Beneath the busy streets of Hillsborough, Morgan, and Boylan lie dark, dirty corners of Raleigh. Large pillars of concrete rise out of packed mud ground to lift these thoroughfares and allow for rail traffic to pass beneath. The spaces created by these elevated roads are a home for the homeless, a canvas for graffiti writers, and a departure point for freight riders. Covered in graffiti of varying qualities and strewn with artifacts of all types, the underpasses hold a thousand different stories. A hobo moniker left by some traveler years ago, an empty purse with a torn strap, remnants of campfires, old trashy romance novels; each of these gives one an idea of somebody who was there before them, clues to stories never told.  Once I stumbled onto a message spelled out in rocks set on the dirt telling a friend goodbye and to be careful “on the road.”

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Chances are you’re familiar with what is arguably the most prominent icon of downtown Raleigh’s resurgence: The Raleigh Times Bar. You may also be familiar with the namesake of that bar, The Raleigh Times, which served as the city’s afternoon newspaper for more than 100 years, spanning the period from 1879 until 1989. What you may not be familiar with is the building the paper occupied after it moved in 1920 from its original home on Hargett St. The second Raleigh Times is located on W. Martin Street, facing Nash Square.

Historical photograph by Barden, Ellington’s Studio, Raleigh, N.C.

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One of the founding members of WKNC’s Afterhours program, DJ Rousseau is seen above spinning tunes for Rumble Sessions, an electronica show at The Big Easy every Monday evening.