Mountford Avenue beside Central Prison

Photographed March 21, 2004

1800 block of Blue Ridge Road

Photographed March 22, 2004

History:  Camp Polk originally served as the only Army tank training base in the United States during World War I.  In 1920, the state obtained the land for a prison farm and later youth detention center.  In 1963, most of the later buildings were erected.  The prison housed 381 male youths and had 330 employees on 20 acres, 14 of which were fenced.  Polk Youth Center moved to a new facility in Butner in 1998; the Blue Ridge Road site was abandoned that year and demolished in 2003  More information and more information.

421 Maywood Avenue

Photographed March 22, 2004

History: Built in 1891-92, one of Raleigh's earliest and largest mill was constructed in south Raleigh in close proximity to a Norfolk-Southern Railroad line.  In 2001, the mill building was added to the National Register of Historic Places.  In 2003, it opened for occupancy as condominium space. More information.

1300 Western Boulevard

Photographed March 25, 2004

Photographed March 21, 2004 from dead end of Mountford Avenue

History: Construction was started on the state's first prison in 1870.  Built by inmates using granite quarried just outside the prison's east wall, the four-story, Gothic Revival structure was completed in 1884.  Before a 1931 renovation, the facility had just one well and spigot for all convict bathing.  In 1939-41, an industrial building was added; in 1952-53, a new shop and main building were built; and between 1960-65, hospital and honor grade facilities were constructed.  In 1954, all original turrets, battlements, spires, and pointed cupolas were removed after being condemned by the city building inspector.  The prison was demolished between 1979 and 1984, replaced by the present facility.  Sections of the original 20-foot stone wall are still standing.  Sanborn Insurance Maps dated 1914 (left) and 1949 (right) show the original prison building. More information

614 Capital Boulevard

Photographed March 24, 2004

History: This 80,000 square-foot textile mill was constructed in 1890.  It was converted to condominium space in 1996.

Behind 1014 North West Street

Photographed March 21, 2004

History: The baseball park was completed in 1939 and demolished in 1979.  For decades, the park was the only full-sized, fully-lit baseball field in Raleigh.  The site presently houses the city's sanitation department. Trivia: In 1968, the Durham Bulls merged with Raleigh to form the Raleigh-Durham Mets. The team played half its games in each of their respective cities and folded just before the start of the 1972 season.  The pictured Sanborn Insurance Map section is dated 1949.

220 Snow Avenue

Photographed March 21, 2004, from dead end of Mountford Avenue

History:  Sanborn Insurance Map dated 1914 (right) shows the building as part of a Southern Manufacturing Company complex. Located at 220 Snow Avenue, the 3800 square-foot, three-story building is presently used as a Wake County homeless service center.

1014 Hodges Street

Photographed March 22, 2004

History:  The North Carolina State Farmers Market was relocated in 1991 to a newly constructed facility on Agricultural Street off Lake Wheeler Road.

West Davie Street

Photographed March 21, 2004

History: This freight crane was refurbished and relocated to the main entrance drive of the renovated Southern Railway freight depot.  The downtown building at 327 West Davie Street was built in 1912 and is shown right in a Sanborn Insurance Map from 1914.

North Carolina State University

Photographed March 28, 2004

History:  The first cylindrical classroom structure ever built on a university campus has a 206 foot diameter, was built in 1962, and is named for John William Harrelson (1885-1955), the first alumnus to serve as chief administrator of the college.  The building has housed the Mathematics department since its construction.

Photographed March 21, 2004

History:  Originally known as the "Great Falls of Crabtree," this site is one of the oldest mill sites in Wake County.  Cornelius J. Lassiter purchased the land in 1908 and constructed a grist mill that operated for fifty years until burning in 1958.  The site was also a popular picnic and swimming area for Raleigh residents.

1100 Wake Forest Road

Photographed March 28, 2004

History:  Located at the corner of Glascock Street and Wake Forest Road, the hospital opened its doors in 1914.   Later renamed Raleigh Community Hospital, the facility moved to its present location at 3400 Wake Forest Road in 1978.

1100 block of Hayne Street

Photographed March 24, 2004

History:  Pilot Mills was established in 1892.  The cotton mill closed in 1982.  The 1903 building presently houses condominiums and the 1910 building presently houses a charter high school.

Photographed March 21, 2004

History:  Opened in 1929, Raleigh's first air transportation hub was constructed with three runways and a hanger at the present-day intersection of Tryon Road and Highway 70. Though all commercial traffic moved to the new Raleigh-Durham Airport in the early 1940s, the south Raleigh airport remained in operation until 1972.  The hangar and airport administration building were demolished in 1974.  More information.

 

1800 block of Fayetteville Street

Photographed March 25, 2004

1810 Fayetteville Street

Photographed March 22, 2004

History:  The pumping station at was built in 1939.

Corner of Wade Avenue and Saint Mary's Street

Photographed March 28, 2004

History:  The main hospital building was built in 1935.  The hospital moved to its present location at 4420 Lake Boone Trail in 1978.

North Carolina State University

Photographed March 21, 2004

History:  Riddick Stadium was completed in 1907. The pictured concrete bleachers were constructed after the Depression, followed by the West Stands, East Stands, and Field House.  The latter is still standing, occupied by the campus Public Safety department.  In 1968, football and baseball games were moved to Carter-Finley Stadium.  The stands were demolished and a parking lot was paved.  More information.

707 Semart Street

Photographed March 28, 2004

History:  The building was built in 1942 and presently houses the Logan Trading Company.

Fairmont Neighborhood

Photographed March 28, 2004

History: The first State Fair was founded in 1853. The first site was a 16-acre tract about 10 blocks east of the State Capitol. In 1873, the Fair moved to a "55 acre broom sage field comprising an eminence known as Cook's Hill on Hillsboro Road some 300 yards from the N.C. and Augusta Air Line Railroad, one and one-quarter miles west of the city limits of Raleigh." The site is presently a residential and business district. In 1928, the State Fair moved to its present site, with additional land added in 1952.

4000 block of District Drive

Photographed March 22, 2004

3101 Hillsborough Street

Photographed March 24, 2004

History:  The three-story building was built in 1949 and later housed the Gregory Poole Equipment Company.  The site is present unoccupied.

1000 Fayetteville Road

Photographed March 28, 2004

History: The first Washington School was a two story wooden building, built in 1869 on West South Street at McDowell Street.  In 1875 the school was reorganized as a public school.  In 1924, a new Washington Elementary and High School opened.  The two-story, brick and stone Jacobean Revival style building was set above a one-story basement, had thirty classrooms, an auditorium, cafeteria, and library.  It is presently an elementary magnet school..