Hillsboro Street, Raleigh, N.C.
This week Flashback Friday takes a nostalgic look at a Hillsboro Street that is now long gone. The view depicted in our featured postcard is looking up the broad avenue from the middle of the 200 block toward the State Capitol. From there we’ll saunter down the street while taking in the scenery of more than a century ago.
I sent you [2] before, hope you will like them, but they are not as pretty as the ones you sent me.
Sincerely, [illegible] Collier [?]
221 So West St
Curious message. As the card itself was not mailed, I think that probably is was sent to the recipient in a letter, or something, as an exchange between two postcard collectors.
We have featured Hillsboro Street in previous posts on Flashback Friday, so this week let’s take a postcard stroll down the street with stops along the way to admire the landmarks we have lost.
Here is a view looking west, from the Confederate Monument at the head of the street. The Neoclassical R.B. Raney mansion is on the right.
Here we are looking east toward the Capitol from the 500 block.
The view here is from the middle of the 700 block looking east. Note the Neoclassical mansions and the red brick Trinity Lutheran Church on the left.Â
Hillsboro Street was once Raleigh’s premier residential avenue. Gothic Revival churches, antebellum Greek Revival residences, and Queen Anne and Neoclassical mansions prevailed in the streetscape. The streetcar route ran the length of the street from the capitol to the fairgrounds.
The images below will give you a glimpse of the glory that was once Hillsboro.
Ghosts of Hillsboro Street
The Richard B. Raney mansion once reigned supreme at the head of Hillsboro Street. This palace was demolished in the 1950s, and the site is now a parking lot.Â
The Dr. James Goodwin residence in the 200 block has miraculously survived, and is today home to the state Democratic Party headquarters.Â
This is the Henry T. Hicks mansion. It was built in 1910; stripped of its monumental Neoclassical portico in the 1960s, the house itself still stands in the 300 block. Â
Percy Albright built this Neoclassical mansion in the 700 block in 1902. It can be seen in the third postcard seen above. It was demolished in 1960 and replaced by an office building.
This Queen Anne fantasy was built at the corner of Hillsboro and West Streets in 1900. It was demolished in the 1930s.
Duncan Cameron built his Greek Revival mansion across from St. Mary’s School in 1835. In the early 1900s it was remodeled in the Neoclassical fashion, as evidenced by the distinctive portico. Cameron Court Apartments occupy the site today.
Dr. James Rogers built this brick Neoclassical masterpiece just down the street from R.B. Raney’s mansion ca 1912. It was demolished in 1971, and a parking lot occupies the site today.
Thus ends our brief tour of the Hillsboro Street that once was. There have been many more such losses which we have not detailed here. Sadly, this architectural showcase, Hillsboro Street, is now gone forever.
Our Flashback Friday postcard this week was printed under the trade name ‘Litho-Chrome’ by the American News Co. of New York, NY.
American News Co. 1864-1957
119 Nassau Street, New York, NYFounded in 1864, this firm became a major distributor of books, magazines, newspapers, and postcards. Nearly all of their output was in view-cards. Most of their cards were printed in Leipzig, Dresden and Berlin, Germany. Their closure in 1957 led to great difficulties in distribution, putting many small publishers out of business as well.
Their first series has a letter A prefix followed by When these numbers ran out they began their B series with sequential numbers running 1- 12200. The C series ran up to 15000. Eventually cards were just numbered sequentially without regard to style. Many cards with undivided backs were reprinted with divided backs after 1907.
Litho-Chrome
Litho-Chrome is a trade name for a type of German made postcard distributed by the American News Company. Their individual colors are sharp and tend to stand out. Ink coverage is sometimes so heavy that it renders scenes highly unnatural.
“Flashback Friday†is a weekly feature of Goodnight, Raleigh! in which we showcase vintage postcards depicting our historic capital city. We hope you enjoy this week end treat!
03/27/2015
The Hicks House is still there and in line for demolition. RHDC is working on trying to save it but the clamor from anybody else is quiet. Can you guys help at all? Publicity is a first step.
03/27/2015
Larry
03/27/2015
Originally it was Hillsborough St, as laid out on
on William Christmas’ 1792 plan. It was named after
the town of Hillsborough. While it may have
been referred to as Hillsboro St., it is now
officially Hillsborough St.
Read through the Christmas plan:
http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-newnation/4352
03/28/2015
Larry — Yes it was. A few years ago we published an article on the history of the name, ‘Hillsboro vs Hillsborough.’ I should have included the link, so here it is http://goodnightraleigh.com/2008/05/history-of-hillsborough-st-name/
I’m a Raleigh boy, Larry, and having grown up here the street was spelled ‘Hillsboro,’ so that is how I still spell it that way to this day.
03/28/2015
I believe the house that sits behind the Char-Grill on Hillsborough St was on Hillsborough until 1959 when it was turned and moved back to Willard Place by it’s owner so he could build the Char-Grill. NOt sure of the age of the house or who was the original owner.
03/28/2015
The Cameron house was dismantled by the Wyatt family in the 1940’s as I understand it. . Parts of it were relocated to Williamson Dr. in the Five Point area at that time. I had the extreme pleasure of working with the present owners in their renovation, expansion project a few years ago. My company Mullis Millworks Louisburg NC provided the custom millwork. The history of the Cameron family is very interesting to those that have an interest in Raleigh history. I strongly recommend the book Piedmont Plantations by Jean Bradly Anderson. This book is the story of the Bennahan/Cameron families. Amazon for less than $20.00.
03/28/2015
I talk about the Cameron mansion in my film ‘Moving Midway.’ The Camerons were supposedly the basis for the family in Thomas Dixon’s novel ‘The Klansman,’ which became D.W. Griffith’s movie ‘the Birth of a Nation.’ Before the mansion was torn down, a mantelpiece was taken out to Midway Plantation: it is now in my parents’ house on Wake Drive. The Camerons, the largest NC slaveholders prior to the Civil War, also owned Stagville Plantation outside Durham.
03/28/2015
“The Hicks House is still there and in line for demolition. RHDC is working on trying to save it but the clamor from anybody else is quiet. Can you guys help at all? Publicity is a first step.”
I wonder if that’s because it’s been so drastically altered. Not only was the portico removed, but the massive front dormer is gone, the chimneys capped off, the side porches removed, and what was presumably an upper doorway above the main entrance bricked over. What with its current use as offices, I wonder if there’s anything left of the original interior either?
I’d rather it survive too, but it’s hard to pick it out as a 100+ year old building due to the scale of the alterations.
07/01/2017
What a cool article, I have a Mansion listed in Four Oaks NC. That is said to have pieces of the Cameron Estate. It has a portion of the Cast Iron Fence dated 1849 and Dr. Stanley purchased a fountain from the estate as well.
The Dr. Stanley Mansion is a Neo-Classical much like the Cameron Estate!
08/30/2022
The Gen William R Cox home was still standing between Park Ave and Ashe Ave in 1908.
The News and Observer, 7 Aug 1908, p 2
EXECUTOR’S SALE
Desirable Lots and Residences for Sale – The Martin Property in West Raleigh. [several lots]
No. 3. – Also, that elegant residence and premises, known as the Cox place: Commodious buildings, fine grove, good garden. About two acres, more or less, bounded on the west by lot No. 2 above; the premises beginning 140 feet distant from the Smith lot. [William O and Helen E Smith]
This was following the death of Henrietta P Martin. She had purchased the land in 1891 from Annie Moore Parker – who had purchased it from William R Cox in 1886. An 1869 mortgage identifies this tract (almost 15 acres) as the land where Cox now resides. Cox had bought the land from William Boylan. The land that William Boylan purchased from Peter Browne (the Joel Lane land) extended all the way to Avent’s Ferry Road at present Park Ave and Pullen Park. Duncan Cameron also purchased the land where the Duncan home on Hillsborough St was located from William Boylan in 1835.
Does anyone have a photo of the Cox house?