On the bright side, nobody calls it anything besides Transfer Company Food Hall…
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I’ve never posted one of these abbrevs so I’ll throw in my only; TranCo.
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Or, if you’re a cities skylines nerd like me, you could do TransCo like Gula’s TransCo Tower (Asset in game; you’ll know if you play)
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Here’s a link to a GoodnightRaleigh discussion from 11 years ago. More about Idlewild but a bit about Hungry Neck.
“ Raleigh Boy
12/05/2008
John and Matt–
Here’s what I know about the origin and early history of the Idlewild neighborhood: In 1891 the property on the north side of New Bern Ave., then know as the “Seawell Grove,” was subdivided into lots by the Raleigh Land and Improvement Co. The development encompassed the area bounded by New Bern Ave., Tarboro Rd., Oakwood Ave. and Swain St. It was named “Idlewild” after the antebellum estate then located on New Bern Ave. across from the grove. Apartments occupy that site today. A grid plan of streets was laid out with alleyways running behind them on a north-south parallel. One of those alleys was later widened and is now the present Cooke St., formerly known as Haywood St. Other named alleys still exist in the neighborhood, among them Selwyn Alley and Heck Alley. Eventually shotgun houses lined most of them, but they are all now gone.
Remember, this was the segregation era, and Idlewild was initially intended as a “whites only” neighborhood. The lots did not sell well and by the early 1900s Idlewild was being marketed to Raleigh’s then emerging black middle class, many of whom were associated with nearby St. Aug’s. By 1914 CP&L streetcars were servicing the neighborhood. The cars ran out New Bern Ave., turned north onto Idlewild Ave., then west onto Lane St., through Oakwood and then back downtown. Idlewild especially flourished during the 1920s; that is the period when many of the houses still standing today were built. The Great Depression of the 1930s took its toll on the neighborhood, and by the post WW II period it had entered a gradual decline. There’s much more to this fascinating story, but this narrative is already running a little long.
Incidently, trying to associate the neighborhood with Oakwood or giving the area cutesy names like “Edenton Place” is no more than a real estate agent’s ploy. I myself would be proud to live in a neighborhood like Idlewild! “Edenton Place”? –Haha
Oh, and about Hungry Neck: It occupied the low-lying area stradling Edenton St. between Swain and East St., and was one of Raleigh’s earliest post Civil War freedmen’s settlements. You can just make it out on C.N. Drie’s 1872 aerial map of Raleigh. Edenton St. was extended through there about the time Idlewild was first being developed. Nowadays, there are only 2 or 3 of the original houses extant . But that is another story, and I will save it for another time!”
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Fascinating. Thanks for this @TSnow27609
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Looks like an early street car layout. I’ve seen a later, more expansive one, and several of the routes are the same such as the one that goes up to Peace on Person and then dives back down Blount. Notably, many lines changed on the later one, such as the one on east Hargett is gone and replaced on Martin. I live on an old line on Pettigrew (served a baseball field out here) and have found several track related items like spikes, pins and a piece of switchgear.
Leo, for the area names, some are plat names for large simultaneous subdivisions and others are colloquial from lots just being haphazardly carved out of larger estates and such. The fairgrounds themselves were in the rectangle bounded by Hargett/Davie/State/Camden. Freeman went right down the center. Many mansions and large houses were clustered along Hargett between East and the fairgrounds, the only one of which remaining is the Jordan Womble house.
This one also appears to be antebellum (with its english basement) but is gone. Thompson school also was the site of a large one. The lower part of the stone wall there facing Hargett looks like the same quarried stone used around the cemetery, presumably lower quality blocks cut during the capital’s construction or shortly after.
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Yes, but Chapel Hill has both! 
Maybe that’s why I can’t seem to embrace it?
Not sure if this is the right place for this topic but the church at 301 S. Swain Street that has been on the market for quite some time appears to be ‘under contract’. Asking price was $1.2MM.
Repurpose into a restaurant would be awesome. The building is ‘old-ish’ 1936 but I wouldn’t call it ‘historic’. Teardown is an option as well I suppose.
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$1.2 million for 1/3 an acre? This has apartments, townhomes or condos written all over it.
My dream reno: Turn it into a music venue a la Tabernacle in ATL, with restaurant/shop space in the back.
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Would be great to see this repurposed. Is the building still in active use? Looks like it’s not really being maintained on Google street view.
No, I believe it’s vacant now.
Church projects can be tricky in public light - Besides value consideration a tear down and rebuild might fare better than re-purpose long term. I vaguely remember the opposition a guy had proposing a restaurant space for a former church building 5 years ago in DTR
I live 60 yards from there. Based on the significant decrease in cars parked on the street on Sunday mornings, they don’t seem to be having services there. Do see the occasional person go in and out, although that could be real estate agents, inspectors, etc…
I had a family member (also clergy) that was talking about wanting to open an oilery at one point. I thought it would be fun to take an old church and re-purpose it for that and call it the “Slippery Steeple”.
A friend of mine bought a small church near The Ten townhouses several years ago and has a bear of time with respect to defining its reuse, vis-a-vis former congregants’ objections. I hope that I am representing that situation correctly.
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Listing indicated there were still some sort of “occupants” but my hope is the buyer wants to move away from a church function
Churches that have owned property downtown for decades are finding “gold” under their feet. If the church is financially struggling, selling the building might just be what financially saves them.
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Or the Holy Grale bar in Louisville
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