On January 18, 2010, hundreds of citizens, young and old, black and white, assembled for the Martin Luther King Ceremonial March.
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I am sure that by now everyone in Raleigh is aware of the Hillsboro St. reconstruction project currently underway along NC State University’s primary business thoroughfare, all the way from Oberlin Rd. out to Brooks Ave.  For the past year, cars and pedestrians alike have navigated broken pavement and a clutter of orange and white traffic cones, barrels and barricades, all the while dodging giant earthmoving equipment.  However, most people probably are not aware that until the late 1920s that stretch of street was primarily a residential district. In 1939 Hillsboro’s first major commercial building — the ManMur Bowling Center — was erected in the 2500 block.

The ManMur Bowling Center in 1940, when it was new. Notice how sparsely built up the block was then. (Photo courtesy the NC Office of  Archives and History, State Archives.)

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There are many examples of things in our lives that we don’t notice until they are gone. One such example is a large beautiful oak tree (or what remains of it) in the median of Clark Avenue across from the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. What makes it a bit more peculiar is the makeshift cross and wreath as seen above. At first glance, it looks to be a small decoration put up for the holidays.

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December has rolled in, and it brought with it cold, wet weather, a downtown ice-skating rink, really early sunsets, and most importantly, new gallery openings! Yes, Raleigh’s burgeoning creative class was out in force on Friday, despite the cold and sometimes rainy weather conditions. Couple this with the aforementioned ice skating rink as part of WinterFest ‘09, and you had a great crowd out enjoying the city!

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