Caraleigh: A History of South Raleigh’s Mill Village Neighborhood, 1891 to Today

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The Caraleigh neighborhood in south Raleigh was founded in 1892 with the opening of a cotton mill, fertilizer plant and workers’ town. The old textile complex, with its immense brick structures continue to evoke a strong impression of a bygone period. The old mill remains the community’s focal point as of 2022, leading some to worry that Caraleigh’s modernized structure may conceal dark secrets. After the Civil War, cotton mills were at the heart of the South’s frenzied pursuit of economic and psychological regeneration between 1880 and 1915. As Raleigh’s greatest textile venture, Caraleigh itself was founded by a group of cotton investors.

The origins of Raleigh’s north-south divide can be seen in the many economic, psychological, social and political perils. While the Downtown South project promises a bright future for Raleigh in 2022, a close examination of the city’s economic and social stratification in the past reveals the city’s inequality, resulting in an affluent north Raleigh and a pauperized south Raleigh ghetto. This work illuminates previously unrecognized aspects of Raleigh’s history, such as how an outskirts neighborhood shaped the city’s development during the twentieth century.