Wake Wednesday - Five Points ca 1920

Do you recognize this spot in Raleigh?

This photo appeared in my Facebook feed at some point and I just really have to share it with you. Wrap your head around this pastoral scene and try to reconcile it with...

click photo to see larger size

 the Five Points of today...

Houses, barns, fields, streetcar tracks. How much it changed between the 1920s and the 1940s!

How much will it change now with the present growth and building spree?


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NCAAHGS Conference 3 day event in Raleigh Feb 2 - 4, 2024

Tales From the Table: Genealogy, Foodways, & Legacy Building - AAHGS Conf.   

February 2-4

The 2024 NC AAHGS Conference will be a three (3) day event.

Friday, Feb 2 - tours of the State Archives, the State Heritage Library, and the vault.

Saturday, Feb. 3 includes a full day of workshops (16 of them) (at Shaw University/ Estey Hall) including basic genealogy, foodways and legacy building, as well as a panel discussion and luncheon.

Our own Saundra Cropps will offer a presentation with Patsy Smith Morgan on Serendipitous Moments of Genealogical Discoveries (including the Shiloh Community, Morrisville, NC).         

Sunday, Feb 4 - there will be tours around the historic Black spaces in Raleigh including The Pope House (home of Dr. Manassa Pope - a Black medical graduate of Shaw University's Leonard School of Medicine who ran for mayor in 1919), the Historic Turner House in Oberlin Village, and the Historic Black Neighborhoods of Raleigh (created from the freedmen's villages that were started after the Civil War).

Tickets and detailed information at this link - https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tales-from-the-table-genealogy-foodways-legacy-building-aahgs-conf-tickets-771090401147 

Visit Wake County Genealogical Society's Website - Homepage | WCGS Events | Join WCGS | Publications | Wake Cemetery Survey Images | Society Surnames | Digital Resources | History Resources | More Links and Resources | Contact

Wake Wednesday - Historic Marker Event Saturday, Jan 27 in Holly Springs - Rev War Patriot Christopher Woodward

Historic Marker Unveiling to Celebrate Revolutionary War Patriot’s Mill and Store

Saturday, Jan. 27, 1 p.m. at Virginia Creek Drive near the corner of Sunset Lake Road, at the entrance to Creekside at Sunset Lake.

The Town of Holly Springs invites the entire community to the unveiling of a historic marker celebrating Revolutionary War Patriot Christopher Woodward’s mill and store. Near the mill at Camp Middle Creek, Lt. Col. Hardy Sanders mustered troops to protect the North Carolina legislature during the Revolutionary War.

Woodward operated a mill near the marker location as early as 1781. A frequent gathering place, the business milled lumber, ground corn and wheat, and ginned cotton. Tax records from 1819 indicate the Woodward family ran a retail store on the site, the first in this area.

Further details in the linked Holly Springs press release.

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February 2024 - Black History Month Highlights - Foodways, Music, History and More!

There are many scheduled events to observe Black History Month throughout Wake County. Several groups are maintaining calendars. Here are a few to help you celebrate and honor Black heritage.

Cary - calendar of events

Raleigh - calendar of events

Triangle on the Cheap calendar -60 events including historically significant locations around the Triangle

Wake Forest - calendar of events

Wake Forest - Sites of Memory - African American StoryMap

Holly Springs - Black History Tour (self guided)

Jobz Design at https://www.vecteezy.com/

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Wake Wednesday - New Light

by Carla Stancil

Happy Wake Wednesday! As someone whose ancestors have been in Wake County since before the Revolution, I’m always curious about people and places who played a part in their lives.

I’ve long been fascinated with the New Light area of Wake County. It is in the far northern tip of the county and is very near Falls Lake. I’ve been particularly interested in how New Light got its name, and ran across this on NCPedia:

"New Lights" refers to a specific sect of Baptists that emerged during the Great Awakening of the 1730s and the Second Great Awakening of the early 1800s. During these revivals, some converted Baptists were named "New Lights" because they believed that God had brought new light into their lives through their emotional conversion experiences. These New Light Baptists were also known as Separate Baptists for their belief in conversions, which set them apart from other Baptists, who preached Calvinistic ideas of predestination. (Attributed to Ellen Fitzgibbons Causey, 2006).

I would love to chat with other researchers who found a connection between “New Lights” who settled in New Light! Post here!

Read Carla's Blog here for more on her New Light roots.

Visit Wake County Genealogical Society's Website - Homepage | WCGS Events | Join WCGS | Publications | Wake Cemetery Survey Images | Society Surnames | Digital Resources | History Resources | More Links and Resources | Contact