The governor's house now has it own historical highway marker.
The marker was erected this week outside the Executive Mansion. It recognizes the Victorian home on Blount Street that has served as the official residence for North Carolina governors since 1891. The marker was unveiled yesterday.
Here's your history lesson on the mansion, courtesy of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources.
Construction started in 1883 after Gov. Thomas Jarvis appealed to the legislature to build a suitable home. Since the end of the Civil War, governors had rented a house or stayed in a hotel. "It does not comport with the dignity of the State for the Governor to live in a hotel, where he is unable to dispense the hospitality incumbent upon him and due the state, to say nothing of the personal inconvenience to himself," Jarvis noted.
Of course, Jarvis never dreamed of a female governor living in Raleigh.
