Pope House Museum
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Dr. M.T. Pope House
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| Location | 511 S Wilmington St., Raleigh, North Carolina |
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| Coordinates | 35°46′24″N 78°38′19″W / 35.77333°N 78.63861°WCoordinates: 35°46′24″N 78°38′19″W / 35.77333°N 78.63861°W |
| Area | 0.1 acres (0.040 ha) |
| Built | 1900 |
| Architectural style | Two-story gable front |
| NRHP Reference # | 99001392 |
| Added to NRHP | November 22, 1999 |
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.
Pope installed the latest technology in his home, including combination gas and electric fixtures, a kitchen with running water, a full bathroom on the second floor, coal burning heating stoves, and a telephone. He also installed a call bell system, with buttons in each room and an annunciator in the back hall. Pope began to see patients in the house during the 1920s and 1930s, when his health began to fail. The small area at the rear of the back hall, adjacent to the kitchen, was configured to include a small hand sink and built-in cabinet for instruments.
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