329 replies to this topic

[JunktionFET]

My brother works for a geological-ish firm in Raleigh and has told me the entire story. There is a stripe of very dense graphite that allegedy runs from, or ran from, Macedonia (now part of Cary--Walnut St/Holly Springs Rd/Tryon Rd intersection area) all the way up into North Raleigh. Most experts seem to believe it is vestigal "pond scum" from an ancient stream or lake that has been stretched and subducted somewhat over the course of millions of years--and now essentially resides as a stripe beneath the top soil. In fact there is a stream over behind the National Guard center on Blue Ridge Rd where you can pick up chunks of this graphite and actually mark things like wood and paper with it.

A large deposit of the graphite was found up in north/northwest Raleigh and it was mined for use in pencils and other products that used or needed graphite. For whatever reason people used to call graphite "Lead" or perhaps got the two materials confused. At any rate, the area was referred to as a Lead Mine--and this is how Lead Mine Rd got its name. I will try to find out the exact location of this former "lead" mine. There may be more than one also.

[urbanesq]

^^ that's cool; thanks for sharing.  i've lived here almost 20 years and didn't know that history.
LOVE this forum for stuff like that.

[Raleighmark]

Mine Shaft intersects with Leadmine Road directly across from the entrance to The Montessori School of Raleigh. A creek runs just to the south of the campus, on the other side is a hill where the remains of at least one mineshaft is still discernable. I’m not sure when it was actively mined. On a side note, growing up I would have called it pencil lead, not graphite.

[avery]

That is really cool and thank you for shedding some light on the subject.  I've got another one for you.  Was there ever a Lake Boone???  I heard that there was at one time, but was filled in for homes.  Any truth to this?

[Jones133]

From the book of history on Wake County, the leadmine itself was located accross from Mineshaft. There are at least two decent size cemetaries near there, and two more down near where leadmine and Town and Country Rd (I think thats its name) split indicating to me that this was an area almost town-like. The last barrel of graphite mined was just after the turn of the century if I remeber correctly. Road tracing is fun stuff. I compare county maps to a map of Wake County from 1871 I have. Leadmine is easily discernible and the original Blue Ridge/Lead Mine/Town and Country/Millbrook/Leesville road is also very easy to pick off. Best I can tell this is the historical "middle hillsborough road" that a column of confederate troops retreated along when Kilpatrick rode into Raleigh in April 1865. Of course another column led by Wheeler, retreated along 54 through Morrisville and the battle of "Morrisville Station" ensued.

[Raleighmark]

A little googling indicates the Heron mine (I'm assuming this is the one on Leadmine Rd.) produced 20,000 lbs. of graphite in 1887.

[bikwillie]

Longtime lurker, first post!  Yes, Lake Boone was there where Lake Boone Trail is.  The lake was drained and now there are homes built in it.  When I was in college I worked construction during the summers, including some of those homes in the former lake bed.  Sometimes when we get a lot of rain fast (ie hurricanes) it fills up some again.

[avery]

bikwillie, on Dec 11 2005, 09:41 PM, said:

Longtime lurker, first post!  Yes, Lake Boone was there where Lake Boone Trail is.  The lake was drained and now there are homes built in it.  When I was in college I worked construction during the summers, including some of those homes in the former lake bed.  Sometimes when we get a lot of rain fast (ie hurricanes) it fills up some again.

Thanks for making a first time post.  That is really cool.  Thanks for the insight.

[Jones133]

bikwillie, on Dec 11 2005, 09:41 PM, said:

Longtime lurker, first post!  Yes, Lake Boone was there where Lake Boone Trail is.  The lake was drained and now there are homes built in it.  When I was in college I worked construction during the summers, including some of those homes in the former lake bed.  Sometimes when we get a lot of rain fast (ie hurricanes) it fills up some again.

I am pretty sure Lake Boone was a millpond, the 1871 map I have seems to reflect this. There were hundreds of mills in Wake County of various size. One was at the Lake Boone dam where the current road (Canterbury I think) crosses in front of the homes you mentioned before climbing up the hill towards Fairview, a second was near the Exxon on Glenwood by Oberlin Road and a third was on the other side of Glenwood on the Golf Course property and of course farther along on Crabtree Creek itself was what is now called Lassiter Mill dam. Along Oxford Road near five points the brick remains of one of the smaller mills is clearly seen from the road near a wooden pedestrian bridge over the creek. It is small, about half the size of a car and its millpond was maybe 4 feet deep when it was in use.

[Raleighsfinest]

This is interesting.

[bikwillie]

Wow.  I am impressed Jones133.  You have more useless historical knowledge about Raleigh than I do.  This is awesome.  I want to keep this thread alive.  Please post any factoids or useless knowledge about Raleigh and the triangle here.

Keep em coming!

[Eastwestrob]

bikwillie, on Dec 28 2005, 07:33 PM, said:

Wow.  I am impressed Jones133.  You have more useless historical knowledge about Raleigh than I do.  This is awesome.  I want to keep this thread alive.  Please post any factoids or useless knowledge about Raleigh and the triangle here.

Keep em coming!

  

Don't have anymore factoids ...just wanted to welcome you

[bikwillie]

^ thank you sir.

I'll post one just to see if it gets other stuff rolling.  A lot of folks on this board may already know this, and if it is repetitive, I am sorry.  

If anyone besides me thought The Century Post Office building on the corner of Fayetteville and Martin Streets (right across the mall from the RBC site) bore an uncanny resemblance to the Old Executive Building in Washington, DC- that's bec it does.  The CPO was designed by Alfred Mullet (huh-huh), the same architect of the OEB. That was probably Mullets' best known design, and they share many similar elements.

On a side note, GSA has been looking to unload the CPO.  It was in pretty extreme disrepair and a couple of years ago they had shown it to some potential buyers. Then they had gotten a Save America's Treasures Grant and done some work.  I don't know if they are still planning on trying to sell it in the near future though.  It doesn't have a lot of tenants besides the bankruptcy court and the post office, and it is very expensive to maintain...

[Jones133]

bikwillie, on Dec 29 2005, 01:19 PM, said:

^ thank you sir.

I'll post one just to see if it gets other stuff rolling.  A lot of folks on this board may already know this, and if it is repetitive, I am sorry.  

If anyone besides me thought The Century Post Office building on the corner of Fayetteville and Martin Streets (right across the mall from the RBC site) bore an uncanny resemblance to the Old Executive Building in Washington, DC- that's bec it does.  The CPO was designed by Alfred Mullet (huh-huh), the same architect of the OEB. That was probably Mullets' best known design, and they share many similar elements.

On a side note, GSA has been looking to unload the CPO.  It was in pretty extreme disrepair and a couple of years ago they had shown it to some potential buyers. Then they had gotten a Save America's Treasures Grant and done some work.  I don't know if they are still planning on trying to sell it in the near future though.  It doesn't have a lot of tenants besides the bankruptcy court and the post office, and it is very expensive to maintain...

Ah yes, I had known CPO's architect had designed stuff in D.C. but did not know his name or what other buildings he designed.

ok....hmm, you may have me beat....architects and architecture is a weak point for me...but....while the Masonic Lodge (Alexander Building) is lauded as the first concrete and steel building erected in Raleigh, the first in Wake County was the Catholic Orphanage in the Nazareth community. It sat almost exactly where Cetennial Parkway intersects with Nazareth today...when originally constructed it sat along the dirt road known as Avent Ford (Avent Ferry) Road. Avent Ferry has since been relocated and a abandoned portion of old Avent Ford lies between Dorothea Dix and the Catholic property. You could probably take a metal detector out there and find all kinds of crazy stuff. Casual employees of Dix have many civil war relics but since Dix was originally a colonial plantation it likely would yield artifacts from that era as well.

[urbanesq]

^^ Dueling historians!  
You guys rock;  thanks for sharing those tidbits.

[ncwebguy]

I don't know if this is "common knoweledge" or not, but I'm pretty sure Jesse Helms kept his "local office" in the Centry Post Office when he was a senator.  This lead to the occasional protest on Fayetville Street mall.

It would be nice to see it saved/rennovated, maybe as a movie theater/playhouse?  When I was working nearby, the steps just *beg* for "hanging out on" but were already claimed by people who had no particular place to be.  How much use does it see as a post office, with the New Bern/Person facility a few blocks away?  I used to buy stamps there, but there was rarely a line.

[bikwillie]

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ok....hmm, you may have me beat....architects and architecture is a weak point for me...

Me too.  I wouldn't have known that were it not for some inside knowledge

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the first in Wake County was the Catholic Orphanage in the Nazareth community. It sat almost exactly where Cetennial Parkway intersects with Nazareth today...when originally constructed it sat along the dirt road known as Avent Ford (Avent Ferry) Road. Avent Ferry has since been relocated and a abandoned portion of old Avent Ford lies between Dorothea Dix and the Catholic property.

My grandfather was an orphan there.  Didn't know about Avent Ford though...

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I don't know if this is "common knoweledge" or not, but I'm pretty sure Jesse Helms kept his "local office" in the Centry Post Office when he was a senator. This lead to the occasional protest on Fayetville Street mall.

Senator Helms had his Raleigh office there until 1999.  A few months after Senator Edwards opened his office down the hall, Helms staff moved to the Terry Sanford building on New Bern and Dole's office has remained there.  Senator Burr decided to not have a Raleigh office, and now there isn't a congressional office there.  To my knowledge, OSHA and DOL have moved out as well, leaving the third and fourth floors vacant.

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while the Masonic Lodge (Alexander Building) is lauded as the first concrete and steel building erected in Raleigh

Speaking of Masonic lodges, I'll leave you with this one.  The former Josephus Daniels home, which is now the Masonic Temple off of Glenwood, has a captured German Naval gun mounted on the front lawn.  It was presented to Daniels as a gift from the Navy after WWI.  (Daniels was Woodrow Wilson's Sec of the Navy.)  Now I don't know if this part is urban legend or not, bc I have not authenticated-  But I've been told that rules at the time prohibited captured enemy guns from being displayed anywhere but at naval installations.  So, Congress passed a bill making the Daniels' residence a naval base.

[avery]

bikwillie, on Dec 30 2005, 12:51 PM, said:

Speaking of Masonic lodges, I'll leave you with this one.  The former Josephus Daniels home, which is now the Masonic Temple off of Glenwood, has a captured German Naval gun mounted on the front lawn.  It was presented to Daniels as a gift from the Navy after WWI.  (Daniels was Woodrow Wilson's Sec of the Navy.)  Now I don't know if this part is urban legend or not, bc I have not authenticated-  But I've been told that rules at the time prohibited captured enemy guns from being displayed anywhere but at naval installations.  So, Congress passed a bill making the Daniels' residence a naval base.

Very interesting.  Didn't this site get looked at for redevelopment earlier this year?  I thought I read something on this, but I may be mistaken.  It is a great looking building.

[Jones133]

bikwillie, on Dec 30 2005, 12:51 PM, said:

Speaking of Masonic lodges, I'll leave you with this one.  The former Josephus Daniels home, which is now the Masonic Temple off of Glenwood, has a captured German Naval gun mounted on the front lawn.  It was presented to Daniels as a gift from the Navy after WWI.  (Daniels was Woodrow Wilson's Sec of the Navy.)  Now I don't know if this part is urban legend or not, bc I have not authenticated-  But I've been told that rules at the time prohibited captured enemy guns from being displayed anywhere but at naval installations.  So, Congress passed a bill making the Daniels' residence a naval base.

Avery, I believe there is a proposal to develop around the Daniels mansion.

Bikwillie, your story sounds familiar...again I did not know nearly enough details to be able to tell it myself though...thanks for info...albeit unauthenticated.

Ok, I will share some sleuthing I did....on a side note, finding the exact locations of no longer existing buildings is a hobby of mine although I am rarely successful.....one hunt I am on now includes this background....the City of Raleigh fire department website has the history of almost every fire that ever occured in Raleigh. In 1892  fire burned down a fertilizer (phosphorus) factory off Lake Wheeler Road near Walnut Creek. I live in Caraleigh Mills which was built in 1892...we are next to Walnut Creek off Lake Wheeler too, but according to a copy of an architectural survey I have from 1977 one row of brick duplexes in the mill village dates to 1880, predating the existing mill by 12 years. I conclude that Caraleigh Mills sits on the site of the burned fertilizer factory but have yet to locate any physical proof. It would have been a huge brick (and probably very interesting) structure, the burned out materials would not have been reused in the Mill so I am expecting to find the old factory to be lying in a heap nearby. Next to the RR tracks that cross Maywood Ave is one such huge mound of something that was recently graded for a new building, a look at the surrounding topography suggests that this mound is indeed artificial. If anyone is every in archives and stumbles accross a a picture of this I would love a copy.

[pack-man]

Jones133, on Dec 29 2005, 02:06 PM, said:

when originally constructed it sat along the dirt road known as Avent Ford (Avent Ferry) Road. Avent Ferry has since been relocated and a abandoned portion of old Avent Ford lies between Dorothea Dix and the Catholic property. You could probably take a metal detector out there and find all kinds of crazy stuff. Casual employees of Dix have many civil war relics but since Dix was originally a colonial plantation it likely would yield artifacts from that era as well.

I ride my bike up that old road all the time to get to Centennial Campus.  It is a long straght uphill road with power lines along it.  I always thought that it was an old CP&L service road.  Its great to learn all these old things.

My own story, while they were burying the power lines on Hillsborough Street between St. Mary's and Glenwood I watched the workers cutting wood and what looked to be an old railroad track.  I did a little searching and realized that it was the old street car line that use to run along Hillsborough St.  I guess they just repave over and over.  I say we dig it out and use it!!!  How cool would that be, a street tram from the Capital to NCSU.  The tracks are already there, could be cheap.  TTA, any thoughts, could be a great first mass transit scheme