Information
Landmark: Mordecai Historic ParkCity: Raleigh
Country: USA North Carolina
Continent: North America
Mordecai Historic Park, Raleigh, USA North Carolina, North America
Overview
At 1 Mimosa Street in Raleigh, North Carolina, Mordecai Historic Park invites visitors to step into the region’s colonial and antebellum past, right down to the creak of its old wooden floors.Spread across three leafy acres in one of Raleigh’s oldest neighborhoods, the park safeguards historic buildings and landmarks that together tell the story of early life, local architecture, and the families who shaped the community.At the heart of the park stands the Mordecai House, built in 1785 by Henry Mordecai, son of Joel Lane-the man known as the “Father of Raleigh.” Lane gave the land that became the state capital, weaving the Mordecai family into the city’s earliest story like bricks laid into its foundation.The Mordecai House is Raleigh’s oldest home still resting on its original foundation, its weathered boards holding nearly 250 years of stories.In 1826, prominent architect William Nichols oversaw major renovations to the house, adding Greek Revival touches-fluted columns at the entrance, crisp moldings inside-that mirrored the style sweeping the era.The Mordecai family stayed in the house right up until 1967, when the City of Raleigh bought it to keep as a public historic park, complete with its worn brick walkway and tall shade trees.The house earned a spot on the National Register of Historic Places, ensuring it’s protected and honored as an important piece of history-like a weathered oak door that’s stood for generations.The Mordecai House is a two-story frame home, its white columns and symmetrical lines blending Colonial charm with Greek Revival elegance.The house has a balanced front, with the doorway set squarely in the middle.Tall windows flood the room with sunlight, warm and bright against the floor.Inside, you’ll find rooms trimmed with rich period woodwork, warm fireplaces, and furnishings that bring 18th- and 19th-century home life to mind, like a worn oak chair by the hearth.The room is filled with authentic décor and family heirlooms-a worn leather-bound ledger, a silver tea set-that quietly reveal the Mordecai family’s story and their place in society.Badger-Iredell Law Office, built around 1810, once stood alone as a bustling legal workspace; today, it sits in the park, preserved beneath tall oak shade.Allen Kitchen, built in 1842, stands apart from the main house-a brick outbuilding that reflects how 19th-century cooks worked over open hearths.St. Mark’s Chapel, built in 1847, is a quaint Episcopal landmark that made its journey from Chatham County to the park in 1979, its worn wooden pews still carrying the scent of polished pine.These days, the chapel hosts weddings and other special gatherings, with sunlight spilling through its tall stained-glass windows.Andrew Johnson’s birthplace is a small log cabin near the park, where the scent of old pine still lingers; it marks where the 17th President was born in Raleigh in 1808.Mordecai Spring: Once the lifeblood of the plantation, this clear, cool spring still flows, now kept as a quiet feature in the park’s landscape.Ellen Mordecai Garden: a carefully reconstructed kitchen plot, built from Ellen Mordecai’s own records, showcasing the herbs, crisp vegetables, and flowering plants her family grew in the 1800s.At Mordecai Historic Park, visitors can join guided tours offered multiple times a day, hearing the creak of old floorboards as history comes to life.On these tours, you’ll hear vivid stories about the Mordecai family’s life, watch the house’s design shift through the years, and step into Raleigh’s earliest days, where wagon wheels once rattled down dusty streets.The tour runs for about 50 minutes and takes you through the house and a few of its outbuildings, where the scent of old cedar still lingers.Tours run Tuesday through Sunday, starting at 10 a.m. and wrapping up by 3 p.m., with the first group often stepping out just as the morning air still feels cool.It doesn’t cost much to get in, and seniors or young visitors pay even less, while kids under six stroll in for free.Inside the park’s Visitor Center, you’ll find extra exhibits to explore, shelves stocked with maps and guides, and a small gift shop where the scent of pine drifts in from the doorway.Accessibility: The park offers smooth ramps and winding pathways, making it easy for visitors with mobility challenges to get around.Wheelchair users can easily reach the Visitor Center and move through the first floor of the Mordecai House, right down to its wide wooden doorway.The park welcomes school groups and community gatherings, sharing local history through lively lessons and the scent of old timber cabins.They host seasonal festivals, hands-on gardening workshops, and lively historical reenactments where visitors can smell wood smoke and step straight into 18th- and 19th‑century life.Mordecai Historic Park keeps the calendar lively with annual gatherings that pull in both neighbors and out-of-town visitors, including Haunted Mordecai-a Halloween celebration lit by flickering lanterns, filled with ghost stories, eerie trolley rides, and a cheerful festival for all ages.Mordecai Egg Hunt brings kids together each spring for a lively egg search on the grass, along with games and other outdoor fun.This spring, the Heirloom Plant Sale helps fund the park’s gardens and programs, offering rare, time-honored plants-like fragrant old roses-for you to take home.The park sits just outside downtown Raleigh, so you can reach museums, cafés, and other city spots with a short walk.You can park at the Visitor Center, 1101 Wake Forest Road, or in the main lot on Mimosa Street, where the pavement still holds a faint smell of fresh tar.Being close to bus stops and main roads makes it easy for visitors coming in from all over the city-or even hours away-to find their way here.Mordecai Historic Park preserves Raleigh’s oldest home, its weathered wood and brick echoing the city’s beginnings, and honors the family who helped shape its foundation.With its tidy brick buildings, blooming gardens, and hands-on educational programs, the park draws you into the sights, sounds, and stories of 18th- and 19th-century North Carolina.It’s a key source for learning how Raleigh began and hearing the stories-like tales of dusty market streets-that shaped the community over hundreds of years.
