Over the past few weekends, when the weather was a little less hot and humid, I started to explore the Walnut Creek Greenway which runs East-West between I-40 and Tryon Road. There is a new trailhead that now connects to Lake Wheeler Road across from the Farmer’s Market. I was on the trail this past weekend before it got too terribly hot. The Walnut Creek Greenway is a hidden gem for those that haven’t found it yet.
Start your exploration near the Farmer's Market
Caraleigh Mill, located at 421 Maywood Avenue, is a designated a Raleigh Historic Landmark and is also listed in the National Register of Historic Places. As one of three surviving late nineteenth century textile mills in Raleigh, the original 1892 mill building is an excellent example of the then-popular Italianate style of architecture that was widely adopted for industrial buildings. Hallmarks of this style, including full-height pilasters surmounted by brackets, decorative brickwork, and segmental-arched windows, remain intact and are grandly displayed on the two-story brick building. The roof is opened by an intact monitor that allows natural light into the interior of the main building. The original 1892 mill building was quickly joined by a rear brick addition in 1900, and later expansions to house furnaces, machine shops, and warehouses date from around 1910, 1919 and the late 1950s. The mill complex gave rise to a late-nineteenth, early twentieth-century mill village of small brick and frame houses that stands today as an extremely rare surviving example of period workers’ housing in Raleigh.
Caraleigh Mill
Image courtesy of Raleigh City Museum. (more…)
Sign up for our email list
Join us on Facebook