{"nrhp_refnum":"78001978","name":"Capitol Area Historic District","other_names":["See Also:70000478","76001341","70000471","70000469","70000470","710006"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"State Capitol building and environs","address_restricted":false,"city":"Raleigh","county":"Wake County","state":"NC","lat":35.78099542950005,"lon":-78.63665962493866,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-04-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Landscape Architecture","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A historic district centered on Union Square at the core of downtown Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina, containing the State Capitol, four corner churches, government buildings and a few surviving dwellings and a bank. The district was laid out in 1792 as the capital's street plan.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the district preserves the city's original 1792 street grid and quincunx of squares, and that its buildings chart changes in architectural fashion and in state government from the late eighteenth century onward. The Greek Revival capitol and the Gothic Revival Christ Church are described as significant architecture, and the district is linked to the history of state government and the capital's development.","narrative":"Centered on Union Square, the Capitol Area district was laid out in 1792 on 400 of the 1,000 acres bought from Colonel Joel Lane, with William Christmas as surveyor. Its grid is interrupted by a six-acre center square and four smaller squares, with axial avenues that terminate at the Capitol. The granite Greek Revival State Capitol was completed in 1840 under the supervision of David Paton, following designs by Town and Davis. Christ Church, a granite Gothic Revival building completed in 1852 to designs by Richard Upjohn, stands at one corner of the square. The First Baptist Church, built in 1859 by William Percival, is another Gothic Revival church on the opposite side. The district also includes Haywood Hall, begun about 1792, and the White-Holman House, along with a bank building of the early 1800s. Together these buildings document the city's early growth and the expansion of state government.","period_of_significance":"1792-present","architect_builder":"Various (the form lists the builder/architect as various; individual buildings are attributed to Ithiel Town and David Paton, Richard Upjohn, William Percival, and William Nichols)","architectural_style":"Greek Revival; Gothic Revival; Georgian-Federal; Romanesque","criteria":[],"status_note":"Two of the four original squares survive as open green spaces; Halifax Street was removed and Fayetteville Street became a mall.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:41.904831-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/45/7224/47722445/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/78001978.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78001978/97a35e22dd-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78001978/97a35e22dd-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Photograph: NASA","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Capitol_Raleigh_satellite_view.png\" rel=\"noopener\">Photograph: NASA</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Capitol_Raleigh_satellite_view.png"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47722445","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitol_Area_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5035841"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/wake-county/capitol-area-historic-district-78001978/"}