Joel Lane House
Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina
Marker Inscription
Joel Lane House. Built prior to 1770 and often site of political meetings. Decision to locate Raleigh on Lane's land made there, 1792. Stands 2 blocks south.
Erected by North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
The Story
Standing since before 1770, the Joel Lane House was the home of a wealthy planter and legislator whose plantation covered much of what is now Raleigh. Political leaders gathered here in the turbulent Revolutionary and early statehood years, and it was on Lane's land that commissioners decided in 1792 to plant North Carolina's new permanent capital. The city of Raleigh grew from that choice.
Why it matters
The decision made here gave North Carolina a capital built to order, one of the first American cities deliberately laid out to seat a state government.
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Related people
- · Joel Lane
Related events
- · Selection of Raleigh as state capital, 1792
Themes & tags
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