Raleigh City Guide: Hidden Gems, Dark History & Local Secrets

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Longform stories and essays exploring Raleigh's history and culture

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Invented Before It Existed

A planned capital, a headless namesake, and the quiet ambition of the City of Oaks

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The Numbered Graves: Dorothea Dix Cemetery

For over a century, patients who died at Raleigh's mental hospital were buried with only a number. No names. No families. Just a cross and a stamped metal tag. Now volunteers are trying to give them back their identities.

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The Lost Speedway: NASCAR's Forgotten Raleigh Track

A mile-long NASCAR superspeedway lies buried in the woods near Atlantic Avenue. It was supposed to be Daytona. Now it's pine trees and asphalt fragments, a ghost track where racing legends once roared.

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Punk Rock in a Bomb Shelter: The Village Underground

Beneath a Fresh Market in Raleigh lies a sealed 20,000-square-foot bomb shelter that once hosted The Ramones, Iggy Pop, and The Police. David Sedaris thought it was what New York looked like. Now it's just a parking lot.

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Invented Before It Existed

A planned capital, a headless namesake, and the quiet ambition of the City of Oaks

Read

Invented Before It Existed

A planned capital, a headless namesake, and the quiet ambition of the City of Oaks

Read

The Numbered Graves: Dorothea Dix Cemetery

Read

The Lost Speedway: NASCAR's Forgotten Raleigh Track

Read

Punk Rock in a Bomb Shelter: The Village Underground

Read

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Curated collections of curiosities, dark history, hidden gems, and more

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Raleigh's Dark History

Coups, lynchings, and the violence behind Southern charm

Curious Raleigh

Articles

Invented Before It Existed

The Numbered Graves: Dorothea Dix Cemetery

The Lost Speedway: NASCAR's Forgotten Raleigh Track

Punk Rock in a Bomb Shelter: The Village Underground

Invented Before It Existed

The Numbered Graves: Dorothea Dix Cemetery

The Lost Speedway: NASCAR's Forgotten Raleigh Track

Punk Rock in a Bomb Shelter: The Village Underground

Invented Before It Existed

The Numbered Graves: Dorothea Dix Cemetery

The Lost Speedway: NASCAR's Forgotten Raleigh Track

Punk Rock in a Bomb Shelter: The Village Underground

Discover

Raleigh's Dark History

Curiosities

Hidden Gems

Lost Raleigh

Raleigh's Dark History

Curiosities

Hidden Gems

Lost Raleigh

Raleigh's Dark History

Curiosities

Hidden Gems

Lost Raleigh

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Curious Raleigh

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Invented Before It Existed