History

The Royall Cotton Mill Building ca. 1910, courtesy of the Wake Forest Historical Museum

The Town of Wake Forest began as a rural and forest district in northern Wake County, North Carolina with its earliest surviving building dating back to circa 1800. In 1820, Calvin Jones purchased a 615-acre plantation from Davis Battle, coining the name Wake Forest when he was postmaster of what was known as the “Forest District of Wake.” The North Carolina Baptist Convention purchased his plantation in 1834 to develop the Wake Forest Manual Labor Institute, which would become Wake Forest College in 1838. The area witnessed growth due to the College, the relocation of the railroad depot from Forestville to Wake Forest in 1874, and the establishment of the Royall Cotton Mill in 1899, one of the State’s largest cotton mills and a major local employer.

In 1909, the North Carolina General Assembly rechartered the community as the Town of Wake Forest, giving the Town authority to sell bonds to build a generator and electric system. US 1’s relocation west of town in 1952, Wake Forest College’s move to Winston-Salem in 1956, and the closure of the mill in 1976 brought significant changes and economic hardship, but the Town persevered. Beginning in the 1990s and continuing today, Wake Forest has experienced a considerable increase in population together with the surrounding region, prompting new residential and economic growth across the community.

Calvin Jones House ca. 1820

Ailey Young House, construction in the mid-late 1800s