THE WHISKEY WAS UNDERGROUND!
Of all the bootleg liquor operations in the Harricanes, none was more newsworthy than the massive underground still found on the banks of the Neuse River in northern Wake County. … Continue reading
The Strange Case of Raymond Hair
“A month ago he was just another student seeking a lucrative career in dentistry. Now he is a hunted man.” That crazy reversal of fortune–in January 1950–made national headlines and … Continue reading
The Wright Family Christmas Lights
When your Christmas story starts with Big Daddy tackling holiday traffic to acquire a two-story inflatable reindeer, you know you’re on to something. When the story ends with a holiday … Continue reading
Christmas in Wake Forest – A Cheatsheet on Local Holiday Traditions
When the bells jingle and the lights twinkle it’s Christmas Time in Wake Forest–and that means a virtual Santa’s sleigh of town traditions that got their start alongside the Old … Continue reading
The Wreck of the Seaboard Fast Flyer
From the college boy who leaped from a car before it reached the station to the local man who passed out on the tracks, Wake Forest once was known for … Continue reading
Speaker Kathryn Quigg: Local Author of Historical Fiction
Annual Meeting Scheduled for Sunday, October 22nd The Wake Forest College Birthplace Society will hold this year’s annual meeting on Sunday, October 22nd from 3 pm to 5 pm. Members … Continue reading
Memories of Old General Stores: Program on Sunday, October 8th at 3pm
If you’re a newcomer interested in history, an old-timer willing to share stories, or anyone in between, the Wake Forest Historical Association invites you to attend its upcoming program … Continue reading
Celebrate Our History on Museum Day Live! 9/23/2017
We’re proud to join Smithsonian magazine’s thirteenth annual Museum Day Live!, in which participating museums across the United States emulate the spirit of the Smithsonian Institution by opening their doors … Continue reading
Wake Forest’s Downtown Blacksmith Shop, 1954
It’s surprising to think the Town of Wake Forest still had a blacksmith shop until about 1960. It was where Lumpy’s Ice Cream is today; just an unpainted wooden building … Continue reading
Joyce Davis Celebrates 100th Birthday in Wake Forest
Wake Forest’s legendary Joyce Davis celebrates her 100th birthday on July 9th, marking a century of history right in our hometown. In 2013, Ms. Joyce granted an interview to noted … Continue reading
Wake Forest Has a Disastrous Hailstorm
A record-setting hailstorm hit town on June 13, 1896. Hours after it ended, Wake Forest College Mathematics Professor John Francis Lanneau stuck a ruler into a drift against the college … Continue reading
The Story Map of Friendship Chapel Cemetery
Through a generous grant from the Jandy Ammons Foundation, the Wake Forest Historical Association has conducted a survey of the “Old Cemetery” of Friendship Chapel Missionary Baptist Church and the … Continue reading
Discovering Hundreds of Graves in the “Old Cemetery”
This Sunday, May 21st at 3:00 pm, the museum is hosting a free public forum about the historic “Old Cemetery” of Friendship Chapel Missionary Baptist Church. Through the use of ground … Continue reading
Wake Forest Hero in WWII Germany: A Journalist’s Search for Clues
This Sunday, May 14th at 2:30 pm, the museum is hosting a free public forum to explore the mysterious history of U.S. Air Force Pilot Wilson Montague of Wake Forest, … Continue reading
The College Book Store and B & S Department Store
If you want an example of how the college and town were united–and tied to the wider world–this is one to remember. It begins with B & S Department Store, a … Continue reading
Oldest Student in Wake Forest History
While thumbing through the 1949 Howler, we noticed 75-year-old Eustace Norfleet, who had returned to Wake Forest College more than 50 years after he left. This original story written for a 1947 … Continue reading