Got pulled into some really cool commentary on the Marbles parking lot 30 Story Rezoning thread about some of the legacy Raleigh roads, the routes they followed originally and how they evolved to what we know now. As I understand it, many of the main arteries (especially on the north side of the city) such as Millbrook, Six Forks, Lead Mine, etc went through some pretty drastic changes over the years before coming to their current alignments. Thought it would be cool to start a thread to discuss the roads, maybe share old maps, etc, and also talk about improvements you’d like to see to some of the current roads.
One thing I’ve always wondered is where the name Six Forks came from. Me and @Christopher think it stems from the intersection at Strickland Rd, as both Baileywick and Old Lead Mine used to terminate just outside of that intersection which would have been six roads, or “six forks”. However, I suspect that Strickland originally followed what is now Baileywick, and if that is true then there would have originally only been five roads at that intersection. Another theory I have is that Six Forks might have originally run along what is now Anderson Dr, and the intersection with Glenwood and St Mary’s and another neighborhood road would have created six forks. I cannot find a map old enough to confirm this though. Does anyone have any knowledge about this?
I had an old aerial of of the original intersection of Six Forks/Strickland/Baileywick/(Old)Lead Mine Roads but can’t put my hands on it just now… it was something like sketched.
Lead Mine Road was realigned to the west and Baileywick was cut short as well as the city grew outwards.
This is close to where I live, and I had the same question about the origin of the name.
Another road I have always wondered about is Rock Quarry Rd. First, was there ever a quarry anywhere? I don’t see evidence of one other than the still functional Martin Marietta quarry on Garner Rd next to I-40, and that seems to far away from Rock Quarry Rd to be it.
Second question is, did NC 50 ever run along part of Rock Quarry Rd? Looking at how 50 goes through Garner, it appears that it may have originally followed New Rand Rd from near the Timber Dr intersection, then veered to the left onto Rand Mill Rd, which would have crossed the train tracks and turned into Creech Rd. Creech Rd turns into Sanderford Rd, and Sanderford ends at Rock Quarry but if you drive past that intersection, it looks like Sanderford may have originally continued due north onto what is now Rock Quarry, over I-40, and into the east side of downtown Raleigh.
Apparently so, and it was used to help build the capitol. I remember a discussion on the subject awhile back where someone pinpointed the exact location: General Raleigh History - #263 by dtraleigh
