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Raleigh's Skyline1
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The Research Triangle—or simply
the Triangle as it is known by locals—earned its name by being the home base for
many national research and development companies in the United
States. The area is dominated by a large research park located in the
county of Durham,
with nearby Raleigh
and Chapel Hill
as the second and third cities that make up the triangle. Created in 1959, the
Research Triangle Park is one of the largest research facilities in
the world, comprised of 7,000 acres in a pine forest with an additional 1,100
acres available for development. At the beginning of the 21st century, there were
more than 100 different research and development companies employing roughly 45,000
employees, making the research park the largest employer in this part of the state.
Visitors to the area have
a wide selection of attractions and activities to choose from, all of which
are supported by hotels, restaurants and shopping. History and culture is also
available at a number of venues, from museums examining the tobacco industry
to theatres providing live entertainment, films and more. While the Triangle
of Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill form a core, visitors should be aware that
accommodations and attractions are specific to each city, meaning, for example,
that a hotel in Raleigh may not afford easy access to the activities available
in the neighbouring cities.
ORIENTATION
Located in central North
Carolina, the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area can be found east of Winston-Salem
and Greensboro.
Major highways into the Research Triangle area consist of Route 40 from the
west and Route 85 from the north. While the Triangle is made up of three distinct
locations, there are a number of other municipalities surrounding Raleigh, Durham
and Chapel Hill. These include Cary,
Morrisville,
Apex
and Holly
Springs, among others.
HISTORY
The Raleigh-Durham area
has a long history, beginning with the Sioux tribes that lived in the area.
The Sioux were instrumental in helping settlers understand the land and showed
them how to carve out an existence from the North Carolina landscape. European
settlement began in the mid-1700s, with Irish, English and Scottish immigrants
moving to the area to work the land and establish shipping routes. Between the
American Revolution and the American Civil War, a number of plantations staked
claims in the Raleigh-Durham area. Growth was bolstered following the Civil
War with the flourishing of the tobacco industry. Brightleaf tobacco, a strain
produced in this area of North Carolina, proved to be milder and more flavorful
than other tobacco available at the time, and the industry burgeoned as soldiers
from both the North and South enjoyed the tobacco strain.
Raleigh grew into a retail
hub in the state, offering a variety of shops alongside restaurants, theatres
and more. Textile mills later became common in the Durham area, with the city
boasting the first mill that produced denim. In the 1950s and 1960s, a special
tax district was set up in Durham to accommodate a new research facility. The
Research Triangle Park was constructed in 1959, bringing a major economic boost
to the Raleigh-Durham area. Since the inception of the Research Triangle, many
inventions of world-reknown have been discovered there, including Astro-turf,
the artificial grass used in baseball and football fields.
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Month |
Avg.
Daily Temperature |
Average
Rainfall |
|
Min |
Max |
| Jan
|
29°F(-1°C) |
49°F(9°C) |
102mm
|
| Feb |
31°F(-0.1°C) |
54°F(12°C) |
88mm
|
| Mar
|
38°F(4°C) |
63°F(17°C) |
102mm
|
| Apr |
46°F(8°C) |
72°F(22°C) |
71mm
|
| May
|
55°F(13°C) |
78°F(26°C) |
96mm
|
| Jun
|
63°F(17°C) |
85°F(29°C) |
86mm
|
| Jul |
68°F(20°C) |
89°F(32°C) |
109mm
|
|
Aug |
67°F(19°C) |
87°F(30°C) |
96mm
|
|
Sep |
61°F(16°C) |
81°F(27°C) |
108mm
|
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Oct |
48°F(9°C) |
72°F(22°C) |
80mm
|
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Nov |
40°F(4°C) |
62°F(16°C) |
75mm
|
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Dec |
32°F(0.1°C) |
53°F(11°C) |
77mm
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Climate
data for Raleigh, NC, from the
National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration |
CLIMATE
The climate in this part
of North Carolina is relatively mild year round, with temperatures only just
dipping below the freezing mark during the winter months. This climate allows
visitors to experience the North Carolinan outdoors throughout the year, with
each season offering a different array of activities.
TRANSPORTATION
The Raleigh-Durham
International Airport is the major transportation hub in the area and
is situated between the two cities. International and domestic flights arrive
and depart daily, and several rental car companies can be found at the arrivals
terminal.
Getting around the Research
Triangle is facilitated by the Triangle
Transit Authority, a public transportation system with service throughout
the Triangle area. Taxis,
limousines
and other fare-based modes of transportation can also be found in the area.
Raleigh also offers an historic trolley,
which is a replica of the first public transport in the city. Tours are offered
Saturdays, 11am-3pm, from March through December.
FEATURED ATTRACTIONS
Attractions and activities
in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area are plentiful. Thanks to local transportation,
visitors can easily move between the different cities, and there are specific
attractions that draw travelers to each region.
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North
Carolina State Capitol Building2
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Raleigh
Raleigh is the state capital
of North Carolina as well as the county seat of Wake County. With the second
highest population in the state, Wake County plays an important role in politics
and has a history of unpredictable campaign races. Though there were only three
Democrats elected in the county between 1960 and 2004, the margin between the
winners and losers has always been slim.
A proliferation of oak trees
has earned Raleigh the moniker of the City of Oaks and makes autumn a particularly
scenic time. Visitors seeking to enjoy the outdoors while in Raleigh find a
raft of activities at Pullen
Park. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the park's
commanding feature is a working carousel circa 1912 that features 52 horses
that were hand-carved and painted. A miniature train, paddle-boats and picnic
shelters round out the park's appeal. Pullen Park is open to the public, however
there are fees for some of the activities.
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North Carolina Museum
of Art in Raleigh3
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There are several museums in
Raleigh that examine a variety of topics, including the North
Carolina Museum of Art, the North
Carolina Museum of History and the North
Carolina Museum of Natural Science, among others. The Raleigh
City Museum is dedicated strictly to preserving the city's history and
is located in the Briggs
Building downtown. This museum features a variety of exhibits, lectures
and educational programs and offers free admission to the public.
Arts and culture in Raleigh
can be found at several venues. Alltel
Pavilion at Walnut Creek is a large outdoor concert area with two stages
and food concessions. Featuring permanent seating as well as a large grass area,
this is the place to find big name performers in Raleigh. Also in Raleigh, the
Progress
Energy Center for the Performing Arts is a diverse venue that offers
a concert hall, an opera theater, an experimental theater space and a large
plaza for outdoor gatherings.
Families visiting Raleigh have a wide range of activities to choose from. The
Exploris
Interactive Museum is home to an IMAX theater and is focused on expanding
knowledge for everyone while simultaneously highlighting the similarities between
all living beings.
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Exploris Interactive Museum Raleigh4
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The Triangle
Metro Zoo is another popular family attraction. This 33-acre, privately-owned
zoo is set in a wooded area next to a stream in nearby Wake
Forest. Features of this facility include a petting zoo as well as enclosures
that are home to domestic and exotic animals that have been rescued.
Sports fans to the Raleigh
area have events to choose from year round. The National Hockey League's Carolina
Hurricanes play at the RBC
Arena, also home to the North Carolina State Wolfpack, the local college
basketball team. College sports are popular across the board in the Triangle,
with basketball and football also highly regarded and competitive.
Durham
The nearby city of Durham
features attractions that make it a travel destination in its own right. From
academics to arts and culture, Durham can educate and entertain visitors any
time of year.
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Durham Civic Center5
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Three acclaimed educational
institutions can be found within Durham. North
Carolina Central University and the North
Carolina School of Science and Mathematics create an atmosphere of intellectual
and practical knowledge. The prestigious Duke
University is also located here, a college famous for its education
as well as its sports teams, primarily the Blue Devils, Duke's basketball team.
The Durham
Bulls are another popular sports franchise in the city, and have been
the subject of a Hollywood movie, Bull Durham, produced in 1988. This
minor league team has been in existence for over 100 years and currently play
at the Durham
Bulls Athletic Park, constructed in 1995.
The arts are well represented
in Durham as well, with galleries and theatres offering an assortment of entertainment.
The Carolina
Theatre of Durham is used as a live performance space as well as a movie
house, and is available for private functions as well. The annual Bull
Durham Blues Festival and the Troika
Music Festival celebrate the spirit of independent music in Durham every
summer, featuring a line-up of some of the best musicians the region has to
offer.
The tobacco industry has
strong roots in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area. Visitors can learn about
this history at the Duke
Homestead historical site. In addition to maintaining a museum of tobacco
industry artifacts, the staff at the Duke Homestead grows a tobacco crop every
year. Tours provide visitors with an opportunity to learn about farming, harvesting
and preparing the tobacco crop to go to market.
For walkers, bikers, and
runners, the American
Tobacco Trail running through Durham is an attraction that allows visitors
to appreciate the beauty of this area. The American Tobacco Trail is part of
the nation’s Rails-to-Trails program, an initiative which converts old railway
lines into hiking and biking pathways.
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Durham's
Carolina Theater6
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Shopping in Durham
is varied and offers a number of services for visitors to avail themselves of.
One of the more popular shopping areas in the city is Ninth
Street, featuring a collection of specialty stores and restaurants that
are billed as an “alternative shopping experience” to the local malls and department
stores.
One of Durham's more unique
events is the Full
Frame Documentary Film Festival. This celebration of non-ficiton films—one
of the largest in the nation—is aimed at educating and enlightening the audience
and brings a wide range of subjects to the screen every year.
Chapel Hill
While smaller in size than neighboring Raleigh and Durham, Chapel Hill nonetheless
features several attractions not to be missed while in the area. One of the
special things about Chapel Hill is the free public
transportation system. Instituted in 2002 as a way to alleviate traffic
congestion, cut down on pollution and court more federal transportation funding,
the city of Chapel Hill provides access to a number of destinations at no cost
to the rider.
Some of the attractions
that visitors will find in Chapel Hill include the University
of North Carolina, the oldest State University in the United States.
Tours of the campus are available through the University Visitor's Center, and
are offered Monday through Friday at 1:30pm.
Educational opportunities
are not confined to academia in Chapel Hill. The Morehead
Planetarium is one of the oldest planetariums in the country and served
as the training ground for the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space missions.
Musical history can be found
at the Cat's
Cradle in Carrboro,
located just west of Chapel Hill. It was at this club that many nationally-known
performers got their start, including the Squirrel Nut Zippers, Superchunk and
James Taylor, among others.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF:
- Greater Raleigh Convention & Visitor Bureau; Raleigh Skyline; Raleigh,
NC, USA
- Greater Raleigh Convention & Visitor Bureau; North Carolina State Capitol
Building; Raleigh, NC, USA
- Greater Raleigh Convention & Visitor Bureau; North Carolina Art Museum;
Raleigh, NC, USA
- Greater Raleigh Convention & Visitor Bureau; Exploris Interactive Museum;
Raleigh, NC, USA
- Durham Convention & Visitor Bureau; Durham Civic Center; Durham, NC, USA
- Durham Convention & Visitor Bureau; Durham Carolina Theatre; Durham, NC,
USA
