USA > North Carolina > Historical and descriptive review of North Carolina, volume 1 > Part 8
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The Episcopalian denomination has also the St. Augustine Normal School for colored students, which has large accommodations and is located at the Eastern end of the town. At the Southern end of the town Shaw University for colored students occupies a whole square. The University building proper occupies the center of the square, and Esty Seminary the Northeast corner. The Chapel stands to the right of the University, and the Dormitory is in the rear, and Leonard Medical College, of unique architectural design, faces
61
STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA.
the University's Western end. About three hundred and fifty students are accommodated at this noted seat of learning, of which we may say in passing that it has grown from a very small beginning, the projector, holding his first services under a pine tree, but as years have rolled by building after building has risen, it may be said literally from the very ground, as the brick with which they are built was burned upou the spot and laid by the hands of the principal and his students.
On the North entrance to the city stands the Peace Institute, under the auspices of the Presbyterian body. It was named after the late Wm. Peacc, of Raleigh, who left $10,000 to erect the building whichi was nearly finished when the war came on. During the war it was used first by the Confederate then by the Federal Government as a hospital, and was not restored to its owners uutil 1872, since when it has been conducted as a female seminary. In addition to the others named are the Raleigh Male Academy, justly famed for its excellence, and the Graded and other Military Schools.
The most prominent of the State buildings is the Capitol. It is justly the pride of the people of North Carolina, as its location is most admirable and its architectural proportions perfect. Its style is the pure Doric, and it is in the form of a Greek cross, the fronts looking to the East and West, having extensive porticoes with impressive fluted pillars, the rotunda is surmounted by a dome. The Senate chamber is located in the North end of the second story, and the House of Representatives in the South end. The Executive office occupies thie Southwestern quarter of the first floor, and the Treasury department the Southeastern quarter. The Southeastern quarter is at this writing occupied by the Supreme Court, but the Legisla- ture at the session of 1885, provided for the erection of a building for the special accommoda- tion of this Court, on the lot adjoining the Agricultural Department edifice. The North- western quarter of the Capitol ground floor is occupied by the State and Auditor Department. The Attorney General has quarters on the second floor, and the Auditor General, the Superin- tendent of Public Instruction aud the State Librarian accommodated on the third floor. The present Capitol was finished in 1840, occupying the same site as the State House which was destroyed by fire in 1831. The building is constructed of granite quarried in Wake county. and is one hundred and sixty-four and a half feet from North to South, and one hundred and forty-three and a half feet from East to West, including porticoes. It cost $530,681.15. The statue of the Father of his Country, a copy from Houdon's famous work, adorns the park iu front of the South gate.
The North Carolina Insane Asylum is situated about a mile and a quarter Southwest of the Capitol, embowered amid beautiful trees. It is 726 feet it leugth, 40 feet iu width, and 90 feet high, and was built at a cost of $350,000. It accommodates 250 patients. Auother asy- lum for the Insane is neariug completion at Morganton, which is 900 feet in length. It cost $390,000. The colored Asylum for Insane is at Goldsboro, and cost $151,599.19. It has 200 patients, which is its full capacity.
The State Peuitentiary is situated about three quarters of a mile southwest from the Capi- tol. The tracks of the North Carolina and of the Raleigh & Augusta Air-Line Railroads lie immediately in front of the stockade on Northside of the building, and passengers can obtain a fine view of the edifice, which is of imposing dimensious and finely proportioned. Its archi- tecture is a combination of orders, and the building represents a Romau cross. It is only partly completed, the west wing and the centre front being unfinished, the convicts who do the work being required upon the railroads which the State is aiding. The Penitentiary is 625 feet long, and the main building 58 feet wide. The center wing is 179 feet deep. The building is capable of accommodating 1,600 prisoners, but as only one prisoner is at present placed in a cell, the number provided for is 800. The building is of brick with stone facings, and was built by the convicts, the brick being burned by them on the premises from clay carted from a farm a short distance southeasterly from the city.
The Deaf and Dumb and the Blind are provided for in two large institutions, one for the whites, situated in Caswell Square, and the other for the blacks, on South Bloodworth aud East Lenoir Streets. The institution for the whites presents a very imposing appearance, and is embowered in a lovely grove of trees, with a grassy lawn plentifully interspersed with flower beds. It is 344 feet in length, and 84 feet in width at the wings. It has accommoda- tions for 140 pupils, and has at present about 125. Of these 75 are deaf and dumb and 50 blind. The instruction is thorough, and the treatment sympathetic. The State's unfortunates have fallen into good hands. The institution for blacks occupies a very sightly position, and is a handsome brick structure three stories in height.
The Agricultural Department of the State is accommodated in a large, roomy building on the corner of Halifax and Edenton streets, nearly opposite the North gate of the Capitol. The building is occupied by the Commissioner of Agriculture, and by the State Chemist, the Commissioner of Fisheries, the Bureau of Immigration, and the State Museum, which is a very fine collection of the productions of the State, including woods and fossils.
The Post Office stands in oue of the most prominent locations iu the city, and is an edifice that attracts general attention and excites universal admiration. It costs $440,000, and the furniture would make the total a round half million. The edifice is 120x67 feet, and has three stories, with mansard roof and basement. It is the handsomest Post Office building in the Southern States, and besides the postal authorities it accommodates the Federal Courts, the
62
CITY OF RALEIGH.
U. S. District Attorney, U. S. Marshal, and the Internal Revenue Department. The granite of which the building was constructed was quarried in Barren and Rowan counties.
In the immediate vicinity of the Post Office stands the new courthouse of Wake county, presenting a pleasing contrast in color and style to the Post Office building. A statue of Justice holling her scales ornaments the front, which rises to the height of two stories and mansard roof. The building is 90x100 feet, and accommodates the courts, and has offices for the Judge, Clerk, Register of Deeds, Sheriff, County Treasurer, District Attorney, County Commissioners and Public Administrator. The County Jail has just been completed, and stands in the rear of the Courthouse, with which it harmonizes in color and style.
The old Governor's Mansion or, " Palace," as it was commonly ealled, stands at the foot of Fayetteville street, facing the Capitol, which stands at the head of the street. The mansion has been lately sold to the city for a graded school, and a new mansion for the occupancy of Governors of the State is nearing completion upon Burke Square, very desirably located in the Northeastern section of the city, The new building is of brick, of ample proportions, three stories in height, and of a very pleasing style of architecture.
WAKE COUNTY COURTHOUSE.
The buildings of the State Agricultural Society are located about two miles westerly of the city, and are admirably situated and connected with the city and the rest of the State by railroad line to the interior of the grounds. The resources of the State were presented in wonderful variety and volume by a grand Exposition in 1884. The extent and variety of her resources astonished even North Carolina's own best informed citizens, and the display has given an impetus to her business and the regular exhibitions of the Agricultural Society, that is felt in every advance of enterprise.
Among the buildings of the city that are always looked up by the visitor with interest, is the house in which Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, was born. It is a small frame building situated on East Cabarrus street, two squares from Fayetteville street.
The city has a handsomely laid out cemetery, which is well kept and ornamented by elegant monuments, many of them of stately dimensions and striking designs. The Con- federate dead repose in a portion specially set apart for them, on the crest of an elevation overlooking the grounds. The Hebrew cemetery lies between the two. The Federal cemetery is situated about a mile and a quarter southeasterly from the Capitol, and presents a lovely spectacle, with shade trees and flowers in general profusion. The bodies of 1,141 dead soldiers repose here.
Of Railroads Raleigh has three-the Raleigh and Gaston, the Raleigh and Augusta Air- Line, and the North Carolina. The former runs to Weldon, connecting North and South with the Wilmington and Weldon and the Seaboard roads. The Raleigh and Augusta Air-Line runs to Charlotte, where it has Southern connections. The North Carolina Railroad runs from Raleigh to Goldsboro, where it connects North and South with the Wilmington and Weldon, and from Raleigh to Greensboro, where it connects with the Richmond and Danville for all points North, South and West. It is leased by the Richmond and Danville, and extends also from Greensboro to Charlotte.
The eity of Raleigh has three banks, the State National Bank, the Raleigh National Bank, and the Citizens' National Bank. The Raleigh National Bank has a cash capital of $400,000, and the Citizens' National and State National have each an authorized eapital of $500,000, and aetual eapital of $100,000 eaeh.
The Cotton and Groeers' Exchange meets the first Monday night of each month, and has a fine room on Wilmington street.
The Manufacturing interest of Raleigh is rapidly extending. There are now in suecessful operation in the city, Allen & Cram's foundry ; J. H. Gill, foundry; Wm. Woolcott, elothing; T. H. Briggs, sash and blinds, &c .; E. M. Uzzell, paper boxes and blank books ; Ellington, Royster & Co., sash and blinds ; W. F. Wyatt, saddles and harness ; North Carolina Car Com- pany and railroad building material. Also, an ice factory, cotton seed oil mill ; while the manufacture of carriages and wagons, cotton gins, fertilizers, shuttle blocks, cigars, candy, is carried on to some extent.
Raleigh is abundantly supplied with Newspapers. The News and Observer, S. A. Aslie, editor, issued daily and weekly, leads the list ; the Evening Visitor, also a good daily, comes out about 5 o'clock in the evening. The Weeklies are as follows : State Chronicle, Spirit of the Age, Biblical Recorder, Christian Advocate, Christian Sun, Farmer and Mechanic, North
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STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA.
Carolina Farmer, African Expositor, Banner Enterprise, Baptist Standard, Christian Advance, (the last four colored). The North Carolina Teacher, published by Alfred Williams & Co., appears monthly, and the St. Mary's Muse is an excellent quarterly. Several Almanacs are published : the Everybody's Almanac being a great favorite.
Raleigh has a flourishing Typographical Union, which takes efficient care of its disabled members. It also has an American Legion of Honor, a lodge of Knights of Honor, Knights of Pythias, two lodges of Masons, a Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, a Council of Royal and Select Masters, two lodges and an Encampment of Odd Fellows, and a lodge of Royal Arcanum. Among the colored people there is a tabernacle of the Grand United Order of Brothers and Sisters of Love and Charity ; seven lodges of Independent Order of Good Samaritans ; two of Masons, one of Odd Fellows, one of Evening Star.
Raleigh's principal interest is cotton buying, Wake county raising a large crop. But within the past year the cultivation of tobacco has been entered upon, and the crop realized from the acres planted was so satisfactory, and the prices obtained so gratifying that three warehouses have been established.
The city has 53 lawyers, 12 blacksmith shops, 16 boarding houses, 5 hotels, 24 boot and shoe makers, 3 bottlers, 2 brickmakers, 4 brokers, 17 butchers, 6 cabinet makers, 6 candy dealers, 5 dealers in carriages and wagons, 3 china and glassware dealers, 1 cigar manufac- turer, 16 clothiers, 3 clothing manufacturers, 3 coal and wood dealers, 4 cotton factors and buyers, 6 contractors and builders, 3 dentists, 37 dressmakers, 4 druggists, 21 dry goods dealers, 3 dyers and scourers, 1 express company, 2 florists, 2 foundries, 6 furniture dealers, 1 gaslight company, 68 retail and 12 wholssale grocers, 4 hardware establishments, 3 harness and saddle dealers, 3 hide and rag dealers, 9 hucksters, 2 ice dealers, 13 insurance agents, 8 leather dealers, 7 livery stables, 5 lock and gunsmiths, 3 marble dealers, 3 merchant tailors, 9 milliners, 1 mill furuisher, 3 musical instruments, 5 dealers in fish and oysters, 5 painters, 2 photographers, 17 physicians, 2 organ and piano dealers, 2 picture frame dealers, 4 planing mills, 5 sash and blind factories, 1 cotton seed oil mill, 3 plaster and bricklaying firms, 1 plumber and gasfitter, 3 job printing establishments, 4 public halls, 17 restaurants 3 sale and boarding stables, 3 sewing machine dealers, 34 saloons, 1 slate roofer, 1 steam boiler works, 4 stove dealers, 3 tinners, 6 undertakers, 5 upholsters, 7 watchmakers and jewelers. Further on we give a detailed notice of the largest business houses in the several lines.
The city government his its headquarters in Metropolitan Hall, situated on Fayetteville street. The building is a large one, and has a market on the ground floor, with a large hall on the second floor, with a Mayor's courtrcom and offices for the Chief of Police, City Clerk and Tax Collector. The Mayor of the city, Wm. H. Dodd, is serving his third term. Charles D. Heartt is Chief of Police ; Charles W. Lambeth, City Clerk ; Joseph G. Brown, Treasurer; John M. Sherwood, Audtior; R. T. Gray, City Attorney; Wm. Q. Blake, Street Commissioner; Charles B. Root, Tax Collector.
WAKE COUNTY.
Was established in 1770. It was named in honor of the Wake family, of which the Arch- bishop of Canterbury, Dr. Wake, was the head, and into which family the thien Governor of North Carolina, William Tryon, had married.
It was erected out of parts of Orange, Johnston and Cumberland counties, and is centrally located between the Alleghany mountains and the Atlantic ocean. It has an area of 856 square miles, and contains a population of near 50,000.
Raleigh, the county seat, was chartered and declared the seat of the State Government in 1792. It was named in honor of Sir Walter Raleigh, the English statesman who fitted out the first expedition which landed on the shores of North Carolina.
It stands upon a group of hills, shedding naturally in all directions from the centre, at an elevation of 365 feet above tide water, and is one of the most healthful cities in the Union.
Raleigh, with its suburbs, has a population of 14,000, and is rapidly increasing in wealth and numbers. Her broad streets, beautiful residences and overarching elms constitute one of the finest cities of the South.
Raleigh has three National banks, representing nearly $700,000 of capital, all in sound con- dition.
Wake county has a surface moderately rolling and hilly, descending towards the south- east. Its soil is composed largely of clay-red, brown and yellow-interspersed and underlaid with calcareous stone, sand and mica.
The soil of the bottom land varies from pipe clay to rich loam and sand, easy of cultiva- tion, and more productive than that of the hills. These are pre-eminently the corn producing lands of the county.
Wake county has, according to the census of 1880, 4,381 farms, embracing 161,272 acres of improved and 316,814 acres of forest land, valued at $4,500,000. The value of farm imple- ments was $200,371, and live stock $581,646.
The cost of building and repairing fences is $63,134 per annum, and the cost of fertilizers used is placed at $143,749.
Its farm products are valued at $2,044.397 per annum, and consist of cotton, Indian corn, tobacco, wheat, oats rye, potatoes, &c.
According to the last census there were raised in 1879 in Wake county, 612,869 bushels of Indian corn ; 98,962 bushels of oats; 72,341 bushels of wheat ; 11,090 bushels of rye : 155,260 bushels of sweet potatoes, and 30,115 bales of cotton. Its tobacco crop was in that year 94,354 pounds, but one well acquainted with the subject estimates the tobacco crop of Wake county in 1884 at 720,000 pounds.
It also produces per annum about 14,000 pounds of wool, and 178,246 pounds of butter. Cabbage, turnips, beets, peas, beans, onions, peanuts, &c., grow well in all parts of the county.
Farm lands range in value from $8 to $40 per acre, according to soil, improvements and location.
It has been recently demonstrated that Wake county lands are adapted to the growth of tlie celebrated gold leaf tobacco, and fields lieretofore devoted to cotton are now planted in tobacco. Barns for curing purposes are being built in nearly every portion of the county, and hundreds of our planters are directing their thoughts to this new industry. Warehouses for the sale of the weed are being erected at Raleigh, and many are looking to this point as a tobacco market.
Laborers are plentiful; and farm hands can be had at almost all seasons of the year at from $8 to $10 per month and board. Domestic servants can be had from $5 to $10 per month and board.
The soil and climate of Wake county are well adapted to the growth of apples, peaches, pears, grapes melons and berries, and all other small fruits. Nearly every farmer has a few fruit trees, and a number have large and well cultivated orchards. The value of its orchard products per annum is $20,386.
Strawberries, blackberries and huckleberries grow wild all over the county, and when cultivated yield handsomely.
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STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA.
The fox grape, muscadine and forest grapes grow wild, while the improved varieties mature well, and yield abundantly and are unsurpassed in flavor. There are a number of vineyards in the county, producing many thousand pounds of grapes and gallons of first quality of wine annually. The choicest grapes are nearly all shipped to the Northern cities, where they find a ready sale at good prices, ripening much earlier than those grown in higher latitudes. The later pickings are manufactured into wine. No disease or insects affects vine or fruit, and a failure in our grape crop is unknown.
More than one-half of Wake county is in original forests, or second growth pines. Wood for fuel is everywhere abundant, and, except in the towns and villages, is without commercial value. In the city of Raleigh it is sold at from $2.50 to $3 per cord.
We have an abundance of yellow pine for building purposes, which is sawed and delivered at our railroad depots at from $8 to $10 per thousand feet.
We also have hickory, oak, ash, walnut, poplar and maple, dogwood, persimmon, beech, gum, &c.
There are 31 saw mills in the county.
We quote the following from "The Woods and Timbers of North Carolina," viz :
"A greater variety of timber trees are to be found in Wake than in any other county in the State. In point of value the long leaf pine comes first, covering at least one-third of the area of the county, and extending from the Johnston to the Chatham line, and from Harnet to within three miles of the city of Raleigh. Short leaf pine is the prevailing growth in nearly every other part of the county. Cedar pine grows on Buffalo creek, and cypress and juniper abound on Little river, Buffalo and Moccasin. Sycamore, walnut, oak and hickory are the spontaneous growth of all parts of the county. Every known variety of oak is to be found in its borders. Large white oaks, suitable for ship building, are abundant on all the tributaries of the Cape Fear and Haw."
Wake county is traversed by numerous bold and living streams, shedding their waters to the southeast. Chief among these are the Neuse and Little rivers, and Crabtree, Swift, Middle, White Oak, Buckhorn, Walnut, Marsh, Buffalo, Big Lick, Barton's Moccasin and Mark's creeks.
These streams furnish a large number of excellent mill sites, with ample water-power for factories, &c.
There are no less than seventy corn and flower mills in Wake county, besides numerous cotton gins, &c., propelled by water power.
Choice varicties of fish abound in all of our streams aud ponds, and some attention is be- ing paid to fish culture.
There are in Wake county 78 churches for the whites, and perhaps an equal number for the colored. Of the churches for the whites 42 are of the Baptist denomination ; 18 Metho- dist: 11 Christian : 3 Episcopal ; 2 Presbyterian : 1 Catholic : 1 Jewish.
The poor of Wake county are well cared for at the Parish Grove. six miles from the county seat. At the last report 72 persons were in this institution. These are fed, clothed, and furnished comfortable quarters and fuel at the county expense. The county physician attends on the sick and medicines are dispensed free. The county owns a farm of 500 acres at this point, 140 of which are in cultivation.
Persons convicted of minor offences, and who are unable to pay court costs, are sent to the County Work House to work out costs. Here they are mainly employed in cultivating the Poor House farm, cutting wood, working roads, repairing bridges, &c.
Postal facilities are good, there being thurty-five post offices in the county of Wakc.
There are a number of excellent quarries of granite in the county. In fact, this is found in nearly every township, while in Cedar Fork and Oak Grove townships we have brown stone of good quality, and in Barton's Creek there are large quantities of soapstone and serpentine.
In House Creek township, four miles from Raleigh, there is a large quantity of plumbago.
The usual taxation in Wake county is 66% cents on each $100 valuation of property. In assessing property for taxation, it is put at about two-thirds its real value in town and about one-half in the county. A poll tax of $2 on cach male over 21 and under 50 years is collected annually. Seventy-five per cent. of the poll tax is appropriated for the support of the public schools and twenty-five per cent. for the poor.
The debt of the county is about $40,000, mostly contracted for the building of a large and commodious Courthouse, with fire proof vaults for its records, and for a brick Jail (just com- pleted) wi h steel-clad cells.
Wake county bonds and script are at par, and the county finances are well managed.
The following are the tax statistics of the county :
Real property
Town lots.
Horses, number 2,711, value.
Mules, 2,963,
Jacks, 2,
Goats, 66 2,145, 66
1,794
Cattle, 66 11,633,
96,086
Hogs, 31,153,
$3,302,520
2,825,625 176.777 209,876 90
47,202
1
1
1
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COUNTY OF WAKE.
Sheep, number 7,329,
7,504
Value of farming utensils, mechanics' tools, furniture, &c. 456,132
Money on hand ... 145,373
Solvent credits .. 1,382,721
Shares in incorporated companies
1,119,963
All other personal property. 753,933
Railroad franchise. 417,153
Total value of real and personal property.
$10,768,101
Bank stock
226,275
The amount of tax paid in 1885, was $72,951.44.
The citizens of Wake county have always been noted for their high regard for law and quiet. There is a sentiment abroad in the county that would cause any citizen to frown upon any attempt to disregard lawful authority. The morals are as good as can be found in any county with a population of 50,000.
In intelligence they stand as well as the average American citizen, and in their general bearing they are not behind the people of some sections that make greater pretensions.
The races live together in perfect harmony, quietly pursuing their daily avocations with- out the least fear of any molestation from any one, and are rapidly building up their shattered fortunes. There are no political troubles, every citizen, regardless of any race distinction, is left to exercise the right of suffrage as it may seem best to him.
While there are, of course, many violations of the criminal law of a minor character, there has been but one case of capital punishment in the county during the last decade.
WAKE FOREST, on the Raleigh and Gaston Railroad, is the seat of a large and flourishing institution of learning. founded by the Baptists of North Carolina. It is a thriving village, with a good cotton market.
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