Fayetteville Street Historic District
Why it's listed
Fayetteville Street is Raleigh's main commercial corridor, and this district takes in four blocks of it along with a few buildings on West Hargett, West Martin and South Salisbury Streets. The district has 21 contributing and 8 noncontributing resources. The buildings range from four-story brick stores to steel-framed skyscrapers of up to sixteen stories. The period of significance begins in 1874 with Briggs Hardware and the Second Empire Post Office and Courtroom, and ends in 1965 with three modernist bank buildings. Together these show the street's growth from a retail corridor of shops, banks and theaters into a center of corporate banking. The 1909 Masonic Temple, designed by Charles McMillan, was the state's first skyscraper with a steel-reinforced concrete frame. Many older storefronts were remodeled before 1965, and the district counts those changes as part of the buildings' history. Later infill from the 1970s and 1980s is classed as noncontributing. Uses today include offices, restaurants, apartments, a museum and government functions.
Significance in brief: The district is Raleigh's principal commercial street and has long been the commercial heart of the city. Its buildings span nearly a century of commercial architecture, from Italianate and Second Empire buildings to early skyscrapers and 1960s Modernist bank towers. They show how the street grew from a retail corridor into a center of corporate banking and office development.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 07001412, listed February 27, 2008. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Roughly 100-400 blks. of Fayetteville, 00-100 blks. of W. Hargett, 00 blk. of W. Martin, 100-400 S. Salisbury Sts., Raleigh |
|---|---|
| County | Wake County |
| Listed | February 27, 2008 |
| Reference number | 07001412 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | 1874-1965 |
| Architect / builder | Charles McMillan (Masonic Temple Building); other architects named in the inventory |
| Architectural style | Late Victorian (Italianate, Second Empire); Classical Revival; Commercial Style; Skyscraper; Moderne; International Style; Art Deco; Brutalism |
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Commerce |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Mixed commercial, government, residential and cultural uses today; one noncontributing building at 213 Fayetteville Street is described as currently vacant. |
| Acreage | 12 |
| Coordinates | 35.77886, -78.63945 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 07001412.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q5439065
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.