History

The Raleigh City Museum was founded in 1993. It was the first repository for the collection of artifacts that represent the Capital City. Before 1993, Raleigh had nowhere to store its vast collection. The museum was first housed in a small building in historic Raleigh, then moved to its current location, the historic Briggs Hardware Building, in 1998.

At its premiere in 1874, the Briggs Hardware Building was the tallest building in eastern North Carolinaand was deemed the state's first skyscraper. The building became the home of Briggs Hardware which was founded in 1865 by Thomas H. Briggs and James Dodd, two early Raleigh entrepreneurs. (For more information regarding early Capital City entrepreneurs, see Businesses That Built Raleigh.) Briggs Hardware decided to relocate in 1994 and the building was acquired by the A.J. Fletcher Foundation; Preservation North Carolina rehabilitated the building. By 1998, the renovation was complete. Currently, the Raleigh City Museum occupies the first two floors of the four story building.

For more great information about the history of the Raleigh City Museum and the Briggs Hardware Building, click here.

For a current listing of Raleigh City Museum's exhibits, click here.

Reference: A Brief History of the Raleigh City Museum, March 2003, Raleigh City Museum, March 20, 2003, <www.raleighcitymuseum.org>

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-Page designed by Jan Bunting, Brian Davenport and Tara Stanford

Photos compliments of Jan Bunting, Brian Davenport and Tara Stanford

Bunting, Jan; Davenport, Brian; Stanford, Tara, Raleigh City Museum, March 2003, North Carolina State University Department of Education, ECI 551