Enjoy this excerpt of a wonderful map that is available in the North Carolina Collection at UNC. Printed in 1867, the full map shows Raleigh as it appeared in 1837. Here you see Raleigh in all its "four square" glory. That would be Caswell, Burke, Nash and Moore Squares. Only Nash and Moore are extant today. source Notice that the four streets perpendicular to the capitol building are wider than the others. This was planned. A note on the map states that "Newbern, Hillsborough, Halifax and Fayetteville Streets are ninety-nine feet wide; the others sixty-six. Each lot contains one acre of land." The full version of this map also shows  businesses, l andowners, property lines, and public buildings. Be sure to view the full version of this map to read the inscriptions in each lot. There are lots of familiar early Raleigh citizens represented. It is also worthwhile to compare the full version to a current Google satellite map to see how things changed. Get the full veri...

I am taking the Wake Wednesday posts in a little different direction for a change of pace. In an effort to highlight the vast wealth of content that is held within the pages of the Wake Treasures Journal , I will be featuring small snippets from the Journal in hopes that you might find something useful for your own family research. I hope you will let me know if you are inspired to search there or make a great discovery for your family story.  Now let's get started... As we close out Black History Month, I want to feature this listing of African-American Businesses compiled in the 1909-1910 Hill City Directory for Raleigh, NC. The list was transcribed by Fred Turner for the Winter/Spring 2004 issue - v.14, nbr.1 . There are 5+ pages of listings (in excess of 230 individual listings) that include name, business type, and address.  Included in the transcription: Alford, Nick     eating houses     206 1/2 e Martin Alle, John    ...