Raleigh, North Carolina

Raleigh (founded 1792; estimated population [2010] over 400,000) is the capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina (U.S. state) and county seat of Wake County. It is one of the three cities that anchor the region called the Research Triangle (along with Durham and Chapel Hill). The city is named for Sir Walter Ralegh, sometimes spelled Raleigh, who in the 16th century sponsored the first attempted (but failed) English settlement in what is now North Carolina.

Founding

After the American Revolution, the government of the new state of North Carolina wanted to relocate its capital from New Bern, which had been the colonial capital but which many people thought was too far east to serve the growing population in the central part of the state. Because of a deadlock among advocates of possible alternatives such as Hillsborough, Fayetteville, and Tarboro, the state assembly in 1788 asked a state convention (that was about to meet in Hillsborough to discuss ratification of the proposed U.S. Constitution) to decide. The convention agreed to create a new town, which was to be located within ten miles of Isaac Hunter's tavern, a popular stop for travelers, in Wake County.

In 1792 the state bought a thousand acres (400ha) of land and began building a planned city, with five public squares, the central one of which would contain the state capitol building. The four streets radiating from the central square were named for four cities that had previously been capitals or the sites of conventions: Halifax, New Bern, Fayetteville, and Hillsborough. In the rotunda of the new capitol building was placed, in 1821, a marble statue of George Washington wearing a toga, which the state, on the advice of Thomas Jefferson, had commissioned from the Italian sculptor Antonio Canova for $10,000. The statue was destroyed in a fire in 1831; a 1970 copy currently stands in its place.

State government

The current State Capitol building, which dates to 1840, houses a Governor's Office that is used occasionally for ceremonial purposes; some of the governor's staff; and works of art and historical exhibits, including the original legislative chambers, but is not otherwise used for administrative or legislative purposes.

The governor's everyday office is in the modern State Administration Building. The General Assembly (the legislature) meets in the Legislative Building, a 1963 structure designed by architect Edward Durell Stone and sometimes jokingly referred to as "Sanford's Seraglio," after the governor of the time, Terry Sanford, because of the opulent public spaces with high ceilings and indoor plants and trees. The state Supreme Court and Court of Appeals are housed in the Justice Building across the street from the Capitol.

Many state government agencies occupy the high-rise buildings of the Halifax Street Government Mall, built in the 1970s and in some ways reminiscent of the controversial Empire State Plaza government complex in Albany, New York.

The state Agriculture Department operates an annual state fair in Raleigh, on the grounds of which stands Dorton Arena (1952), an unusual "saddle-dome" building based on two crossing parabolic arches, by architect Matthew Nowicki.

Geography

Raleigh is located about fifty miles (80km) northeast of the geographical center of the state, in the geological zone called the fall line, which separates the central or piedmont region of the state from the eastern coastal plain. The largest nearby waterway is the Neuse River.

Higher education

Raleigh is home to several colleges and universities, including North Carolina State University, Shaw University, St. Augustine's College, Meredith College, Peace College, and St. Mary's College.

Economy

While Raleigh is the political capital of the state, Charlotte has a better claim to being the financial and commercial "capital," being the headquarters of Bank of America and Wachovia.

Among the largest employment categories, about 18% of Raleigh's workforce is employed in the government sector, 17% in trade/transportation/utilities, 17% in professional/business services, 12% in education/health care, and 10% in leisure services. Fewer than 6% work in manufacturing. The largest employers are the state and local governments, Wake County Public School System, N.C. State University, the WakeMed and Rex health care systems, Progress Energy (formerly Carolina Power and Light), and First Citizens Bank.

Transportation

The city is on Interstate Highway 40 (I-40) and U.S. Highways 1 and 64, and is surrounded by the loop roads I-440 and (incomplete) I-540. Public transit services include city and regional bus systems (Capital Area Transit; Triangle Transit); regional light-rail transit is in the early planning stages, with funding subject to a 2011 sales-tax referendum. Amtrak provides intercity passenger rail service. A consortium of municipalities including Raleigh operates the Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) west of the city.