History and the Present by Christy E. Allen and Rebecca Hyman
Government & Heritage Library , 2007, 2010. In 1787, the North
Carolina legislature voted that the Constitutional Convention
(appointed to discuss the new federal constitution) should
decide on the location of North Carolina's state capital. The
Constitutional Convention resolved that the capital be within
ten miles of Isaac Hunter 's tavern in Wake County , and that
the State Legislature was responsible for choosing the exact
site. No further action was taken on this issue during the
sessions from 1788 to 1791, because of opposition from those who
claimed Wake County was "the wilderness" and could never develop
into a city. In early 1792, advocates of the Wake County site
finally garnered enough support within the General Assembly to
establish a commission to identify land for the new city. The
Assembly appointed another group to oversee the building of a
state house for the new capital. The commissioners gathered at
Isaac Hunter's residence in Ma