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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Nearly every city, suburb, or rural area has beautiful green spaces that are adored by locals, for various reasons. It may be a public park, a hidden path in a forest, ruins of a long abandoned house, or a garden – but to those who love them, it remains a place of solitude and source of happiness. One such place that maintains this status with me is the Raleigh Municipal Rose Garden and Little Theatre, in the Rosemont community near NC State campus.

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How many times have you walked over something on your daily routine, and not noticed or appreciated it until sometime much later? The feeling was one I recently had on two occasions: the first involving cobblestone paths, and the other dirt paths. One is a deliberate creation, the other out of convenience.

On the third installment of this walking-related series, we’re going to explore the artwork underneath us as we walk in to early 20th century commercial buildings downtown.

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