Joel Lane Museum House

Joel Lane Museum House Birthplace of North Carolina's capital city, Raleigh. All tours are guided by a costumed docent. Please see the website for location, hours, and special events.

The Joel Lane Museum House, “Birthplace of North Carolina’s Capital,” was the home of Colonel Joel Lane, a Revolutionary War patriot, a plantation and slaveowner, and a local politician and statesman who sold 1,000 acres of his land to the State of NC in 1792 for the building the capital city, Raleigh. Tours paint a picture of life and politics in the Carolina backcountry of 1770-1795, and speak

on the lives and experiences of the Lane family and the 43 men and women and children who were enslaved here. This site contains Joel Lane’s furnished 18th-century home, as well as a circa 1790 middle-class dwelling, interpreted as a kitchen, a colonial revival herb, and a circa 1840 Visitors Center and museum shop.

Can you spot the Joel Lane House in this photo of Raleigh from 1970? 👀
02/10/2026

Can you spot the Joel Lane House in this photo of Raleigh from 1970? 👀

Aerial view of Boylan Heights with State Prison and Dorothea Dix Hospital grounds in distance, 17 June 1970.
_______________
NO.6-17.1970
From the N&O Negative Collection, State Archives of North Carolina. Photo copyrighted by the News and Observer. Illegal to use without express permission from the N&O.

01/30/2026

Here we go again! We're closed tomorrow, Saturday, January 30, as winter weather continues. Be safe and have fun playing in the snow, and we'll see you all next week!

01/28/2026

JLMH will be closed today, Wednesday, January 28, due to continued ice. Unfortunately, we don't have enough skates for everyone to navigate our courtyard!

Stay safe, friends, and we'll see you soon.

01/23/2026

The Joel Lane Museum House will be CLOSED tomorrow, Saturday, January 24, in anticipation of the winter storm. Stay warm and safe, friends!

Our bunny friend has been safely transferred to a foster parent who volunteers with the SPCA. Thank you to everyone who ...
12/12/2025

Our bunny friend has been safely transferred to a foster parent who volunteers with the SPCA.

Thank you to everyone who reached out about the little guy!

Someone's lost pet bunny wandered into the Joel Lane garden today. If you know of someone searching for a pet rabbit, di...
12/09/2025

Someone's lost pet bunny wandered into the Joel Lane garden today. If you know of someone searching for a pet rabbit, direct them our way!

Thank you to everyone who volunteered and attended JLMH’s 2025 Christmas Open House! 🎊It was a cold one, but everyone ha...
12/06/2025

Thank you to everyone who volunteered and attended JLMH’s 2025 Christmas Open House! 🎊

It was a cold one, but everyone had a great time making crafts and leaning about life in the 18th century. We couldn’t have done it without our wonderful volunteers!

Come out to the Joel Lane Museum House THIS SATURDAY to peruse the wonderful handmade treats and cakes at our fundraiser...
12/03/2025

Come out to the Joel Lane Museum House THIS SATURDAY to peruse the wonderful handmade treats and cakes at our fundraiser BAKE SALE! 🥧🍪

Every year, volunteers make amazing pies, cookies, and snacks to sell at our Christmas Open House - this year on December 6th, 11-3.

Support a local historic site while getting a delicious gift. 🎁🎉 And a huge thank you to all our volunteers for their time and generosity!

Historic Yates Mill County Park will be reopening its mill soon with a brand new water wheel! If you've never been, its ...
11/17/2025

Historic Yates Mill County Park will be reopening its mill soon with a brand new water wheel! If you've never been, its a lovely park and wonderful piece of Wake County history.

YATES MILL TO REOPEN: After months of work replacing the iconic mill wheel, Yates Mill will finally reopen to the public in late November.

Guests are invited to an open house, and they will even allow visitors inside the centuries-old mill to look around and learn about the updated wheel.

— We have lost so many of Raleigh’s mills. Whitaker Mill, Harps Mill, Mill Brook, Lassiter Mill, and dozens more.

💕 Donations from locals helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars required to replace the old wheel — exactly how the decaying mill was saved decades ago. Without the work of locals who care, we wouldn’t have this incredible piece of history … one of the only remaining mills in Wake County.

More details on the Yates Mill website, link in the comments.

(Image courtesy of RHDC)

10/30/2025

Buried History digs into the history of Raleigh's City Cemetery with a focus on the Boylan - Gales feud...

Interested in learning about the Great Wagon Road of the 18th century? Walter Magazine's Book Club is hosting author Jam...
06/24/2025

Interested in learning about the Great Wagon Road of the 18th century?

Walter Magazine's Book Club is hosting author James Dodson next month on Wednesday, July 23rd at the Theatre in the Park, where he'll talk about his modern trek following the old Wagon Road. This is the topic of his most recent book "The Road that Made America".

Check out the link for tickets!

Join WALTER as we host author and columnist Jim Dodson to celebrate The Road That Made America: A Modern Pilgrim’s Journey on the Great Wagon Road. This lively book shares untold stories in our nation’s history of the 800-mile route that American settlers forged from Philadelphia to Georgia. You...

Camp Flintlock summer camp is on the Joel Lane grounds this week! We are still doing regularly scheudled walk-in tours o...
06/18/2025

Camp Flintlock summer camp is on the Joel Lane grounds this week!

We are still doing regularly scheudled walk-in tours of the Joel Lane House while the camp is here.

Wave hello to the staff and campers learning about life in the 18th century if you stop by! 👋 😄

Address

160 S Saint Marys Street
Raleigh, NC
27603

Opening Hours

Wednesday 10am - 1am
Thursday 10am - 1pm
Friday 10am - 1pm
Saturday 1pm - 3pm

Telephone

+19198333431

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