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

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.
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A Slice of Tibet in Raleigh: Dechen Collections

With all of the new restaurants and bars opening up around Fayetteville, Hargett, and Wilmington Streets, it’s easy to overlook some of the businesses that have been downtown long before the area’s resurgence. One such example is Dechen Collections, a family-run operation on Blake Street in City Market specializing in hand-made goods crafted by Tibetan refugees located in Nepal, India, and Thailand.

The store is run by Dechen Paldon and her husband Karma Tashi, both Tibetan nationals. Operating a business selling hand-made items wasn’t something she decided to do on after moving to the United States, however. Her parents ran a similar store outside the refugee camps in Nepal, and she ran one of her own for 18 years before emigrating to the United States over 10 years ago. They have operated out of City Market for about 8 years.

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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

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Raleigh, Capitol of N.C.
by Raleigh Boy

Capitol_elevated view_web

This week Flashback Friday soars high above Raleigh’s beloved State Capitol. The sophisticated 19th century Greek Revival building has stood on this spot for 175 years. We’ll also take a peek at the history of this building and its predecessors. So climb aboard and enjoy the flight!

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