Wake Wednesday - Family History within the boundaries of Umstead Park

Library of Congress, taken by Carl Mydans, a photographer with the Farm Security Administration

While browsing Facebook one day I happened upon a post in a Raleigh group about the Wake County families that settled on and worked the land that would become Umstead Park. There were some delighful photos taken in 1936 by a photographer for the Farm Security Administration. The post and comments are a goldmine of family history tidbits and names of the families associated with the land. If you are on Facebook, I encourage you to take a look at the post in the public group called ''You know you grew up in Raleigh when...". It is worth requesting membership just to read this post. Link to post.  **Bonus points if you bother to drop by the FB post for the hundreds of comments. There are tons of Wake C0unty local history and surnames mentioned in it.

Surnames - King, Page, Young, Dillard, Page, Sorrell, McGee.

For a more in depth look at the story of the families that were displaced from the Umstead Park land when the federal government bought up the land to be converted by the Civilian Conservation Corps, visit Abandoned mills, homes, graves hidden in woods at Umstead Park date back to 1800s, a Hidden History feature on WRAL from Heather Leah. Heather has covered the area in depth including the farms, mills, gravesites and even some explosives magazines hidden on the land. There are also several family photos and reunion photos. Do check this out if you had family in this area. 

Also Associated - Ebenezer Church and Surnames - Jones, Blake, Warren, Brown.

"Anywhere you see tulips or a large oak tree, that's where someone's front yard used to be..." - Reggie King

Additional information on the families of Umstead Park appear in this book:  Stories in Stone: Memories from a Bygone Farming Community in North Carolina by Tom Weber

Wake Cemetery Census, c. 1978

Since the post was originally compiled, several of the cemeteries on the Umstead land have been included in the Wake County Cemetery Survey image project.  (Linked to project (bold) and additional information where available.)

Sid Brown grave site- location only, but referenced in this Walter Magazine article - https://waltermagazine.com/current-issue/the-last-families-of-umstead/

Umstead State Park aka King Family Cemetery - location only in survey, but referenced in above Facebook post and on Find a Grave.

Warren/Haley - 30 marked graves with map and name list in the survey. More recent surveys on Find a Grave and Cemetery Census reflect only 17 graves.

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