Joel Lane Museum House, Raleigh

About Joel Lane Museum House

The Joel Lane Museum House, built around 1769, preserves a restored plantation manor house in Raleigh where visitors take guided tours through the colonial and Revolutionary era home of Joel Lane, a statesman and landowner who donated 1,000 acres to establish the state capital. Tours begin in the Visitors Center and explore the main house, the Kitchen building, and the grounds while costumed docents share the stories of the Lane family and the 43 enslaved people who lived and labored on the plantation. Visitors learn about 18th-century Piedmont North Carolina through the personal narratives and material surroundings of those who inhabited this place. Tours occur on multiple days and times throughout the week, with walk-in visitors welcome. The Visitors Center includes a Museum Store. The site is located at the corner of South Saint Mary's and West Hargett Streets in Raleigh, with free on-street parking available. Guided tours are the only way to experience the buildings; individual walkthroughs are not permitted.