First pop-up museum opens at Dorothea Dix Park in Raleigh with two history exhibits

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Dix Park's first pop-up museum is set to open featuring two history exhibits: Plantation to Park, presenting the layered history of Dix Hill and We Built This, a showcase of Black architects and builders in North Carolina.

The City of Raleigh Museum, Preservation North Carolina, and the Dix Park Conservancy partnered to bring the museum to the park. The work of uncovering the history was years in the making.

"We looked at the history as far back as we could to create an exhibit that was with the intent of actually moving it out there to Dix Park when they were ready," said Megan Rabee, the Assistant Director of Museums for the City of Raleigh.

"So this is kind of the culmination of a couple of years of work. It's holy ground," Rabee said. "There are people buried there, there are hundreds of thousands of people who can trace their ancestry back to Dorothea Dix Park, whether through the hospital or through the plantation or even through the Native American history of it being a hunting ground."

A public opening of Dix Park's Pop-Up Museum takes place Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Chapel Event Center at Dix Park. The exhibits will be on display through Feb. 27.