Cameron Court Apartments
Oral tradition holds that Cameron Court, a large 1938 apartment complex, was popular with members of the LGBTQIA+ community in the 1980s and 1990s. The ability to choose to live in proximity with other LGBTQIA+ people created a physical community at a time in Raleigh when many people still felt the need to be discreet or even secretive about their sexual orientation.
Two other areas in Raleigh have been identified through oral history that were small enclaves for the LGBTQIA+ community. The Vance Apartment building at 105 E. Edenton St. was demolished in the 1980s. Young St., between Wake Forest Rd. and Ann St. in northeast Raleigh, is a roughly block-long area of single-family houses said to have been purchased by and rented out to gay men and drag performers in the late 20th century; the street was nicknamed “Queen Street.”
Build Date: 1938
LGBTQIA+ Associated: 1980s-1990s
