Wake Forest Town

Wake County, North Carolina

Wake Forest Town Hall is located at 301 South Brooks Street, Wake Forest, NC 27587.
Phone: 919‑435‑9400.

Neighborhoods

The Town of Wake Forest was incorporated in 1880. Wake Forest is arguably best known as the namesake of Wake Forest College/University.

Dr. Calvin Jones owned a large plantation here and was named postmaster in 1823. The area had been designated as The Forest District, in 1805 due to the large forest spread north of the Neuse River. The area was also referred to as the Forest of Wake, and Dr. Jones combined the two in naming the post office. [1]

Wake Forest College, founded in 1834 on the northeastern Wake County plantation of Dr. Calvin Jones, was the first institution of higher learning in Wake County. Originally known as the Wake Forest Institute, the college required early students, who were studying for the Baptist ministry, to work on the school's farms as well as take classes. Hillsborough builder John Berry erected a four-story brick main building and two brick faculty houses in 1835, only one of which, the South Brick House, survives. Wake Forest College remained in the Town of Wake Forest until 1956, when it was moved to Winston-Salem and became Wake Forest University; the campus is now used by the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. [2]

1. Town of Wake Forest, www.wakeforestnc.gov, accessed March, 2011.
2. Kelly A. Lally and Todd Johnson, Wake County Planning Department, Historic and Architectural Resources of Wake County North Carolina (ca. 1770-1941), nomination document, 1993, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places, Washington, D.C.

Nearby Towns: Rolesville Town •