Vestigial place names on map: Former towns? (Annexation?) (Raleigh, Wake Forest: homes, neighborhoods)

[Fr Anastasios]

Hi folks,

I have noticed on some maps that places like Six Forks, Millbrook, and New Hope appear with a dot as if they were a town or city. Were these originally towns that were united to Raleigh, or were they originally unincorporated communities that were annexed as Raleigh expanded? Can anyone recommend a history of Raleigh's growth? I've always found this an interesting subject.

In a similar vein, I have some family that lives off of Sid Mitchell Rd near Youngsville. They have a mailing address of Youngsville, but are not actually part of the town. I had heard that Wake Forest was eyeing such neighborhoods for annexation. I am curious though, is Youngsville interested in annexing and expanding? I am not suggesting that any of those residents would want to be annexed, but I am just curious at the mechanics of the process and why a town like Youngsville would not be aggressively trying to take over more territory as it appears other towns in NC do. Perhaps the new responsibilities would be too cost prohibitive?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can shed some light on the history and mechanics of this.

Fr Anastasios

[mm34b]

A good reference source for past and present place names, if you don't have it already:

The North Carolina Gazetteer - A Dictionary of Tar Heel Places by William S. Powell

UNC Press - The North Carolina Gazetteer

[J_Lurk]

I believe Six Forks, Millbrook, and New Hope were all the names of regions/crossroads and also post offices and, in the case of Six Forks and New Hope, fire departments. However, they weren't really towns.

You might want to look at the Wake County entry in Wikipedia, which does list the unincorporated communities and the townships of Wake County.

This is a good site on fire departments; their history overlaps with the history of Raleigh quite a bit. Raleigh/Wake County Fire Departments

There is a City of Raleigh museum: Raleigh City Museum | Raleigh, North Carolina

As far as current annexation, I think it is unlikely that either Wake Forest (in Wake County) or Youngsville (in Franklin County) are going to annex significantly across the county line. However, I think all municipalities in this area have gotten (perhaps temporarily) cautious about annexation since the drought last summer. They want to make sure they have water for the population they have. Here's an article on annexation in that area: Welcome to the Wake Weekly Online Edition

[Fr Anastasios]

Thank you so much mm34b and J_Lurk for shedding some light on this fascinating topic!

[lovebrentwood]

What I think is strange is that Brentwood shows up on many public databases as a town, when it's simply a subdivision of about 1300 or so homes in Raleigh. But then again, there are plenty of towns in NC that have fewer residents than our subdivision. It also shows up on a lot of maps and looks like a town (just like New Hope, Millbrook, and Six Forks). It was never a town and started out only as a subdivision.

Identification of places by subdivision name is a Southern thing that goes way back. I even have the name of a subdivision, Lake something or other on my Virginia birth certificate. Weird. (Yes, this Yankee was born south of the Mason-Dixon line!)

Up North, they do now identify some places by subdivision name, but for years, that wasn't the case.