The 18th century watering hole partly responsible for Raleigh's selection as state capital may return to life, at least in name.

The New Raleigh web site reports that what used to be the Fayetteville Street Tavern, just south of the capitol, is being renovated with plans to reopen as Isaac Hunter's Oak City Tavern. The pub already has a web site.

In 1787, state leaders partial to the tavern's refreshments decided that the capital had to be established within a ten mile radius. Opposition prevented any action being taken until 1792, when a commission was named to pick the exact site for the new statehouse within the land around the tavern, according to the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources.

The name has been resuscitated over the years, including at a Cameron Village restaurant that opened in 1998 and currently one of the foremost political blogs in the state, run by WUNC radio's Laura Leslie.