Wake Forest is a town in North Carolina, a state in the United States. It's mostly in Wake County, just north of Raleigh, the state capital. In 2020, about 47,601 people lived here. Wake Forest used to be home to Wake Forest University for many years. The university moved to Winston-Salem in 1956.

The Story of Wake Forest

In 1832, a doctor named Calvin Jones bought a large piece of land. This land was covered in forests in Wake County, North Carolina. He built his home there. People started calling this quiet area "the Forest of Wake," or Wake Forest.

Dr. Jones later sold his farm to a group called the North Carolina Baptist Convention. They paid $2,000 for it. On this land, they opened a school called the Wake Forest Manual Labor Institute. This school later became Wake Forest College.

A railroad, the Raleigh & Gaston Railroad, was finished in 1840. It built a station nearby in Forestville. This helped the school and the small village grow. In 1874, the college leaders convinced the railroad to move the station even closer. This led to more growth and businesses.

In 1880, this growing community officially became a town. It was named the "Town of Wake Forest College." In 1909, the word "College" was removed from the town's name. The college itself moved to Winston-Salem in 1956. A new school, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, started using the old college campus in 1950.

Where is Wake Forest Located?

Wake Forest covers about 19.67 square miles (50.95 square kilometers). Most of this area is land, and a small part is water.

The town is in the northeast-central part of North Carolina. This is where two main land regions meet: the Piedmont and the Atlantic Coastal Plain. This meeting point is called the "Fall Line." It's where rivers and creeks start to have waterfalls as the land drops in elevation.

Because of its central location, Wake Forest is about a three-hour drive from Atlantic Beach. It's also about a four-hour drive from the Great Smoky Mountains.

Wake Forest Weather

Wake Forest has a mild subtropical climate. This means spring, fall, and winter usually have comfortable temperatures. Summers are often hot and humid.

In winter, daytime temperatures are usually around 50°F (10-13°C). Nights are typically in the low to mid-30s °F (-2 to 2°C). Sometimes, it can even get warmer, reaching 60°F (15°C) or more. Spring and fall days are usually in the low to mid-70s °F (low 20s °C). Nights are cooler, around the lower 50s °F (10-14°C). In summer, daytime highs often reach the upper 80s to low 90s °F (29-35°C). The months with the most rain are July and August.

People of Wake Forest

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1880	456	—
1890	858	88.2%
1900	823	−4.1%
1910	1,443	75.3%
1920	1,425	−1.2%
1930	1,536	7.8%
1940	1,562	1.7%
1950	3,704	137.1%
1960	2,664	−28.1%
1970	3,148	18.2%
1980	3,780	20.1%
1990	5,769	52.6%
2000	12,588	118.2%
2010	30,117	139.3%
2020	47,601	58.1%
2023 (est.)	54,337	80.4%
U.S. Decennial Census

Population in 2020

Wake Forest racial composition
Group	Number	Percentage
White (not Hispanic)	32,087	67.41%
Black or African American (not Hispanic)	7,480	15.71%
Native American	88	0.18%
Asian	1,751	3.68%
Pacific Islander	24	0.05%
Other/Mixed	2,402	5.05%
Hispanic or Latino	3,769	7.92%

In 2020, there were 47,601 people living in Wake Forest. They lived in 14,732 households, which included 11,104 families.

Arts and Culture in Wake Forest

Performing Arts

Every fall, Wake Forest hosts the annual Wake Forest Dance Festival. This event takes place at E. Carroll Joyner Park.

Historic Places to Visit

The DuBois Center is a special building listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The W. E. B. DuBois School opened in 1926. It was a school for the African-American community in Wake Forest. This was before schools stopped being separated by race in 1971.

After the school moved to a bigger building, the DuBois Center was empty for ten years. Then, the DuBois Alumni Association bought the building. They turned it into a community center for everyone to use.

Many other places in or near Wake Forest are also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. These include the Bailey-Estes House, Downtown Wake Forest Historic District, and the Wake Forest Historic District.

The Wake Forest Historical Museum is also known as the Dr. Calvin Jones House. It was built in 1820. This house was where the first president of Wake Forest College lived. It was also a main spot for activities at the school. The museum shows the history of Wake Forest town and Wake Forest University. It has old photos, books, college items, furniture, and writings from professors.

Library Services

The Wake County Public Libraries run a library branch in Wake Forest.

Parks and Recreation

Wake Forest is home to the Falls Lake State Recreation Area. This park has a large lake, Falls Lake, which covers 12,000 acres (49 square kilometers). It also has 26,000 acres (105 square kilometers) of woodlands.

The town of Wake Forest has ten parks and community centers for people to enjoy. These include:

Ailey Young Park
H.L. Miller Park
Holding Park and Wake Forest Community House
J.B. Flaherty Park
Joyner Park
Kiwanis Park
Plummer Park
Smith Creek Soccer Center
Taylor Street Park and Alston Massenburg Center
Tyler Run Park

Education in Wake Forest

Schools for Kids and Teens

Wake Forest has twelve public schools. These schools are managed by the Wake County Public School System and Granville County Schools. Public schools in the area include:

G.C. Hawley Middle School
Granville Early College High
Heritage Elementary School
Heritage High School
Heritage Middle School
Jones Dairy Elementary School
Mount Energy Elementary
Richland Creek Elementary School
Wake Forest Elementary School
Wake Forest High School
Wake Forest Middle School

There are also charter schools like Franklin Academy (for grades K–12), Wake Forest Charter Academy (K–8), Endeavor Charter School (K–8), and Envision Science Academy (K–8). Private schools include Thales Academy, All Saints Academy, and St. Catherine of Siena Catholic School (K–8). Wake Forest also has two Montessori schools: Wake Forest Montessori and Children's House of Wake Forest.

Colleges and Universities

Wake Technical Community College has a campus nearby in Raleigh. It offers two-year programs. Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary is a school for religious studies. It started offering classes in 1950 on the original campus of Wake Forest University. It is often called SEBTS.

Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary campus

Getting Around Wake Forest

Travel Options

Air Travel: Wake Forest is served by Raleigh-Durham International Airport. This airport is about 20 miles (32 km) southwest of the town.
Major Highways: You can reach Wake Forest using I-85 and I-40. The town is east of I-85 and north of I-40.
Train Travel: Currently, passenger trains do not stop directly in Wake Forest. However, Amtrak serves nearby Raleigh. The NCDOT plans to extend the Piedmont train service to a new Wake Forest station by 2030. This is part of a project to build faster rail between Raleigh and Richmond, Virginia. Construction on this project began on July 1, 2024.
Local Bus: The Triangle Transit Authority runs buses that serve the wider region. These buses connect to city bus systems in Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill.

Roads in the Area

Wake Forest is located off US 1. This is a major highway that runs north and south along the East Coast of the United States. In northern Wake County, it's also known as Capital Boulevard.
Other highways that go through the area include NC 96 and NC 98.

Media in Wake Forest

Radio and News

Radio: WCPE-FM is a classical music radio station located in Wake Forest. You can listen to its programs over the air, online, and through satellite.
Newspaper: The town's local newspaper is The Wake Weekly. It is owned independently and prints over 8,400 copies each week.

Online News

Wake Forest News is a humor publication. Its motto is, "Half our news is fit to print."
Wake Forest Today is the town's first daily online news source. It shares local news and events about Wake Forest and nearby areas.

Famous People from Wake Forest

Main category: People from Wake Forest, North Carolina

Images for kids

White Street
Location in Wake County and North Carolina

Wake Forest, North Carolina facts for kids

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