City of Raleigh News Release - Historic District Named for Prince Hall

Jayne Kirkpatrick, Public Affairs Director
Prepared by: Christopher Riley, Senior Public Affairs Specialist

For more information: Martha Lauer, Planning and Development, 919-996-2649

Oct. 16, 2012

City Council  Names Historic District for Prince Hall

On Oct. 16, the Raleigh City Council approved the renaming of the South Blount Street and Person Street Historic Overlay District as the Prince Hall Historic District.  

On April 3, the Raleigh City Council designated the area an historic overlay district. It was the first historic overlay district thus designated in 20 years. The district was temporarily named the South Person/South Blount Street Historic Overlay District and represents Raleigh’s first African American and first mixed-use historic district. The City of Raleigh Historic Development Commission identified three potential names from the historic research report prepared for the district designation which  each reflect the heritage of the area.

The commission presented three choices for the district’s name, the Prince Hall Historic District, the Stronach's Alley Historic District, or the Deluxe Historic District. In addition, a month-long online poll was hosted at www.rhdc.org, and citizens who did not have access to computers were invited to cast their vote over the phone. The Historic Development Commission’s newsletter, DejaNews, advertised the poll and it was mailed to all residents and property owners within the City's six local historic districts and to owners of Raleigh Historic Landmarks. It was also sent to persons registered to receive the commission’s newsletter through the City's GovDelivery system. Prince Hall was chosen with 55 percent of the vote.

The Prince Hall Historic Overlay District is comprised of 23.39 acres and is located in the general vicinity of South Person and South Blount streets between East Davie and East South streets. The underlying zoning on these properties is a mix of Residential Business, Neighborhood Business and Business districts. The district is located southeast of the Capitol within the city’s original boundaries and encompasses about four city blocks. It includes a number of late 19th- and early 20th century residences as well as commercial and institutional buildings dating from the first half of the 20th century.

The Prince Hall Masonic Temple Building at 427 South Blount Street was erected in 1907 for black residents and has been referred to as the ‘most stylish’ building in the historic district. The three-story Italianate building was constructed from brick likely salvaged from a demolished Masonic temple building for white residents.

The first story features a cast-iron bracketed cornice and a cutaway corner entrance supported by a cast-iron column, while the upper floors contain segmental arch windows accented with hoodmolds. The first lodge built by Raleigh’s earliest black fraternal orders, the Widow’s Son Lodge No. 4 and the Excelsior Lodge No. 21, Prince Hall served as a meeting place for benevolent societies and rented its lower floors to various enterprises, serving as an incubator for local, black-owned businesses over the decades. It is a Raleigh Historic Landmark and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
 
An Historic Overlay District is intended to preserve and protect areas, structures and buildings that are considered to be a valued and important asset to the City, and have special significance in terms of one or more of the following: history, prehistory, archaeology, architecture and culture. The buildings also possess integrity of design, setting, materials, feeling and association.