You Are Invited to Explore ‘Lost Raleigh’ This Sunday, April 23, at Mordecai Historic Park.
The Wake County Historical Society will host Goodnight Raleigh’s publisher and history editor, Raleigh Boy, this weekend for a photo presentation on Raleigh’s lost architectural treasures. The event will take place at the Mordecai Historic Park Visitors Center, corner Cedar St. and Wake Forest Rd., Sunday, April 23, at 2.00 pm. A nominal $5.00 admission fee will go to support Wake County Historical Society and its programs.
Whether you are a Raleigh native, longtime resident, or newcomer, and have an interest in our city’s architecture and history, you don’t want to miss this event. Raleigh Boy (aka Karl Larson) wrote his master’s thesis on Raleigh’s history, works in the photography collections unit at the state archives, and has spent more than 45 years photographing and studying the Capital City’s rich past. Please join us Sunday afternoon for what is sure to be an eye-opening presentation on Raleigh’s lost architectural heritage.
Here is just a sampling of the lost landmarks we will explore. How many do you recognize?
State Archives of North Carolina photo
Carter Braxton Harrison villa. Built 1860. Demolished 1962.
State Archives of North Carolina photo
Academy of Music Opera House. Built 1892. Demolished 1959.
State Archives of North Carolina photo
Octavius Coke Mansion. Built ca 1875. Demolished ca 1950.Â
State Archives of North Carolina photo
Baptist Female University. Built 1895-97. Demolished 1967.
State Archives of North Carolina photo
Raleigh City Hall and Auditorium. Built 1910. Demolished 1960.
State Archives of North Carolina photo
Duncan Cameron Mansion. Built 1835. Demolished 1938.
State Archives of North Carolina photo
Nazareth Catholic Orphanage. Built 1907. Demolished ca 1978.
State Archives of North Carolina photo
Thomas Kenan Residence. Built ca 1890. Demolished 1950.
State Archives of North Carolina photo
Tucker Building. Built 1899. Demolished 1966.
State Archives of North Carolina photo
Dorothea Dix Hospital. Designed by Alexander Jackson Davis, built 1850.
State Archives of North Carolina photo
Demolition of the central pavilion, 1951.
Lost Raleigh, a photo presentation of Raleigh’s lost architectural treasures
April 23, 2017
2.00 pm
Mordecai Historic Park
Corner Wake Forest Rd. and Cedar St., Raleigh, NC
Sponsored by the Wake County Historical Society
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04/21/2017
I am teaching an art class at the Cardinal during that time. HATE to miss it. Hope it will be presented again.
Just returned from Boston where they kept so much interesting architecture-sad.
04/21/2017
Also wondering why the Cameron House was demolished, where was it?
04/22/2017
It is my understanding that the Cameron House was across Hillsborough in front of St Mary’s. Not directly in front but back aways based on when it was constructed.
04/24/2017
Yes, The Cameron House was located on Hillsboro Street across from St. Mary’s School. It was demolished in 1938 and the Cameron Court Apartments were built on the site. A few of the large oaks which graced the property are still there.
05/13/2017
Hello Raleigh Boy (alias, Mr. Larson) I was wondering if there is a book that has been published with a picture of the Duncan Cameron Mansion. I am a direct descendant of his sister, Jean Cameron Syme. I would love a copy of the photo. I am in Raleigh for the genealogy conference May 2017 and unfortunately am heading to Blowing Rock on Tuesday and archives are closed on Monday!
Any help would be so appreciated.
Elizabeth Shrode Collins
P.S. Am also looking for which state archive has a picture of William C. Williams home in McFarland’s book about architecture, it references NC Archives but nothing else. I am his direct descendant also.
09/01/2017
Hi Raleigh Boy! Do you by chance have a photo of the house that Delia and George Badger lived in, I think at the corner of Edenton and Wilmington Street? I have been trying to figure out what house is featured in the photo of Aunt Betsy with her ox cart and First Baptist Church in the background. It looks as if she was at the corner of Edenton and Halifax Street or Edenton and Wilmington Street.
Also, is there a photo of the old Guion Hotel? Thanks for any help!
Betsy Haywood
11/24/2018
Greetings,
A very impressive and informative site.
Can you tell me where the Guion Hotel was located?
Many thanks for your consideration.
George
07/19/2019
Might the Guion Hotel have been where the State Highway building is now located at the Northeast corner of Wilmington and Morgan streets?
I remember,as a small child, the demolition of what I recall as an old frame construction building that I thought was a hotel followed by the construction of the State Highway Building on that site. I have a vivid recollection of a work gang of black laborers chanting as they moved heavy objects in unison during that demolition. The site is across Morgan Street from the First Baptist Church (Negro).
My recollections probably go the to mid or late 1940’s. I recall that in 1948 President Harry Truman came to Raleigh to dedicate the statue of the 3 native North Carolinians who became President of the United States. I was one of the school children from Murphey School who lined Blount Street waving small US flags as the motorcade traveled from the Seaboard Train Depot to the Governor’s Mansion where, IIRC, President Truman stayed during his visit. I beleive that construction of State Highway building was complete or nearly complete during that dedication. My dad and I stood in the crowd to hear the president speak, but his words were lost on a 6-year old. The crowd and the atmosphere were not lost on me, though.
07/23/2019
Robert, the Guion was on the site of where the Department of Agriculture building is now. The Guion also went by the Eagle Hotel (and others I’m forgetting at the moment).
The site of the Highway Building and a simple two story brick commercial building right at the corner, and a large house/mansion with a turret at the New Bern/Wilmington corner.
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