Seven stories of reinforced concrete rose at 133 Fayetteville Street in 1907 as the Masonic Temple Building.

• City Cemetery (Raleigh)

  Authorized in 1798 by the North Carolina General Assembly, the City Cemetery was Raleigh's first burying ground.

• Joel Lane House (Raleigh)

  Wake County's oldest dwelling is the Joel Lane House, also called Wakefield, built in 1769 and now a restored home and museum.

• Historic Oakwood (Historic Oakwood)

  Historic Oakwood grew lot-by-lot into North Carolina's largest intact 19th century residential neighborhood, here in downtown Raleigh.

• Historic Oakwood Cemetery (Historic Oakwood neighborhood)

  Henry Mordecai gave land here in 1867 for the Confederate and Hebrew cemeteries, and Historic Oakwood Cemetery was founded in 1869, spreading across 102 acres…

• Mordecai House (Mordecai Place Historic District)

  Raleigh's oldest residence on its original foundation is the Mordecai House, built in 1785.

• Montfort Hall (Boylan Heights)

  Montfort Hall in Boylan Heights is one of the few Raleigh mansions to survive the American Civil War.

• Hayes Barton Historic District (Hayes Barton Historic District)

  Earle Sumner Draper laid out the Hayes Barton Historic District northwest of downtown Raleigh.

• Raleigh Water Tower (Capitol Area Historic District)

  Constructed in 1887, the Raleigh Water Tower was the first water tower built in the city and served for 37 years.

• Shaw University (East Raleigh-South Park Historic District)

  Shaw University began on December 1, 1865, with a theological class of freedmen in the Guion Hotel.

• Estey Hall (East Raleigh-South Park Historic District)

  Estey Hall, completed in 1873, was the country's first building for the higher education of African-American women.

• Leonard Hall (East Raleigh-South Park)

  Built in 1881 as Leonard Medical Center, Leonard Hall was the first four-year medical school in the United States.

• St. Augustine's University (Raleigh)

  Episcopal clergy founded Saint Augustine's University in 1867.

• William Peace University (Raleigh)

  William Peace's $10,000 gift bought the eight acres of Peace Institute, founded in 1857 and now William Peace University.

• St. Mary's Chapel (Hillsborough Street)

  Richard Upjohn designed St. Mary's Chapel at 900 Hillsborough Street in Raleigh, North Carolina, in the Gothic Revival style.

• Sacred Heart Cathedral (Hillsborough Street)

  From 1924 to 2017 Sacred Heart Church on Hillsborough Street served as Raleigh's diocesan cathedral.

• Pullen Park (North Carolina State University)

  On March 22, 1887, Richard Stanhope Pullen donated farmland to Raleigh, creating Pullen Park, the oldest public park in North Carolina.

• Pullen Park Carousel (Pullen Park)

  Fifty-two hand-carved basswood animals and two chariots still turn on the Pullen Park Carousel, built in 1900 and part of Raleigh's public life for more…

• North Carolina State University Memorial Belltower (Main Campus)

  Granite quarried at Mount Airy, 1,400 tons of it, built this 115-foot Memorial Belltower on the North Carolina State University campus in Raleigh.

• D. H. Hill Jr. Library (North Campus)

  Most of North Carolina State University's more than 3.28 million volumes sit here in the D. H. Hill Jr. Library beside the Brickyard.

• Reynolds Coliseum (North Carolina State University)

  Rain ruined an outdoor meeting at Farmers' Week in 1940, and William Neal Reynolds Coliseum grew from alumnus David Clark's petition for indoor space.

• James B. Hunt Jr. Library (Centennial Campus)

  Opened in January 2013, the $115 million James B. Hunt Jr. Library on Centennial Campus is North Carolina State University's second main library.

• Dix Park (Boylan Heights)

  Dix Park spreads across 308 acres of former Dorothea Dix Hospital grounds, about a mile southwest of downtown Raleigh.

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