Crime Scene & Biohazard Cleanup Near Paschal Wake Forest, NC

Wake Forest is a fast-growing town in northern Wake County, just north of Raleigh, named for the large wooded areas of the county known as the Forest of Wake.

The town began in 1832 when Dr. Calvin Jones bought 615 acres of forested land and built a plantation; he sold the farm to the North Carolina Baptist Convention for $2,000, and it became the Wake Forest Manual Labor Institute, later Wake Forest College.

Wake Forest was the original home of Wake Forest University for 122 years before the school moved to Winston-Salem in 1956.

The community was incorporated in 1880 as the Town of Wake Forest College, and the word College was dropped from the town's name in 1909.

Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary began offering classes on the old Wake Forest College campus in 1950 and took over the entire campus when the university finished its move.

The 2020 census counted 47,601 people in Wake Forest, up sharply from 30,117 in 2010 and just 12,588 people in 4,617 households in 2000.

The Census Bureau estimated Wake Forest's population had already climbed to 54,337 by 2023.

Forbes magazine listed Wake Forest in 2007 as the 20th fastest-growing suburb in America, after its population jumped 73.2 percent between 2000 and 2006.

Wake Forest covers about 19.7 square miles and lies almost entirely in Wake County, with a small portion extending into Franklin County.

The Calvin Jones House, built in 1820 and home to the first president of Wake Forest College, now operates as the Wake Forest Historical Museum and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.