The Pope House Museum, built in 1901, is a restored home once owned by Dr. M.T. Pope, a prominent African-American citizen of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Pope House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999, and was also an official project of the Save America’s Treasures Program. Since then, the city of Raleigh has taken over management of the Pope House Museum and opened it for tours for the first time.Since the early 19th century, the area where the Pope House is located has gone through many transformations. When the original governor’s mansion was built at the end of Fayetteville Street on the site of the present Memorial Auditorium, it was thought that fashionable residences would be built nearby. Although a few substantial homes were constructed by white families, when Reverend Henry Tupper moved Shaw University to the neighborhood in 1870, many new African-American residents drawn to Raleigh after the Civil War settled in the area. Pope attended Leonard Medical Center at Shaw University before beginning his medical practice.Black professionals began to build homes in the area known as the Third Ward, which included the 500 block of South Wilmington Street. In 1901, Pope decided to build his house in this area. Pope’s neighbors included other prominent African Americans, including another doctor and a pharmacist. His home was located near his office on East Hargett Street, which at the time was the heart of the black business district.
