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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? 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

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 ...

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 . Visit Wake County Genealogical Society's Website  -  Homepage  |  WCGS Events  |  Join WCGS  ...

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/ 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 - 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...

Wake Wednesday - Psst.... Backdoor to Wake Records

If I told you there was a back door to see all of the viewable Wake County Records in the FamilySearch Catalog, would you be interested? It is like viewing virtual microfilm from your own comfy chair! This is a variation on a tip found on a North Carolina regional research group on Facebook. Thanks to Delores Williams of NCGenweb for sharing the tip.  You will need to log in to FamilySearch for this to be usable. Creating a log in is free. Visit this link -  https://tinyurl.com/wakeco You will see the following page of Wake specific collections. Click on the text by the red arrow to access the ability to filter by township.  click image for larger view Click thru the collections. When you find one that is interesting, click through to that page. Scroll down the page to see if the camera icon exists. If so, click the camera to browse the record.  Note that books by individuals are not usually available to view. Collections derived from state and county sources usually...

Wake Genealogy Watch newletter - Winter 2024 issue is live now!

Hello Wake researchers,  The Winter 2024 Issue (Vol. 7 Issue 2) of our award-winning newsletter, Wake Genealogy Watch, is now available online for reading or download. You can visit the  WCGS website   or access through this link -  Wake Genealogy Watch, Winter 2024   Features in this issue include: A big change to our Wake Treasures Journal sharing policy that is sure to please members and new visitors alike! An in-depth article about creating a family history in scrapbook style from Christopher Hunt Robertson. Chirstopher has shared several of his engaging ancestor scrapbooks with us in the past. A feature article on the Shiloh Community near Morrisville. Shiloh started as a freedmen’s village in the 1830’s. One of our WCGS members has strong family ties to this community. Focus on a little known and often overlooked resource – Historic and Architectural Resources of Wake County, North Car...

Wake Wednesday - Seasons Greetings ca.1928

Source Here is the holiday greeting card sent out by The Raleigh Times to its customers in the late 1920's. It is just one example of the wonderful old holiday cards in the NC State Archive's Flickr photostream.  To view all the holiday cards visit this page. If you have a little more time to spare, check out all the Archive's collections here! Visit Wake County Genealogical Society's Website  -  Homepage  |  WCGS Events  |  Join WCGS  |  Publications  |  Wake Cemetery Survey Images  | Digital Resources  |  History Resources  |  More Links and Resources  |  Contact

Crossing Buckhorn - New Book from WCGS Program Chair, George Thomas

I  want to call attention to a new family history book  just now hot off the presses from our own program chair, George Thomas . The book, entitled CROSSING BUCKHORN: Untold Matters of Race and Family in the Evolving State of North Carolina is available in paperback at Amazon .  Crossing Buckhorn explores George's ancestor, Joseph Thomas, and his close bonds to his community and cohorts that started in early Northeast North Carolina. Those interested in migration paths to and through our state to parts west this is a must read.  Those interested in early race relations and learning how three races, Tuscarora, white and black peacefully coexisted for many generations will also enjoy reading George’s book. Check the preview on Amazon. As well as being a noteworthy family history, you will find it to be a good read. My copy is on order. I am tracking delivery as we speak! Visit Wake County Genealogical Society's Website  -  Homepage  |  WCGS Event...

Wake Wednesday - The mother of all Wake Wednesday posts!

Hi Wake Researchers. We have some very exciting news for all of you. Wake County Genealogical Society has recently decided to change the way we share our Wake Treasures Journal content with you at the Wakecogen website. I think you will enjoy this surprise. Here is the announcement from webmaster, Cynthia Gage: "Wake Treasures Goes Public! It is well-known how technology has changed the way information is disseminated.  The growth of online platforms are providing new ways of sharing and reaching a broader audience.  WCGS has seen these changes and over the years has expanded its outreach through our WCGS Facebook and WCGS Blog social-media pages.  We also modernized our website several years ago and then converted our newsletter distribution to an on-line digital format where issues can be stored and made available at the click of a mouse!   In the past hard-copy publications provided the standard format for keeping information available, but these are only u...