HISTORICAL RESEARCH
Historical research uses property deeds, census data, genealogy information, historic maps and photographs, land use information, oral history interviews, and other information to develop a narrative that tells the story of a particular property. This narrative may be for the enjoyment of the property owner, or it may become the foundation for other projects, such as historic plaques, National Register or local landmark designations, rehabilitation projects, or public education and interpretation.
FEATURED PROJECTS
History of Beech Bluff County Park
Willow Springs, Wake County, North Carolina
Beech Bluff County Park is the newest addition to the Wake County Parks, Recreation and Open Space system and scheduled to open in 2022. The park is named for the abundant Beech trees present through out the approximately 300-acre park and for the steep bluffs formed by Middle Creek along its northern boundary. The land that makes up the park was originally owned by the Adams family, who received the first acreage through a land grant in the late 1700s. Since then, seven generations of Adams have farmed the land. producing cotton, tobacco, vegetables, and wine.
History of Kellam-Wyatt Farm Preserve
Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina
The Kellam-Wyatt Farm Preserve is a pocket of woods, ponds, and farm fields surrounded by rapidly growing housing developments. Located near the confluence of the Neuse River and Crabtree Creek, the land has been farmed since at least the mid-1800s. In the 1930s, the farm was purchased by the Richardson family, who retained ownership until 2017. The farm produced primarily tobacco in the early twentieth century, later producing vegetables as an important example of sustainable agriculture in the county. The sixty-acre preserve is scheduled to open in 2022.
History of Turnipseed Preserve
Wendell, Wake County, North Carolina
The Turnipseed Preserve is a 265-acre park that will open to the public in 2017. The park will include 2-3 miles of hiking trails and boardwalks through former farmland, pine forest, and wetlands. The preserve is named for the Turnipseed Family, for whom the road the preserve is on is also named, and who has farmed hundreds of acres along Marks Creeks for generations.
Blue Jay Point Historic Resource Survey
Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina
Blue Jay Point County Park is located north of Raleigh on the Falls Lake reservoir. Its 236 acres offers hiking, fishing, playgrounds, a lodge, and an environmental education center. The park land was originally owned by the Tate family, who operated a mill near the confluence of Upper Barton's Creek with the Neuse River. After their deaths, the land became part of the Reynold Allen Plantation and was farmed by enslaved African Americans. In the 1970s, the land was taken for the construction of Fall Lake. It includes 16 former home sites and two historic cemeteries.
Procter Farm Cultural Resource Survey
Wendell, Wake County, North Carolina
The Procter Farm is a 563-acre swath of feral farm fields, secondary growth forest, meandering streams, and beaver ponds located northwest of Wendell. The farm was established in the late 1700s by William Marriott, and remained in the Marriott-Procter family for generations. Once developers began to take interest in the farm, the Marriott-Procter heirs offered the historic property to Wake County. It will open to the public in 2018 as a nature preserve for horseback riding.
Bunch-Honeycutt House Cultural Resource Survey
Wendell, Wake County, North Carolina
The Bunch-Honeycutt House is part of the Turnipseed Nature Preserve, managed by Wake County Parks, Recreation, & Open Space and scheduled to open to the public in 2016. The house was built by the Bunch Family in the late 1870s or early 1880s, and may have served as a farm office or home. The Medlin Family owned the property last, and rented the house to Eppie Honeycutt, a tenant farmer who grew a few acres of tobacco.
Lake Crabtree County Park Cultural Resource Survey
Morrisville, Wake County, North Carolina
Lake Crabtree County Park is a 215-acre park about 8 miles northwest of Raleigh. It is on the north banks of Lake Crabtree, a 520-acre reservoir created by a dam built in 1989 on Crabtree Creek. Previously, the land was farmland. The remains of one of the original homesites is visible on the landscape today. This farm began as a middle class subsistence farm, then an investement farm for Raleigh businessman Rufus Tucker. Charley and James Duke ran a sawmill there for a few years before it became part of the Raleigh-Durham Airport property and later a Wake County park.
Robertson's Millpond Cultural Resource Survey
Wendell, Wake County, North Carolina
In the 1820s, William Avera built a grist mill, dam, and millpond that he left to his son, Dr. Thomas Avera. The site was later purchased by Charles Robertson, who operated the mill during the first half of the twentieth century. The millpond is a black water swamp similar to those found in the state's coastal plain, making it the only habitat for bald cypress in the county. The pond has been a popular recreation site, and Robertson ran a small store with fishing bait and boat rentals. Although the mill no longer remains, the dam and millpond are a lasting legacy of these families.
Harris Lake County Park Cultural History Research
New Hill, Wake County, North Carolina
Harris Lake County Park is a 680-acre recreational park that offers biking and hiking trails, a disc golf course, fishing, picnic sites, and guided education programs. The park is adjacent to the Shearon Harris Nuclear power plant reservoir, Harris Lake. Prior to the construction of the reservoir, the site was a small farming community. The park retains features of seven homesites, and through oral histories, cell phone audio tours, wayside signage, and other tools park staff is expanding their interpretation of this community.
Roberston-O'Briant Farm Historic Structure Report
Creedmoor, Wake County, North Carolina
John Robertson built the original hall-parlor house in the 1840s and tended livestock, grew oats, wheat, and corn, and ran a general store for the Sandy Plain community. His son James expanded the family farm to include tobacco and potatoes. In 1888, John O'Briant purchased the property and added a beautiful Victorian addition to the house, as well as updated outbuildings for tobacco and potato culivation. The site is now owned by Wake County Parks, Recreation, and Open Space. It retains nearly all of its original outbuildings, and may one day be transformed into a public park.