About Raleigh NC
Raleigh is the capital city in the state of North Carolina, which also serves as the county seat for the Wake County. The City of Raleigh has the distinction of being the 2nd biggest city in North Carolina. It is nicknamed the ‘City of Oaks’ thanks to the numerous oak trees that line its downtown area. Raleigh was named in honor of Sir Walter Raleigh who founded the lost Roanoke Colony in today’s Dare County. The City of Raleigh boasts of the North Carolina State University, which is a key component of the famous Research Triangle Park along with the cities of Durham and Chapel Hill. This North Carolina city is an early instance of planned city in the country.
After the American War of Independence, Raleigh was picked as the site for North Carolina state capital in 1788, and was incorporated in 1792. The city was initially laid out in a grid pattern with the North Carolina State Capitol at the center. Over the course of the United States Civil War, the City of Raleigh was spared from any major battle, and in the long run fell to the Union troops at the closing period of the war. After the war, Raleigh experienced great economic hardships and social unrest during the Reconstruction Era. After the founding of the Research Triangle Park in 1959, tens of thousands new jobs were created in the fields of science and technology. This went to steamroll the growth of the City of Raleigh, and by the early 21st century, it emerged as one of the quickest growing cities in the United States.
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Top attractions
The City of Raleigh has a very vibrant performing arts scenes and boasts of a wide range of venues that offer live performances. First of all, the Coastal Credit Union Music Park is well noted for hosting major international touring acts. There is also the Downtown Raleigh Amphitheater, which was opened in 2011, and hosts many concerts, especially during the summer season. Raleigh is also home to the Koka Booth Amphitheater that hosts regularly scheduled outdoor concerts by the North Carolina Symphony. There is as well the private Lincoln Theater, which is among the numerous clubs in Raleigh that schedule concerts over the course of the year in multiple genres including pop, rock and country music.
The City of Raleigh also boasts of the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts, which houses the Raleigh Auditorium, the Fletcher Opera Theatre, the Kennedy Theater and the Meymandi Concert Hall. This North Carolinian city is as well home to a number of professional performing arts companies. Some of the most prominent of which are the North Carolina Symphony, the Opera Company of North Carolina, the Carolina Ballet, the Burning Coal Theater Company, the Theater in the Park, the North Carolina Theater Broadway Series South to name just but a few.
The City of Raleigh also boasts of the North Carolina Museum of Art that is situated close by to the North Carolina State Fairgrounds, and showcases one of the premier public art collections between Washington D.C and Atlanta. Besides its exhaustive collections of American artworks, European artworks and ancient works of art, the North Carolina Museum of Art hosts major exhibitions on a regular basis. Some of the most notable exhibitions it has hosted in the past include featuring Auguste Rodin and Claude Monet, which attracted over 200,000 visitors each. Unlike most other prominent public museums, this City of Raleigh museum for the arts procured a sizeable portion of its permanent collections through purchases using public funds. The North Carolina Museum of Art’s outdoor park has the distinction of been one of the biggest of its kind in the United States. Other notable museums in Raleigh include the African American Cultural Complex, the Contemporary Art Museum of Raleigh, the Marbles Kid’s Museum, the North Carolina Museum of History, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Science, the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame, the Joel Lane House, the Mordecai Plantation, the Pope House Museum to mention just but a few.
On the other hand, the City of Raleigh’s Parks and Recreational Department provides diverse recreational and leisure opportunities with over 150 sites all through the city. This includes 8,100 acres of parks, 78 miles of greenway, 22 community centers, 5 public lakes and 8 public aquatic facilities. There is also the J.C Raulston Arboretum, which maintains a year round collection that is accessible to members of the public on a daily basis without charging any fee.
North Carolina Museum of Natural Science
The North Carolina Museum of Natural Science can be the most suitable place in Raleigh to get to discover some of nature’s best kept secrets. This City of Raleigh museum has the distinction of been the biggest natural science museum in the entire Southeastern region of the United States. As such, it showcases a highly diversified permanent collection and regularly changed special exhibitions. The North Carolina Museum of Natural Science also provides live shows and nature films suited for persons of all ages. The main objective of this Raleigh museum for natural science is to enable visitors to learn more about nature and science, and their place in them. The North Carolina Museum of Natural Science is one of the most popular attractions in the city, and receives over one million visitors on an annual basis.
Raleigh Farmer’s Market
The Raleigh Farmer’s Market is yet another trendy destination in the City of Raleigh, and is a must visit to those who are new to the city. Here, both visitors and locals can obtain seasonal fresh produce sourced from all across the nation, cheese, meat, baked products, candy, soaps and, of course, a selection of North Carolina produced wines. The Raleigh Farmer’s Market occupies 75 acres that visitors can explore at their convenience and around 225,000 square feet of the space is covered and climate controlled. This City of Raleigh attraction comes complete with a number of restaurants where visitors can eat, rest and replenish their energy. The Raleigh Farmers Market also hosts a wide variety of special events. Some of the most prominent of which include the Watermelon Day, the Weekend Gardener Show, the Sweet Potato Day to name just but a few.
Contemporary Art Museum of Raleigh
The Contemporary Art Museum of Raleigh is a private contemporary multimedia art gallery. This City of Raleigh museum for the arts doesn’t possess any permanent collection of its own. Instead its objective is to help contemporary artists present their works of art via constantly changed and well curated exhibitions. The Contemporary Art Museum of Raleigh works hand in hand with the North Carolina State University’s College of Design, and occupies a 20,000 square feet space in a 1910 repurposed warehouse in Downtown Raleigh. Some of the many artists whose work of art has been featured in this Raleigh museum include Angel Otero, Jonathan Horowitz and Marilyn Minter.
Mordecai Historic Park
The Mordecai Historic Park was founded in the late 18th century, and at that particular epoch, had the distinction of being the biggest plantation in the entire Wake County. The park sits on 3.2 acres of land in the downtown area. The Mordecai House is a famous landmark that is particularly renowned for been the birthplace of the 17th President of the United States, Andrew Johnson. Today, the Mordecai House has the distinction of being the oldest structure in Raleigh, which still stands on its original location. One of its most popular attraction is its 19th century kitchen garden that was recreated with information of the letters and memoirs that Ellen Mordecai left. One of the best means to see the Mordecai Historic Park is to participate in the Trolley Tours that begin and end here on every Saturday.