Raleigh was laid out in 1792 on land bought from Joel Lane and chartered Jan. 21, 1795. Its 142 National Register listings, museums and historic sites.

Last checked Oct. 11, 2026. Dates come from the City of Raleigh’s history timeline, NCpedia and the National Park Service’s National Register data. Hours are as each site publishes them; call before you go.

Raleigh was built to be North Carolina’s capital. In March 1792 commissioners chose land owned by Joel Lane near Wake Court House for North Carolina’s new capital, paying $2,756, according to the City of Raleigh. Lane sold the state 1,000 acres, NCpedia says, and state Sen. William Christmas of Franklin County laid out a 400-acre town with five public squares. The largest, Union Square, was set aside for the statehouse; the State Capitol stands on it today. The city is named for Sir Walter Raleigh, who sponsored the Roanoke voyages. On Jan. 21, 1795, the General Assembly chartered Raleigh and appointed seven commissioners to govern it, the city’s timeline says.

Visit

  • N.C. State Capitol, 1 E. Edenton St.: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday; closed Sunday and state holidays (N.C. Historic Sites)
  • City of Raleigh Museum, 220 Fayetteville St.: free; 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday, 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday; 919-996-2220
  • Mordecai Historic Park, 1 Mimosa St.: tours on the hour 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; $8 adults, $5 youth; 919-996-4364
  • Joel Lane Museum House, 160 S. St. Mary’s St.: free guided tours; 919-833-3431

How the city grew

From NCpedia, the State Library of North Carolina’s encyclopedia:

  • 1831: fire destroyed the original statehouse.
  • 1840: the railroad arrived, and the new State Capitol opened the same year.
  • 1857: the city limits were expanded for the first time.
  • April 1865: Raleigh surrendered peacefully to Union forces and was occupied, avoiding the destruction other Southern cities suffered.
  • 1865, 1887, 1891: Shaw University, the school that became N.C. State University, and Meredith College were founded; a new Executive Mansion was completed in 1891.
  • 1907: a second expansion of the city limits; trolley suburbs grew beyond the old boundaries.
  • 1963: the new State Legislative Building was completed.

In the second half of the 20th century, growth in state government and the Research Triangle Park brought people and business to the area. Raleigh’s population passed half a million in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate; see our population guide.

Historic districts and downtown

The National Register lists the Capitol Area Historic District (1978), the Fayetteville Street Historic District (2008), the Moore Square Historic District (1983) and the Depot Historic District (2002), and around them the residential Oakwood Historic District (1974, enlarged three times), Boylan Heights (1985), Glenwood (1985) and Hayes Barton (2002). The city also keeps its own local historic districts, where exterior changes need a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Raleigh Historic Development Commission; see our permits guide.

Museums, sites and cemeteries open to visitors

Place Address What is there Hours and cost as published
N.C. State Capitol 1 E. Edenton St. The 1840 capitol on Union Square; a National Historic Landmark 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday
City of Raleigh Museum 220 Fayetteville St. Exhibits on the city’s people and places; about 5,000 artifacts 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday; 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday; free
Mordecai Historic Park 1 Mimosa St. Mordecai House (c. 1785/1826), Andrew Johnson Birthplace (c. 1790s), St. Mark’s Chapel (c. 1847) Tours hourly 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; $8 adults, $5 youth, 6 and under free
Joel Lane Museum House 160 S. St. Mary’s St. Home of the man who sold the state the land for Raleigh Tours Wednesday to Friday 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday 1 to 3 p.m.; free
Historic Oakwood Cemetery 701 Oakwood Ave. Cemetery in the Oakwood neighborhood Gates 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in standard time, to 6 p.m. in daylight saving time
Pullen Park 520 Ashe Ave. Opened 1887; its carousel is on the National Register (1976) 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily

The N.C. Museum of History is temporarily closed for renovation, the museum says; 919-814-7000.

Every National Register listing in Raleigh

The National Park Service’s list of National Register of Historic Places entries with a Raleigh address, by the year each was listed. Some sit outside today’s city limits with a Raleigh mailing address; boundary increases and additional documentation are separate entries. Names are as the Park Service records them.

Listed Property (as named by the National Park Service) Location as listed Type
1970 North Carolina Executive Mansion 210 N. Blount St. building
1970 North Carolina State Capitol (National Historic Landmark, 1973) Capitol Sq. building
1970 Yates Mill Lake Wheeler Rd. building
1970 Mordecai House Mimosa St. building
1970 State Bank of North Carolina 11 New Bern Ave. building
1970 Christ Church (National Historic Landmark, 1987) 120 E. Edenton St. building
1970 Haywood Hall 211 New Bern Ave. building
1970 Haywood, Richard B., House 127 E. Edenton St. building
1970 Lane, Joel, House 728 W. Hargett St. building
1970 St. Mary’s Chapel 900 Hillsborough St. building
1971 White-Holman House New Bern Ave. building
1971 Federal Building 300 Fayetteville St. building
1971 Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Company Office Building Wilmington St. building
1971 Dodd-Hinsdale House 330 Hillsborough St. building
1971 Raleigh Water Tower 115 W. Morgan St. building
1972 Andrews-Duncan House 407 N. Blount St. building
1972 Heck-Andrews House 309 N. Blount St. building
1972 Hawkins-Hartness House 310 N. Blount St. building
1972 Lewis-Smith House N. Blount St. building
1973 J. S. Dorton Arena North Carolina State Fairgrounds, W. Hillsborough St. building
1973 Heck-Lee, Heck-Wynne, and Heck-Pool Houses 503 and 511 E. Jones St. and 218 N. East St. building
1973 Estey Hall E. South St. on Shaw University campus building
1973 Jones Jr., Nathaniel, House 3108 Hillmer Dr. building
1973 Peace College Main Building Peace St. and N end of Wilmington St. building
1973 Briggs Hardware Building 220 Fayetteville St. building
1974 Oakwood Historic District Roughly bounded by N. Boundary, Person, Jones, and Linden Sts., and Oakwood Cemetery district
1975 Capehart House N. Blount St. building
1975 Tucker Carriage House 100 block of St. Mary building
1975 Jones, Alpheus, House NE of Raleigh on U.S. 401 building
1975 Elmwood 16 N. Boylan Ave. building
1976 Agriculture Building E. Edenton St. building
1976 North Carolina School for the Blind and Deaf Dormitory 216 W. Jones St. building
1976 Pullen Park Carousel Pullen Park, Western Blvd. structure
1977 Polk, Leonidas L., House 612 N. Blount St. building
1978 Montford Hall 308 Boylan Ave. building
1978 Capitol Area Historic District State Capitol building and environs district
1978 Raleigh, Sir Walter, Hotel 400-412 Fayetteville St. building
1978 St. Mary’s College St. Marys and Hillsborough Sts. district
1979 Rogers-Bagley-Daniels-Pegues House 125 E. South St. building
1979 Masonic Temple Building 133 Fayetteville St. Mall building
1980 Norburn Terrace 216 Lafayette St. building
1980 St. Augustine’s College Campus (Additional Documentation) Oakwood Ave. district
1983 Lane-Bennett House 7408 Ebenezer Church Rd. building
1983 Moore Square Historic District Roughly bounded by Person, Morgan, Wilmington, and Davie Sts. district
1983 Lumsden-Boone Building 226 Fayetteville St. Mall building
1983 Professional Building 123-127 W. Hargett and McDowell Sts. building
1983 Spring Hill 705 Barbour Dr. building
1984 Masonic Temple Building 427 S. Blount St. building
1985 Boylan Heights Roughly bounded by Norfolk & Southern RR, Mountford, Martin and Florence Sts. and Dorothea Dr. district
1985 Cameron Park (Additional Documentation) Roughly bounded by Clark Ave., West Peace and Saint Mary’s Sts., College Pl., Hillsborough St. and Oberlin Rd. district
1985 Glenwood Roughly bounded by Wade Ave., Norfolk and Southern Railway, Belmont St. and Glenwood Ave. district
1985 Capital Club Building 16 W. Martin St. building
1986 Marshall-Harris-Richardson House 116 N. Person St. building
1987 North Carolina State Fair Commercial & Education Buildings NW corner Jct. of Blue Ridge Rd. and Hillsborough St. building
1987 Oakwood Historic District (Boundary Increase) E side of Linden Ave. & N side of 700 blk. E. Lane St. district
1987 St. Paul A.M.E. Church 402 W. Edenton St. building
1987 Christ Episcopal Church (National Historic Landmark, 1987) 120 E. Edenton St. building
1988 Oakwood Historic District (Boundary Increase II) Portions of N. & S. Bloodworth Sts., N. & S. East Sts. , N. Person St., E. Morgan St., New Bern Ave. & E. Edenton St. district
1989 Oakwood Historic District (Boundary Increase III) Roughly bounded by E. Franklin St., Wautauga St., Boundary St., and N. Bloodworth St. district
1989 Pilot Mill 1121 Haynes St. district
1989 Henderson, Isabelle Bowen, House and Gardens 2134 Oberlin Rd. district
1990 Wyatt, Leonidas R., House 107 S Bloodworth St. building
1990 East Raleigh-South Park Historic District Roughly bounded by Bragg, East, E. Lenoir, Alston, Camden, Hargett, Swain, Davis, and S. Blount Sts. district
1990 Dix Hill Roughly bounded by Dorothea Dr., Lake Wheeler Rd. and the Norfolk Southern RR tracks district
1991 Oak View Jct. of Poole Rd. and Raleigh Beltline district
1992 Grosvenor Gardens Apartments 1101 Hillsborough St. building
1993 Fadum House 3056 Granville Dr. building
1993 Raleigh Banking and Trust Company Building 5 W. Hargett St. building
1994 Matsumoto House 821 Runnymeade Rd. building
1994 Paschal House 3334 Alamance Dr. building
1994 Ritcher House 3039 Churchill Rd. building
1994 Small House 310 Lake Boone Trail building
1994 Small, G. Milton, and Associates, Office Building 105 Brooks Ave. building
1995 Crabtree Creek Recreational Demonstration Area Roughly bounded by I-40, US 70 and the Raleigh-Durham Airport district
1995 Haywood, Dr. Hubert Benbury and Marguerite Manor, House (Additional Documentation) 634 North Blount St. building
1996 Kamphoefner, Henry L., House 3060 Granville Dr. building
1997 Raleigh National Cemetery 501 Rock Quarry Rd. site
1997 Carolina Power and Light Company Car Barn and Automobile Garage 116 N. West St. building
1997 Raleigh Electric Company Power House 513-515 W. Jones St. building
1997 Odd Fellows Building 19 W Hargett St. building
1997 Pine Street Creamery, (Former) 414 Glenwood Ave. building
1997 Royal Baking Company 3801 Hillsborough St. building
1998 Mordecai Place Historic District Roughly bounded by N. Blount St., Courtland Dr., Old Wake Forest Rd. and Mordecai Dr. district
1999 Pope, Dr. M.T., House 511 S Wilmington St. building
1999 Raleigh Water Works and E.B. Bain Water Treatment Plant 1810 Fayetteville Rd. building
2000 Mahler and Carolina Trust Buildings 228-232 Fayetteville St. Mall building
2000 Mordecai Place Historic District (Boundary Increase) 208 Delway St. building
2001 St. Matthews School US 401, 0.5 mi NE of NC 2213 building
2001 Panther Branch School NC 2727, 0.5 mi. S of NC 183 building
2001 Caraleigh Mills 421 Maywood Ave. building
2001 North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station Cottage 2714 Vanderbilt Ave. building
2002 Glenwood-Brooklyn Historic District (Boundary Increase and Decrease) Roughly bounded by W. Peace St., St. Mary’s St. Wills Forest St. and Glenwood Ave. district
2002 Penny, Jesse, House and Outbuildings NC 1379, 1 mi. SW of NC 1371 building
2002 Bloomsbury Historic District Roughly bounded by Fairview Rd., St. Mary’s St., Byrd St., Sunset Dr. and Whitaker Mill Rd. district
2002 Hall, Rev. Plummer T., House 814 Oberlin Rd. building
2002 Hayes Barton Historic District Roughly bounded by St. Mary’s St., Fairview Rd., Aycock St., Scales St. and Williamson Dr. district
2002 Latta, Rev. M.L., House 1001 Parker St. building
2002 Turner, John T. and Mary, House 1002 Oberlin Rd. building
2002 Depot Historic District Bounded by W. Hargett, S. McDowell, S. Dawson, and W. Cabarrus St. district
2003 Roanoke Park Historic District Roughly bounded by Whitaker Mill Rd. Fairview Rd. Morrison Ave., Sunrise Ave. and Brickett Blvd. district
2003 Vanguard Park Historic District Roughly bounded by McCarthy St., Whitaker Mill Rd., Pine Ave., and Hudson St. district
2003 Green, Herman, House NC 1371, 0.4 N of NC 1375 (5500 Lake Wheeler Rd.) building
2003 Occidental Life Insurance Company Building 1001 Wade Ave. building
2003 West Raleigh Historic District Roughly bounded by Mayview Rd., Enterprise St., Hillsborough St. and Faircloth St. district
2005 Washington Graded and High School 1000 Fayetteville St. building
2005 Rothstein, Mae and Philip, House 912 Williamson Dr. building
2005 Lawrence, Dr. Elmo N., House 2121 Lake Wheeler Rd. building
2005 Blalock, Dr. Nathan M., House 6741 Rock Service Station Rd. building
2006 Ivey, Rufus J., House 6115 Louisburg building
2006 Maiden Lane Historic District 2-20 Maiden Ln. district
2006 Raleigh Bonded Warehouse 1505 Capital Blvd. building
2006 Pine Hall 5300 Castlebrook Dr. building
2006 Adams-Edwards House 5400 Tryon Rd. building
2007 Boylan Apartments 817 Hillsborough St. building
2008 Fayetteville Street Historic District Roughly 100-400 blks. of Fayetteville, 00-100 blks. of W. Hargett, 00 blk. of W. Martin, 100-400 S. Salisbury Sts. district
2008 Free Church of the Good Shepherd 110 S. E. St. building
2008 City Cemetery 17 S. E. St. district
2008 Curtis, William A., House 1415 Poole Rd. building
2009 Mount Hope Cemetery 1100 Fayetteville St. district
2009 Welles, Paul and Ellen, House 3227 Birnamwood Rd. building
2009 Mary Elizabeth Hospital 1100 Wake Forest Rd. building
2009 Carolina Coach Garage and Shop 510 E. Davie St. building
2010 Madonna Acres Historic District Delany Dr, Dillon, Summerville, and Tierney Crcls district
2010 Harris, Harwell Hamilton and Jean Bangs, House and Office 122 Cox Ave building
2011 Battery Heights Historic District Bounded roughly by E Martin St on the N, Battery Dr on the E, E Davie St on the S, and Sherrybrook Dr on the W district
2011 Capitol Heights Historic District Roughly bounded by Penn Rd, N State St, Glascock St, and Madison Rd district
2011 Longview Gardens Historic District (Additional Documentation) Bounded roughly by King Charles Rd., Poole Rd., Donald Ross Dr., Albemarle Ave., Longview Lake Dr., and New Bern Ave. district
2011 Hi-Mount Historic District Roughly bounded by E. Whitaker Mill Rd., Bernard, Peebles, Main & Hilton Sts district
2011 Arndt, G. Dewey and Elma, House 1428 Canterbury Rd. building
2011 Rochester Heights Historic District Roughly bounded by Bailey Dr., Boaz Rd., Calloway Dr. & Garner Rd. district
2011 Cameron Village Historic District Roughly bounded by Daniels St., Wade Ave., Woodburn Rd., & Smallwood Dr. district
2014 Merrimon-Wynne House 500 N. Blount St. building
2014 Tucker, Garland Scott and Toler Moore, House 418 N. Person St. building
2014 Wachovia Building Company Contemporary Ranch House 823 Bryan St. building
2016 Chavis, John, Memorial Park 505 Martin Luther King Blvd. district
2017 O’Kelly, Berry, Historic District 512, 514, 520 Method Rd. district
2017 Depot Historic District (Boundary Increase) 302-310 S. West St. district
2018 Oak Grove Cemetery 4303 Beryl Rd. site
2018 Oberlin Cemetery 1014 Oberlin Rd. site
2019 St. Ambrose Episcopal Church 813 Darby St. building
2021 Graves-Fields House 814 Oberlin Rd. building
2026 State Capitol Holiday Inn 320 Hillsborough St building

What this means for you

  • The City of Raleigh Museum and the Joel Lane House tours are free.
  • The N.C. Museum of History is closed for renovation; check before you plan a visit.
  • Own a home in a historic district? Check the rules before you change the outside.

More: things to do this month and parks and trails.

Frequently asked questions

When was Raleigh founded?

State commissioners chose Joel Lane’s land for the new capital in March 1792, and the General Assembly chartered Raleigh on Jan. 21, 1795, according to the City of Raleigh’s history timeline.

Who was Raleigh named for?

Sir Walter Raleigh, sponsor of the Roanoke voyages, according to NCpedia, the State Library of North Carolina’s encyclopedia.

How many National Register sites are in Raleigh?

The National Park Service lists 142 National Register of Historic Places entries with a Raleigh address, from the State Capitol and Executive Mansion, listed in 1970, to the State Capitol Holiday Inn, listed in 2026.

Can you tour the North Carolina State Capitol?

Yes. The State Capitol, 1 E. Edenton St., is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, and closed Sunday and state holidays.

Is the Joel Lane House open to visitors?

Yes. The Joel Lane Museum House, 160 S. St. Mary’s St., gives free guided tours Wednesday through Friday at 10 a.m., 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m., and Saturday at 1, 2 and 3 p.m.