Depot Historic District

Raleigh's Depot Historic District covers about four blocks at the southwest corner of the city's original 1792 plan, just west of downtown's main commercial street. Brick warehouses, factories, a freight depot, a passenger station and small commercial buildings, mostly from the 1910s to the early 1950s, line streets beside railroad tracks and sidings. Nash Square, one of the city's four original squares, provides a landscaped contrast; its Beaux-Arts plan was reworked in 1939-40 with WPA funds. The district was listed for its role in transportation, industry and commerce. During the 1910s through the 1940s, Raleigh served as a regional wholesale center with three rail lines, and many of its seventy-six wholesale firms operated here. Trucking and highway-oriented warehouses drew business away in the 1950s, and the factories closed. Of thirty-five buildings, twenty-seven contribute to the district's character, and later uses include art, furnishings and design businesses. Granite paving blocks and rail sidings still convey the setting.