Goodnight Raleigh - a look at the art, architecture, history, and people of the city at night

Sneak Preview – The Mahler Building

So, this is just between us, but I have some really cool photos of the soon to be finished Mahler building at 228 Fayetteville Street. As part of the Fayetteville Street Historic District, it serves as an example of some of the low rise commercial buildings that used to dominate the area.

Over the past decade, however, the 200 block has been in a process of rebirth. Slated to open in the next few weeks, it will serve as an art gallery on the bottom floor, commercial offices on the second floor, and living units on the top floor. Local builder Greg Paul is the contractor, and I think he’s done a great job inside and out! Having worked for the architect in charge of the renovation, I got a firsthand taste of the rigors of renovating a historic commercial and residential site. Here are some photos, starting from the ground floor and moving up to the apartments. Enjoy!

The Mahler Gallery, which will house artwork, and which will also be on the First Friday Artwalk.
Read more »

Exile on Wilmington Street

300 block of S. Wilmington St., 1926. The four storefronts seen left to right are the same ones seen in the photo below. They were built in the late 1870s. (Image courtesy N.C. Division of Archives and History)

I have long appreciated the back street charm of the first three blocks of S. Wilmington St. The east side of the street features a virtually intact collection of 19th century 2-story brick storefronts. Rather than the banks, hotels, high-end department stores, office and government buildings found on Raleigh’s main street, these sturdy brick buildings originally housed cotton and tobacco brokers, seed stores and harness shops, saloons and lunch counters.

300 block of S. Wilmington St., 2009. (Image credit: John Morris)

Nowadays the first two blocks of Wilmington St. are undegoing a resurgence and rehabilitation, while the 300 block remains gloomy and virtually deserted.
Read more »

Lieut. Walsh’s Admirer(s) Return

Being a fan of local history, things that take place after nightfall, and good mysteries, I was incredibly intrigued by a story I read last year in the N&O. In it, Josh Shaffer (my favorite local journalist), tells the tale of a person or persons who for the last 20 years have decorated the tombstone of a rebel soldier buried in the Confederate Cemetery of Oakwood:

Each April, a stranger creeps into Oakwood Cemetery and drapes a single gravestone with a black sash. He lights a candle in tribute to a doomed Confederate hanged for firing a last-ditch shot at Raleigh’s Yankee occupiers. … After 20 years, the soldier’s secret admirer remains a small-time legend among history buffs who like to guess at his identity. The guessing begins anew each April 13, the death date of the hotheaded Texan with no known first name.

— Josh Shaffer

Read more »

Discuss Raleigh

  • Recent Comments:



    •