Comments on: Raleigh’s Last Remaining Castle

By: Hollis

Hollis — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 13:01:13 +0000

I believe I just said out loud, “Holy (expletive) there’s a castle in Raleigh”! I’ve passed by this so many times, but never really looked. Thanks so much for the post and opening my eyes!! Very cool.

By: Russ

Russ — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 14:45:53 +0000

Thanks for publicizing this priceless Raleigh cultural resource.

I had the honor of working on a renovation design of the Old Health Building in the 1980s. My two most vivid memories are of the elevator and the attic:

The elevator was oldest working model I’ve ever encountered. No buttons, just an up/down lever that allowed you to stop wherever you wanted. Trying to align the cab floor with the building floors was a challenge. Each ride ended with a final few touches of the lever to get the cab within a foot of the floor level. Those final adjustments were always nerve wracking because the cab bounced like it was on a long rubber band.

The attic was dark, hot and cavernous (look at the photos of that enormous, steeply pitched slate roof). It was full of pigeons, their leavings and a host of associated crawling critters. Fortunately, State entomologists were housed in the building at the time and were able to identify the brown recluse spiders, etc.

By: RaleighRob

RaleighRob — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 19:05:14 +0000

The recent renovations were impressive. I can remember when the brick had been painted over…did not look quite right at all.

By: NCSU

NCSU — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 13:33:52 +0000

Thanks Raleigh Boy.

Next time I talk with her, I’ll tell her that and see if I can find out where/how she got the information. Her story even contained details and described a dress that nearly disintegrated when they moved the bones.

We used to visit that abandoned orphanage late at night when I was in high school. The scariest – and most bogus – story at that time centered around a dark room in the basement where disobedient children were confined indefinitely without food or water. You could even “see the scratches” on the wall where they tried to claw their way out before dying. Listen closely and you can still hear their cries and screams!

By: Raleigh Boy

Raleigh Boy — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 16:17:57 +0000

hmmm, skeleton of a little girl at the bottom of the elevator shaft? I doubt it. The 1914 and 1950 Sanborn maps do not indicate an elevator in the building. I’d imagine an elevator dates to a more recent date. Given that the building was used as a boy’s dormitory until the mid-1920s, and has been used as an office building since 1927, I’d have to question the validity of that story. Besides, seems like something of such macabre import as that would have made it into the papers!

Reminds me of the “Crybaby Lane” myth regarding the old Catholic Orphanage. http://www.raleighpublicrecord.org/featured/2009/04/27/nazareth-orphans-ghosts-and-a-saint/

By: Mary E.

Mary E. — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 16:03:23 +0000

Good work John. Love the pictures, as always :)

By: NCSU

NCSU — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 15:18:20 +0000

Thanks for the nice story and pictures. The existing Governor Morehead school over on Ashe Avenue has some nice architecture as well. The “colored” school moved from the location above to a campus out on Old Garner road. I think the NCHP now occupies the space. You’ll be amazed if you visit and compare it with the Ashe Avenue campus. The “colored” campus was actually quite a bit nicer.

I know someone who works in this building and she told me that, during the recent renovations, the skeleton of a little girl was found at the bottom of the elevator shaft. That’s all she knew and I don’t recall hearing anything else about it on the news. Anyone else familiar with this?