Being in NC’s capital city, we are fortunate enough to host the state’s museums that are riddled with great learning opportunities + unique factoids about the history of NC. In this midst of all our state museums lies our very own City of Raleigh Museum, also known as the COR Museum. The COR Museum is located in the historic Briggs Hardware Building on Fayetteville Street and general admission is free.
Did you know that this building was Raleigh’s first skyscraper, built in 1874? We took a visit to the COR Museum last week and got a special tour from Ernest Dollar, the Director of COR Museum and an avid local historian who is full of fun facts, trivia + witticisms about our city. From learning about the history of Raleigh to the fun artifacts that bring the museum to life, we wanted to share some of our favorite parts of the current exhibits + what we recommend checking out while you’re in downtown Raleigh.
“You really stuck it to me today”: The Political Cartoons of Dwane Powell
This engaging exhibit dives into the history of one of America’s most well known cartoonists, Dwane Powell — who worked for The News & Observer here in Raleigh as an editorial cartoonist, who won the Overseas Press Club Award for Excellence in Cartooning and the National Headliners Club Award for Outstanding Editorial Cartoons. You can walk around and see some of his most well known cartoons, tributes to his work, learn about his life here in Raleigh + have the opportunity to draw your own political cartoon after getting some inspiration from Dwane’s work. None of the work or art reflects the opinion of RALtoday or the COR Museum.
From Plantation to Park: The Story of Dix Hill
This exhibit is in partnership with the Dix Park Conservancy to share the deep and intriguing history of the park + what the future has in store for the area. It takes you on a journey through the first families that lived in the area, the 1856 North Carolina Insane Asylum and its self sufficient community + the redevelopment plans for the new 308 acre park. The exhibit also has a booth in which you can share your memories of events, stories, or connections to the park. This exhibit will be available through 2020, but don’t miss out on the chance to learn about its history and share your own history with Dix Park.
There is so much more for you to explore, but this is just a teaser of what you can expect at the COR Museum before all of the amazing events come to the museum during Raleigh History Month in April. Make sure to stop in and check out everything COR Museum has to offer + if you run into Ernest on your visit to his museum, make sure to tell him Erin + Trevor sent you and say hello. 👋