References and additional resources about Raleigh. View the main NCpedia entry about Raleigh.
Online ResourcesBooks Institutions to Visit
ONLINE RESOURCES
Amis, Moses N. 1902. Historical Raleigh from its foundation in 1792; descriptive, biographical, educational, industrial, religious; reminiscences reviewed and carefully compiled. Raleigh: Edwards & Broughton.
Primary sources, digital books and photographs about Raleigh (Government & Heritage Library and NC State Archives)
Johnson, Charles Earl. "History of the Capitol." North Carolina Booklet 5 (October 1905).
Official City of Raleigh Website: History of Raleigh North Carolina. Offers a number of timelines related to the development of Raleigh spanning from 1587 to present.
Raleigh: A Capital city. National Park Service.
Timeline of early Raleigh history
BOOKS
Click the links to see if these books are owned by your local library.
Abernethy, Elizabeth Hill. 1938. Historical facts of Raleigh and Wake County. N.C. : Daughters of the American Revolution?
Clark, James William. 1993. Talking about Raleigh : a bicentennial oral history. Raleigh, N.C. : Humanities Extension Program, North Carolina State University.
Covington, Nina Hollad. 1924. Guide book of Raleigh, N.C. : historical and descriptive. Raleigh : Capital Printing Co.
Harris, Linda L. 1983. Early Raleigh neighborhoods and buildings. Raleigh, N.C. : Raleigh City Council.
Kulikowski, Jennifer A. and Kenneth Peters. 2002. Historic Raleigh. Charleston, SC : Arcadia Pub.
Lancaster, Marshall. 1992. Raleigh : an unorthodox history of North Carolina’s capital. Asheboro, N.C. : Down Home Press.
Mobley, Joe A. 2009. Raleigh, North Carolina: a brief history. Charleston, SC: History Press.
Murray, Elizabeth Reid. 1983. Wake, capital county of North Carolina. Raleigh, N.C.: Capital County Pub. Co.
--. 1965. From Raleigh’s past. Raleigh : Branch Banking and Trust Co.
News & Observer Pub. Co. 1991. Raleigh 200, 1792-1992. Raleigh, N.C. : News & Observer Pub. Co.
Perkins, David. 1994. News & Observer's Raleigh : a living history of North Carolina's capital. Winston-Salem, N.C. : John F. Blair, Publisher.
Powell, William Stevens, and Jay Mazzocchi. 2006. Encyclopedia of North Carolina. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
Powell, William Stevens, and Michael R. Hill. 2010. The North Carolina gazetteer: a dictionary of Tar Heel places and their history. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
Stolpen, Steven. 1977. Raleigh : a pictorial history. Norfolk, Va. : Donning Co.
Vickers, James. 1982. Raleigh, city of oaks : an illustrated history. Woodland Hills, Calif. : Windsor Publications.
Waugh, Elizabeth C. 1967. North Carolina's capital, Raleigh. Raleigh: Junior League of Raleigh.
Work Projects Administration (WPA). 1942. Raleigh : capital of North Carolina. New Bern, N.C. : Printed by O.G. Dunn Co.
INSTITUTIONS TO VISIT
. The Joel Lane House was built in the early 1770s for “The Father of Raleigh” who facilitated the location and creation of the permanent North Carolina capital city. Visit his faithfully restored plantation manor and learn about Colonel Lane and the house where North Carolina history was made.
National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary. Offers a list of historic sites in Raleigh with information about each site, maps to pinpoint their locations, and resources for further study.
North Carolina State Archives. The North Carolina State Archives collects, preserves, and makes publicly available historical and evidential materials relating to North Carolina. Materials in the Archives collections constitute the most valuable assembly of North Carolina manuscript records in existence.
- Charles M. Heck Collection (1881-1952): Material gathered by Charles M. Heck for his proposed history of Raleigh. Collection includes: drafts of chapters; histories of city blocks; list of early families in Wake County and Raleigh; and instructions for arrangement and completion of the book.
- Raleigh Resources: Offers a variety of original and reproduction Raleigh maps as well as original manuscripts and documents dating from the time of Raleigh's founding.
Olivia Raney Local History Library. The Olivia Raney Local History Library collects and preserves materials that tell the story of Wake County, and surrounding areas. They specialize in local history and genealogy, and also provide materials on North Carolina History, U.S. History, African-American History, the Revolutionary War, and the Civil War.
- Elizabeth Reid Murray Collection: Donated by historian Elizabeth Reid Murray, this collection contains maps, books, slides, files, and research on over 100 different subjects related to North Carolina including the founding and early history of Raleigh.
Raleigh City Museum. The Raleigh City Museum is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to collecting, preserving, and interpreting the history of North Carolina's capital city. To view the museum's past exhibits, click here.
Raleigh Heritage Trail. The Raleigh Heritage Trail promotes the understanding of the history of the greater Raleigh area through the joint participation of Raleigh historic sites, local museums, and related facilities. The goal of the Raleigh Heritage Trail is to better serve residents and visitors through educational programming and the sharing of ideas, resources and marketing among its member institutions.
State Library of North Carolina. The State Library of North Carolina possesses rich collections of North Caroliniana, genealogical resources, government documents, and memoirs/biographies. The collections are available for use by all visitors, and available for check-out by all North Carolina state agency employees.
- Raleigh Resources: The State Library's collections contain books, published maps, newspapers, ephemera, and much more related to the founding and early history of Raleigh, North Carolina.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The University serves all the people of the state, and indeed the nation, as a center for scholarship and creative endeavor. The university's library supports inquiry and learning at the university and for the people of North Carolina.
- North Carolina Collection: the North Carolina Collection in the Louis Round Wilson library preserves an incomparable assemblage of literary, visual, and artifactual materials illustrating four centuries of the colony and state of North Carolina, including pertinent materials related to the founding and early history of Raleigh, NC.