Editing Raleigh, North Carolina (section)

===18th century===
In December 1770, [[Joel Lane House|Joel Lane]] successfully petitioned the [[North Carolina General Assembly]] to create a new county. On January 5, 1771, the bill creating Wake County was passed in the General Assembly.<ref>{{cite web |title=History Of Raleigh |url=https://raleighnc.gov/history-raleigh |access-date=2020-10-21 |website=raleighnc.gov |language=en |archive-date=October 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026083013/https://raleighnc.gov/history-raleigh |url-status=dead }}</ref> The county was formed from portions of [[Cumberland County, North Carolina|Cumberland]], [[Orange County, North Carolina|Orange]], and [[Johnston County, North Carolina|Johnston]] counties, and was named for [[Margaret Wake Tryon]], the wife of Governor [[William Tryon]]. The first county seat was [[Bloomsbury Historic District|Bloomsbury]].

[[New Bern, North Carolina|New Bern]], a port town on the [[Neuse River]] {{cvt|35|mi}} from the Atlantic Ocean, was the largest city and the capital of North Carolina during the [[American Revolution]]. When the British Army laid siege to the city, that site could no longer be used as the capital.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nchistory.web.unc.edu/state-capital/ |title=Fact: The state capital of North Carolina is Fayetteville &#124; North Carolina History |publisher=Nchistory.web.unc.edu |access-date=June 1, 2014 |archive-date=July 1, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140701200627/http://nchistory.web.unc.edu/state-capital/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> From 1789 to 1794, when Raleigh was being built, the state capital was [[Fayetteville, North Carolina|Fayetteville]].

Raleigh was chosen as the site of the new capital in 1788, as its central location protected it from attacks from the coast. It was officially established in 1792 as both county seat and state capital.<ref>{{cite web |title=Raleigh History |url=http://www.cityofraleighmuseum.org/history/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214101426/http://www.cityofraleighmuseum.org/history/ |archive-date=December 14, 2019 |website=City of Raleigh Museum |access-date=April 24, 2022}}</ref> The city was incorporated on December 31, 1792, and a charter granted January 21, 1795.<ref name="RaleighNCHP">{{Cite web |last=Peters |first=Ken |title=City of Raleigh |url=https://northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/city-of-raleigh/ |access-date=November 6, 2022 |website=North Carolina History Project |date=March 7, 2016 |publisher=John Locke Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref> The city was named for [[Walter Raleigh|Sir Walter Raleigh]], sponsor of [[Roanoke Colony|Roanoke]], the "lost colony" on Roanoke Island.<ref>{{cite book |last=Powell |first=William |title=North Carolina Gazetteer |date=1968 |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |location=Chapel Hill, North Carolina |page=402}}</ref>

No known city or town existed previously on the chosen city site. Raleigh is one of the few cities in the United States that was planned and built specifically to serve as a [[List of capitals in the United States|state capital]]. Its original boundaries were formed by the downtown streets of North, East, West and South.<ref name="nc architecture">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NccTgQkmPIEC |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |year=2005 |page=73 |title=North Carolina Architecture |first=Catherine |last=Bishir |isbn=978-0-8078-5624-6}}</ref> The plan, a grid with two main axes meeting at a central square and an additional square in each corner, was based on [[Thomas Holme]]'s 1682 plan for [[Philadelphia]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Whitfield |first1=Peter |title=Cities of the World: A History in Maps |date=2005 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley and Los Angeles |page=149 |isbn=9780520247253 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WS4jgVqnck8C&pg=PA149}}</ref> The city was developed on the land of various [[Plantation complexes in the Southern United States|plantations]] including [[Crabtree Jones House|Crabtree]], [[Mordecai House|Mordecai]], [[Historic Oak View|Oak View]], [[Pine Hall (Raleigh, North Carolina)|Pine Hall]], [[Pullen House|Pullen]], [[Spring Hill (Raleigh, North Carolina)|Spring Hill]], and [[Joel Lane House|Wakefield]].

The [[North Carolina General Assembly]] first met in Raleigh in December 1794, and granted the city a [[charter]], with a board of seven appointed [[commissioner]]s and an "[[Intendant]] of Police" (which developed as the office of [[Mayor of Raleigh, North Carolina|Mayor]]) to govern it. After 1803, city commissioners were elected. In 1799, the ''N.C. Minerva and Raleigh Advertiser'' was the first newspaper published in Raleigh.<ref name="cityhistory">{{cite web |title=City of Raleigh Years (1587–1844) |publisher=City of Raleigh |url=http://www.raleigh-nc.org/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_2_306_202_0_43/http%3B/pt03/DIG_Web_Content/category/Resident/Raleigh_At_A_Glance/History_of_Raleigh/Cat-2CA-2006109-095008-History_of_Raleigh__1587.html |access-date=March 17, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071117213722/http://www.raleigh-nc.org/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_2_306_202_0_43/http%3B/pt03/DIG_Web_Content/category/Resident/Raleigh_At_A_Glance/History_of_Raleigh/Cat-2CA-2006109-095008-History_of_Raleigh__1587.html |archive-date=November 17, 2007}}</ref> [[John Haywood (politician)|John Haywood]] was the first Intendant of Police.<ref name="haywood">{{cite web |title=About John Haywood |publisher=NSCDA |url=http://haywoodhall.org/Haywood/haywood.html |access-date=September 7, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050405225549/http://www.haywoodhall.org/Haywood/haywood.html |archive-date=April 5, 2005}}</ref>