WanderingRaleighite

Interesting stuff. I did find this reference to "The Raleigh Call" http://groverproctor.us/jfk/jfk80.html. I lik this term for it since we have "The Raleigh Letter", now "The Raleigh Call". If we can just get someone to send an interesting email from here "The Raleigh Email" would round it out nicely . You never know what you'll find on UP THOT.

I was up late last night and caught an episode of Hanna Barbara's Wacky Races called Race Rally to Raleigh. Originally aired in 1968, it of course has nothing to do with Raleigh except for a few mentions of the name. Just the standard HB set pieces, but it caught my eye.

I have been doing some research around the area that I grew up in, Brentwood, and found out a couple of interesting things. New Hope Church Rd. was known as Chicken Farm Rd. The really interesting thing involves the Raleigh Speedway. I knew that it was located along Bush Rd., but I didn't know that it was developed and managed by William France until he went to Fla. to start a track at Daytona Beach. I also didn't know that it was the scene of the final race for stockcar's winningest co-driving monkey. Tim Flock started driving with a rhesus monkey at Hickory, as for the incident, I can't find any better wording than Flock's own which came from the Tim Flock Official Website http://www.timflock.com/jocko.htm "I actually raced with a monkey, which I named Jocko Flocko, for eight races in 1953. It started as a publicity stunt, and we gave him his own driving uniform and a specially designed seat. Back then the cars had a trap door that we could pull open with a chain to check our tire wear. Well, during the Raleigh 300, Jocko got loose from his seat and stuck his head through the trap door, and he went berserk! Listen, it was hard enough to drive those heavy old cars back then under normal circumstances, but with a crazed monkey clawing you at the same time, it becomes nearly impossible! I had to come into the pits to put him out and ended up third. The pit stop cost me second place and a $600.00 difference in my paycheck. Jocko was retired immediately. I had to get that monkey off my back!" Amazing what you find out about your own hometown.

I just got an email from an old friend of mine telling me that This American Life (NPR) has a good story mentioning Boylan Heights. I haven't had a chance to listen to it, but will tonight. The url is http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=1211 for a replay.

ChiefJoJo-- You're right, that does refer to a black masonic group. It is somewhat difficult to get history from secret societies, but I should be able to get a founding date for you. As far as Union Station goes, I remember one source complaining about how slow the arrival to Raleigh was, since the trains had to back into the station across surface streets. I will have to check my notes and books for the citation, but this is off the top of my head. P.S. (edit) I just got off the phone with Dan Becker at Raleigh Historic Properties. Union Station probably will not qualify for RHP designation due to the significant altering of the structure. The removal of the tower shown in the earlier photo is just part of it. That said, it would be nice if some private group placed a plaque for it (NCRR). Speaking of plaques and historical markers, is there anyone here who can answer this? There is a series of historical markers carved into cement at several intersections along New Bern Ave. They stretch from Person St. to Tarboro Rd. None of the preservation/history groups that I have spoken with, ie. RHP or CAP, have any idea who set these up. I will include a photo when I get to my home machine. Thanks for any help.

An interesting site that I came across for bits of Raleigh history is Hidden Raleigh http://www.legeros.com/hidden-raleigh/ by Mike Legeros. His main focus is on firefighting/departments history, but his does have some interesting things that he found still standing. His fire department history site is especially good for Raleigh http://legeros.com/history/ and there are entries for most Wake Co. departments. His site is the reason that I know about the use of dynamite as a firefighting tool in the Dix Hospital fire, as well as a few others.