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It always fascinated me too. We had something really big in the making and the city of Raleigh closed it down in the late 50's because it violated the Sunday noise ordinance. Here's a photo after it had already closed in 1960. I remember on my first trip on the beltline you could still see the track on the right when heading towards Wake Forest Rd
Where would this be now? Whats on the location today?
Where would this be now? Whats on the location today?
Behind Duke Raleigh Hospital. Here's the track location layed over a recent map. The first turn would have been about where the old Crown Zellerbach building is today.
Wrestling was taped Wednesday nights at WRAL TV5 studio for broadcast on Saturday.
Yeah; I was in Indian Guides and sometimes they would take us there to watch it It was exciting to "be on TV" but wrestling is even cheesier "live" than on TV.
Anyone remember the old pigeon man who sold peanuts down in front of the old Capitol building and Fayetteville Street... when it was still Fayetteville Street, and not the pedestrian mall.
May he rest in peace; I know he's got to be long gone by now. They actually printed a photo of the Pigeon Man in Life magazine once... on the last page, where they always published a parting shot for the issue...
I remember the pigeon man. My dad worked on Fayetteville St and on the weekend he would drive us up to feed the pigeons and then go to Montlawn to feed the ducks! That was late 70s. I also remember standing in my dad's Chevelle between stops!!! Those were good times.
WONDERFUL thread! I remember most of these, especially loved seeing the reference to the 1972 shooting at North Hills, the 1973 flood, the Ambassador Theatre, and the McDonalds/formerly theatre on Hillsborough.
2017, 50 years from when that part of North Hills was built. How I miss the old Cardinal theatre! Remember how huge that theatre was, and it was one of the first to "go double" (of course, I also miss the Crabtree Twin theatres, which really WAS, I think, the first "multi-plex" theatre in town!).
I'm reasonably sure Eddie's Gro was gone before the drinking age changed in 1986...I think it went under more like 1982?
OMG, I hadn't heard that name in ages! But the Mission Valley Theatres are actually still very close to what they used to be like 25 years ago.
I *still* call them that, especially "Downtown Blvd"! To this very day, I would use that term when giving directions to someone.
I remember when everything north of The Beltline was zip code 27609, then they added 27612. When the 3 main "North Raleigh" (now "Midtown", I guess, but I'll never use that term) phone exchanges were 787- near north Hills, 782- near Crabtree, and 876- around Falls of Neuse, and you knew where someone lived by their phone number. (Of course, the oldest phone numbers are the 832, 833, 829 etc downtown).
When the Colony Shopping center at Millbrook/Six Forks was built and had a Colonial store there (we would take Coke bottles in to get 2 cents a bottle deposit). The intersection of Six Forks/Millbrook was just a Stop sign at the time, and anything north of these was definitely "out in the country"!
When Millbrook Park was just a pond in the middle of woods, referred to as "Old Man's Lake". Hickory Hills wasn't there yet, just woods.
I went to North Ridge Elementary when the lower part of it was brand new, and to West Millbrook Jr High when IT was Brand new (having gone to "Millbrook" Jr high--now Millbrook Elementary--before that).
So who remembers:
-The Frog & Nightgown nightclub (which hosted Better Midler and Lily Tomlin, among many others, in the 70s) under Cameron Village?
-These stores at North Hills: Hackney's, the Hobby Shop, Ronson's, North Hills Book & Stationery, Jack and Jill, The Emporium, The Wax & Wicker, Ivey's, World Bazaar, Bride's World? When there was a fountain down at the south end, which would be covered with fake snow when "Santa" came to town? Then the fountain gave way to Ragamuffin's restaurant, one of the first "atrium"-style restaurants in the area?
-When the Beltine wasn't a full circle? I remember when it was finally completed in 1983, I would drive the whole perimeter just because it was neat to do so. And remember when the Beltline/Glenwood intersection by Crabtree was a full cloverleaf, before they changed that one exit (on the Beckanna corner) in 1986 or so?
-Bob Debartelaben (sp?) the weatherman, Bob Inskeep on WRAL 101.5 (before he became a pastor), and of course the WKIX crew. When WQDR was "album rock"?
-When the tallest buildilng downtown in Raleigh was the BB&T building (not the one it is now, the white one). When the performing arts center downtown was just the central hall and it was called "Memorial Auditorium"? People practically rioted when they talked about building two other spaces onto the sides of it.
-When the only way to get from Raleigh to Chapel Hill was 2-lane Hwy 54?
-When RDU consisted just of what is now the left part of Terminal A (at one point, it was to be Terminal B), then A was built on in '83 and C came in 1987. After C, then an American Airlines hub, brought us our first international flights, there used to be a "homemade"-looking sign with "International" scrawled onto the "Raleigh-Durham Airport" sign?
-When the Raleigh and Wake County school systems were separate, and the school lunch menus would be in the paper every day? Speaking of papers, what about the afternoon paper the Raleigh Times?
-When you could call 833-2511 (yes I still remember the number) and get the time and temperature? When North Hills Plaza had that revolving time/temp sign on the corner above what is now Starbucks?
-What about all of the local banks that are now gone: Planters, People's, State Bank of Raleigh, NCNB, Raleigh Savings, many others...
-When the Olivia Raney library used to be down on Fayetteville St. and the North Raleigh library was inside the mall at North Hills (first in a tiny room in the back, then a larger space beside Le Chateau steakhouse?)
-When everyone would drive to Cameron Village to look at all of the Christmas lights in the trees, because it was rare to have lights in (outside) trees back then?
you have a really good memory!
I remember calling 833-2511, going to Cameron Village to see the lights, The Raleigh Times, lunch menus were different, -Bob Debartelaben (sp?) the weatherman, going to RDU to just sit and wait for a plane to come in, and I remember when you knew where someone lived based on their phone number. I also remember when my grandparents prefix was changed from 828 to 231.
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