JC Raulston Arboretum
description: The JC Raulston Arboretum (JCRA) is a public arboretum and garden created to serve three purposes; teaching, research, and extension programs. The 10.5-acre complex is located about one mile from the main campus and has 18 gardens, including the Butterfly Garden, Japanese Garden, and Paradise Garden. It has nine plant collections, which are considered the foundation of the arboretum. The plant collections include herbaceous perennials, a redbud collection, and the only dwarf loblolly pine collection in the world. In its first years, it was known as the North Carolina State University Arboretum. It was renamed in 1997 in memory of J.C. (James Chester) Raulston, a professor in the horticulture department at NC State. He was the driving force behind the creation of an arboretum and served as its first director. Raulston was born in Oklahoma and attended Oklahoma State University, graduating with a degree in agriculture. He completed his masters in horticulture at the University of Maryland and began his Ph.D., but his studies were interrupted by his U.S. Army service. He had participated in the U.S. Army’s Reserve Officers’ Training Corps during his undergraduate degree and so was required to serve in the military. His service requirement was made more pressing by the beginning of the Vietnam War and in 1966 he became a member of the U.S. Army Chemical Corps. His assignment was testing herbicides, better known as “agents.” In the war against Viet Nam, the United States used agents as defoliants to reveal supply lines, and exposure to them caused devastating health problems as well as environmental damage that disproportionately affected people in Viet Nam, Cambodia, and Laos. After his service, Raulston finished his Ph.D. and took a job teaching at the University of Bradenton in Florida and then Texas A&M University before accepting a job in the horticulture department at NC State University in 1975. According to the biography, Chlorophyll in His Veins by Bobby J. Ward…
creator: Emma Stout
date: 2020/1/14

Pullen Hall
description: The original Pullen Hall stood from 1902 to 1965 near Holladay Hall in a space that now holds a parking lot. Like the current Pullen Hall one mile away on Dan Allen Drive, the old building served students. Also like its successor, the old building honored NC State’s original benefactor, Richard Stanhope Pullen (who went by “Stanhope”). The school built Pullen Hall because of a kitchen fire in Watauga Hall that also burned dormitory facilities on Nov. 19, 1901. The State Board of Agriculture in charge of the college resolved in 1902 meeting minutes to erect a separate building for the kitchens as well as “a dining hall for 500 students and [a] chapel or assembly room.” On May 15, 1902, NC State President George Winston laid the first brick for the building, according to the Asheville Citizen-Times. He told the gathered audience, “I read what you wrote about the propriety of naming [the building] ‘Pullen Memorial Hall,’ [and agreed it was] a worthy tribute to a good man…who did much for [North Carolina] and for Raleigh.” Students primarily used Pullen Hall, although the North Carolina Farmers’ Convention, Farm Women’s Convention, State Federation of Home Bureaus, and 4-H Clubs also met in Pullen Hall from before the building was completed in 1903 until the 1950s. Because of its chapel, stage, and wide-open gym, students hosted Young Men’s Christian Association meetings, literary society debates, dances, and baseball practices there in the 1900s and 1910s, according to The Red and White. They also played school pranks in Pullen Hall to escape mandatory chapel: an alumnus from 1917 recalled his classmates released beehives, while another from the class of 1914 admitted that as sophomores, his colleagues sneaked a live bear in from the now-gone Pullen Park Zoo. From the 1930s to the 1960s, the Technician reported that Pullen Hall was valuable to students hosting class meetings and guest speakers. Most often, the choir, band, glee club, and drama group performed there. So…
creator: Alanna Natanson
date: 2020/12/31

Bostian Hall
description: On December 17, 1980, NC State University Chancellor Joab L. Thomas dedicated Bostian Hall on North Campus as a facility for research and teaching biological sciences. Thomas said during the dedication that the new building near the Brickyard honored “Carey Bostian, a warm, compassionate human being, dedicated and skillful administrator, and very clearly one of the world’s greatest teachers.” Three years prior, the News and Observer reported the school enrolled a record number of students in biology courses, leaving little laboratory space for “individual work by students and professors.” In response, the university allocated $2,705,000 to construct Bostian Hall. According to the dedication program, Architect F. Carter Williams paid particular attention to lecture halls and laboratories for instruction in designing the building which totaled 38,529 square feet. A 1983 Course Bulletin indicated many biological programs operated there, including the interdepartmental Biological Sciences and Pest Management for Crop Sciences programs. In 2020, Bostian still housed the Biological Sciences department, along with Plant and Microbial Biology. After hours, school organizations hosted events in Bostian such as the 1983 History Department panel with African American historians entitled “John Hope Franklin, Black History, and North Carolina State University” and the 1990 Women’s Resource Coalition discussion “Sex, Lies, and Campus Rape.” Bostian originally came to NC State in 1930 because of the Zoology Department. A Zoology professor had resigned suddenly, Bostian reported in a 1987 oral history, and his major professor at the University of Pittsburgh recommended the North Carolina native to fill the vacancy. NC State took the recommendation even though Bostian had neither applied for the position nor finished his dissertation. The State College News (SCN) reported that Bostian’s service on faculty committees after gaining full professorship in 1946 helped him attain the Dire…
creator: Alanna Natanson
date: 2020/12/11

James B. Hunt Library
description: James B. Hunt Library, located on Centennial Campus, is a research library focused on science, engineering, technology and textiles, all strengths of NC State University. It was opened in 2013 and has since been the recipient of numerous awards including the National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the highest honor given to libraries in the United States, and the AIA / ALA Library of the Year Award in 2013. In 2015, Library Journal gave its “New Landmark Library” to the Hunt Library. The library is named after James B. Hunt, North Carolina’s first two term governor and the state’s only four term governor. He served from 1977 to 1985 and 1993 to 2001. Hunt graduated from NC State University in 1959 with his bachelor in agricultural education and in 1962 with his masters in agricultural economics. He served two terms as NC State’s student body president. In Hunt’s first term in office he helped to pass an amendment to the state Constitution allowing governors to serve two consecutive terms. As Governor, he appointed the first Black cabinet secretary, the first Black North Carolina Supreme Court justice, and the first Black chief justice in North Carolina. In his four terms as governor he was particularly known for championing educational policies. He was also instrumental in the creation of NC State’s Centennial Campus, when he granted the school 385 acres of land in 1984. The driving force behind Hunt Library was Susan Nutter. She was the vice provost and director of libraries before her retirement in 2017. When she arrived at NC State in 1987, the library was in dire need of updated facilities. A particular challenge was the lack of space for students. The University of North Carolina system standard for libraries is to provide space for 20 percent of the student body. NC State was failing to meet this standard, a problem that continued into the 21st century. In 2009, the libraries had space for fewer than 9 percent of students. In a Technician article, David…
creator: Emma Stout
date: 2020/11/27

Brick Layers: An Atlas of New Perspectives on NC State's Campus History

Centennial Campus
description: Centennial Campus was named in honor of NC State’s 100th anniversary, which occurred in 1987. It is located south of the original campus (now North Campus). Differing from traditional campuses, Centennial plays host to university, industry, and government partners. It is home to academic bodies like the College of Engineering, the Veterinary Medical Campus, and the Wilson College of Textiles, but also to LexisNexis, an office of the National Weather Service, and Centennial Campus Magnet Middle School. The campus also has housing, a golf course, a state-of-the-art library, and a hotel and conference center. Plans for Centennial Campus began in the early 1980s at NC State. There was a desperate need for more space to accommodate a growing student population which had surpassed 20,000 for the first time. To address this need, Bruce Poulton, who became chancellor in 1982, spearheaded plans to create a new campus and in 1984 Governor Hunt (an NC State graduate) transferred 385 acres to NC State for a new campus. This was followed by a second grant in 1985 by Governor James. G. Martin of another 450 acres. The governors transferred this land from Dorthea Dix Hospital, originally known as the Asylum for the Insane of North Carolina to the college in order to enhance the level of education and economic opportunity in North Carolina, and for this reason Centennial Campus is often considered NC State’s second land-grant. Centennial Campus grew through additional grants and purchases to eventually total over 1,000 acres. In 1988, NC State bought 76 acres from the Catholic Diocese of Raleigh. After negotiating over the price, the News & Observer reported the Diocese agreed to sell the land for $7.5 million, pending approval from the Pope. The land had once been the site for the Nazareth Catholic Orphanage. The orphanage had a small graveyard and there is some uncertainty about where or whether the graves were moved. In September of 1985, Chancellor Bruce Poulton created the Uni…
creator: Emma Stout
date: 2020/11/3

Yarbrough Drive Steam Plant and Smokestack
description: Since at least 1996, Facilities Division has called the plant “Yarbrough Drive Steam Plant.” The drive, noted historian Doris King in 1987, was a “permanent memorial” to Louis Thomas Yarbrough, “a man whose love and loyalty to the institution were outstanding.” Yarbrough was born on October 18, 1873 in Caswell County, North Carolina, according to his obituary. The graduate of a “one-teacher school,” Yarbrough enrolled with the college’s first class in 1889 on scholarship. AN reported he taught at NC State for four years after his graduation in 1893, then joined the US Post Office Department. Yarbrough spent over thirty-seven years with the mail service, first as a clerk, then as manager of the state capitol’s post office, and finally as an esteemed postal inspector. As inspector, he caught local thieves stealing mail and international criminals shipping fraudulent merchandise. Yarbrough remained close to his alma mater, physically and socially. He settled on Hillsborough Street, where he offered an “Open House” for visiting alumni until his death in 1952, according to King. AN reported Yarbrough also chaired the Alumni Association’s “Necrology [obituary] Committee” and attended commencement ceremonies until at least 1945. Most importantly, Yarbrough helped his daughter Mary fall in love with and eventually attend NC State, where she became the first woman to earn a Master of Science from the college in 1927. Today, the smokestack named after Louis Yarbrough overlooks a courtyard named after Mary Yarbrough. The iconic spot had humble beginnings, and since has reflected larger themes in US environmental history. On February 8, 1924, The Technician newspaper announced North Carolina State College’s plans for its new power plant located seventy-five feet from the railroad tracks. A 175-foot-high smokestack was adjacent, eight feet in diameter. “The name of the college,” the newspaper wrote, “will be set in white brick near the top of the stack…visible to those approachi…
creator: Alanna Natanson
date: 2020/10/13

Spring Hill House
description: Spring Hill house is the oldest structure on campus, built sometime between 1816 and 1820. The house is located on Centennial Campus on Barbour Dr. The house was built by the Hunters, a prominent family in Raleigh’s history and was later used by Dorthea Dix Hospital before being transferred to NC State. The Hunters enslaved African people to farm the land around the house for at least two generations. While there is a good deal of information about the Hunters and about Dorothea Dix Hospital, more research needs to be done to better understand the lives of the enslaved Africans who worked the land. In 1757, King George II of England granted 565 acres of this land to John Giles Thomas, a large landowner and enslaver. This land was passed to Colonel Theophilus Hunter, Sr., who served in the Revolutionary War and is considered one of the founding fathers of Raleigh. Hunter, Sr., with James Bloodworth, donated land for Raleigh’s first courthouse. Colonel Hunter served as the first justice for the first county court held in Wake county and was elected to the North Carolina Assembly. He was also a county surveyor and tax assessor. Colonel Hunter and his family moved to Spring Hill sometime between 1771 and 1798, after their previous residence in Raleigh, Hunter’s Lodge, burned. The 1790 census indicates he enslaved 45 people, making him the second largest enslaver in the county. Colonel Hunter died in 1798, and his grave is located near Spring Hill House. According to the Dix Park Legacy Report of 2018, his will names 56 enslaved people. Colonel Hunter left his property to his son, Theophilus Hunter, Jr., who oversaw the building of Spring Hill House, which was completed in 1820. The 1830 census indicates Hunter, Jr., enslaved 65 people and according to the Dix Park Legacy Report, his will names 67 enslaved people. According to Spring Hill’s National Historic Nomination form, at his death in 1840 Hunter Jr. left the property to his three daughters. In 1850, his daughter M…
creator: Emma Stout
date: 2020/10/06

Park Shops
description: Park Shops is located on Stinson Drive on North Carolina State University’s North Campus, behind 111 Lampe Drive and across from SAS Hall. The name “Shops” refers to the building’s original purpose: to be “the mechanical counterpart of the model farm facility in the agricultural curriculum” for engineering students, according to a Historic Site Survey. As machines increasingly replaced manual labor in the 1900s, an article in Technician argued, training in engineering held “great opportunity.” Therefore, for $143,000, the school constructed mechanical shops, a forge, and a foundry appropriate for teaching in 1914. Architect H.P.S. Keller designed a “Shop and Laboratory Building” to house equipment across one floor and a basement and run on steam engines. In the 1920s, Craftsmen-in-training turned steel into I-beams, cast-iron into fire grates, and rough wood into phonograph cabinets, among other creations. Students serviced the college president’s car in the automotive shop and saved the school $5,000 annually by building desks and chairs for campus laboratories and dorm rooms, according to The News and Observer (N&O) and Technician. Many land-grant university engineering programs had emphasized hands-on learning and used student-made products since the 1860s, according to historian Paul Nienkamp. Students worked in shops to “implement and practice new concepts and skills,” but also because “legislators demanded that students provide labor at the new institutions if they wanted buildings, physical infrastructure, and continued funding that required specialized equipment.” On New Year’s Eve in 1919, a fire ignited from wood shavings. The N&O reported the flames incinerated the wood shop and auto shop, and the school lost $75,000 worth of equipment. Within months, Mechanical Engineering professors and students resumed normal operations and continued producing for the school. In 1934, students used the foundry to cast the numerals for the clocks on Memorial Belltower, …
creator: Alanna Natanson
date: 2020/09/22

Watauga Hall
description: Watauga Hall has the honor of being the oldest residence hall on North Carolina State University’s campus; it was the designated residence hall for NC State’s first Black students and first women students. The University built Watauga Hall in 1896 and named the building after the Watauga Club, a group of prominent, young, white men in Raleigh whose efforts were integral in creating North Carolina State University, then, the North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. While the Watauga Club was meant to be a Progressive club, the members did not want to call it “Progressive Club,” which would have stirred up controversy amongst politicians. In his book, Universal Education in the South, founding member Charles W. Dabney explains the members chose the name Watauga because, “this would suggest nothing in particular to the public.” In many publications Watauga is credited as being an “Indian word” but does not specify the national or linguistic origins. Many competing translations have been given such as “sparkling water,” “the land beyond,” or “the river of many islands.” For the men, the name Watauga also connoted the Watauga Association, an early group of white settlers in Western Appalachia, as well as North Carolina’s Watauga County. The Club began as a forum for members to discuss economic issues facing North Carolina after the U.S. Civil War. Members set themselves in opposition to the old-guard legislators whom they referred to as “fossils” and “mummies” and who Club members saw as inhibiting modern education based in scientific methods and principles. Of the members, none were older than their thirties. Early members of the Watauga Club included several well-known men of the era, many of whom are the namesake of other buildings at NC State. William J. Peele, for whom the University named Peele Hall, served as the group’s first President. Peele was a lawyer and also helped to create the State Literary and Historical Association. A prominent member a…
creator: Emma Stout
date: 2020/09/05