Something is pulling my attention to Raleigh/Wake County around the turn of the century (1900's). It was a time of accelerated growth and prosperity. Perhaps it is that parallel that with today's frantic growth pace that has me looking backwards.   I started looking at the historic neighborhoods that built up in the early 1900's: Glenwood   - c.1905. It's development a direct result of the streetcar line providing access north and west. Boylan Heights  -  c.1907. Built on 180 acres of the William Montfort Boylan Mansion on the western outskirts of Raleigh. Cameron Park  - c.1910. Built on land that half a century earlier was Cameron Plantation. Bloomsbury - c. 1914. It's construction signaled the transition from streetcar access to automobile access as Raleigh expanded ever outward. Trolley time in Raleigh ( source ) As I did more research, I  became amazed and a little unsettled at the historical, cultural and sociological details that are u...

When Wake County was formed in 1771, there was no Raleigh. The city of Raleigh did not come into being until about twenty years later. The original center of business and county seat when Wake was first established was called Bloomsbury and alternately Wake Courthouse. It was the site of many Wake County firsts - first election, first court, first militia formation. I remember reading (in an old N&O article) that Bloomsbury may have been the sight of the first reading of the Declaration of Independence in Wake County. It is worth visiting that spot and imagining the magic of that moment.  A placque to commemorate the importance of the hamlet of Bloomsbury still stands near the Joel Lane house who gave the land on which the hamlet was located. The inscription   reads - On and around this spot stood the old town of  Bloomsbury or Wake Court-house which was erected and made the county seat when Wake County was established in 1771. This place was the rendezvous point...