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Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh is the capital of State of North Carolina and the county seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. As of the 2000 census, it had a population of 276,093, making it the second most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill make up the three cities of The Triangle, so named in 1959 with the creation of the Research Triangle Park, a research park between Durham and Raleigh (mostly located within Durham County). The Triangle is a regional population, equivalent to the U.S. Census Bureau's Combined Statistical Area of Raleigh-Durham-Cary. Its estimated total population as of 2005 was 1,509,560. The estimated Raleigh-Cary metropolitan statistical area population, as of 2004, is 914,680. While almost all of the city limits is located in Wake County, a few small portions of Raleigh are actually in Durham County as a result of annexation. HistoryRaleigh was chosen as the site of a new state capital in 1788 and established in 1792 as both the new county seat and the new state capital. It was named in November 1792 for Sir Walter Raleigh, sponsor of the Colony of Roanoke, which was also known as the "Lost Colony" (today, the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site). The site was chosen as being within ten miles of Isaac Hunter's Tavern, which was apparently popular with the legislators of the time. No city or town existed on the site before it was chosen to house the capital. Raleigh is one of the few cities in the U.S. planned and built specifically to serve as a state capital. The North Carolina General Assembly first met in Raleigh in December 1794, and within one month, the legislature officially granted the city a charter, with a board of seven appointed commissioners (starting in 1803, elected by the people) and an "Intendant of Police" (what would later be called "Mayor") to govern it. John Haywood was the first Intendant of Police. Despite being spared destruction in the Civil War, Raleigh grew very little from its original 1792 size until the introduction of streetcar lines in the 1920s, the establishment of the Research Triangle Park in the 1950s, and a freeway known as the Beltline (I-440/US-1/US-64) in the 1960s. IBM became a large force in Raleigh in the 1960s and greatly influenced growth. Learn More about Raleigh, North Carolina Durham, North Carolina
Durham is a city in Durham County, North Carolina, United States. It is the county seat of Durham County, the home of Duke University, North Carolina Central University, Durham Technical Community College, and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics. It is also a cornerstone of the Research Triangle region of North Carolina and the fifth-largest city in the state by population. HistoryDurham originated in 1853 with the search for a suitable railroad depot for the North Carolina Railroad between Wilson and Hillsborough. An earlier post office known as Herndon's existed in the area from 1827, and another at nearby Prattsburg was established in 1836. The landowners at Prattsburg refused to sell land to the railroad. Somewhat further to the northwest, a country physician named Bartlett S. Durham lived and practiced along the route. He donated land to the railroad, which named the subsequent depot Durham Station. The town grew slowly before the Civil War, but grew rapidly following the war; the present city charter dates from 1869. Much of this growth can be attributed to the establishment of a thriving tobacco industry. Soldiers (both Union and Confederate) encamped at Bennett Place, just outside the town, during surrender proceedings. During their long encampment, they liberally sampled the area's Brightleaf Tobacco, which purportedly had a milder flavor than other tobacco varieties. After returning to their homes, numerous orders were mailed to Green's tobacco company requesting more of the Durham tobacco. W.T. Blackwell would partner with Green, and rename the company the "Bull Durham Tobacco Company". The name "Bull Durham" is said to have been taken from the bull on the British Coleman's Mustard, which Mr. Blackwell (mistakenly) believed was manufactured in Durham, England. Learn more about Durham, North Carolina Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Chapel Hill is a town in North Carolina and the home of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the oldest state-supported university in the United States. As of the 2000 census, it had a population of 48,715. As of 2004 its estimated population was 52,440. HistoryChapel Hill, or at least the town center, indeed sits atop a hill--originally called New Hope Chapel Hill after the chapel once located there. The Carolina Inn now occupies the site of the original chapel. The town was founded, in 1819, to serve the University of North Carolina and grew up around it. The town was chartered in 1851, and its main street, Franklin Street, was named in memory of Benjamin Franklin. In 1968, only a year after its schools became fully integrated, Chapel Hill became the first predominantly white municipality in the country to elect an African American mayor, Howard Lee. Lee served from 1969 until 1975 and, among other things, helped establish Chapel Hill Transit, the town's bus system. Some 30 years later, in 2002, legislation was passed to make the local buses free of fares to residents and visitors alike, leading to a large increase in ridership; the buses are financed through Chapel Hill and Carrboro city taxes as well as UNC-CH student fees. In the latter part of the 20th century, the town grew considerably and became wealthier, with affordable housing and combating urban sprawl emerging as major local issues. By the late 20th century, higher proportions of the local population worked at jobs unrelated to the university; town surveys indicated that a majority of people working in the town were no longer able to afford in-town housing, and so many people working for the university itself weren't able to afford to live in Chapel Hill, or even Carrboro, that charter bus lines were doing a brisk business in almost nothing but bringing in from nearby counties a workforce of secretaries and others on which the university depended. |
The Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina is located in the North Central region of the state. Known as the Research Triangle, it is formed by the three universities: Duke University at Durham, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and North Carolina State University in Raleigh. Research Triangle Park is the largest research park in the United States, and is home to 140 organizations. There is something for everyone here, home to historic sites, arts centers and performance halls, science and nature centers, great baseball, hockey, and basketball, a choice of major annual events, and nightclubs.
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