When Lafayette toured the United States in 1824 and 1825, from town to city, state to state, the Marquis and his 43-year old son (Georges Washington Lafayette) embarked on a multi-month tour that drew crowds of well-wishers throughout our young nation. The popular General was given celebrations, awarded honors, and attended many dinners and balls given in his honor. As luck would have it, in 1825 some very wet road conditions between Halifax and Raleigh forced Lafayette’s party to unexpectedly detour their planned route, and to enter Wake County via roads passing through today’s Zebulon area and the “historic” Rogers Cross Roads just north of the Neuse River. On arriving in Wake County, the Marquis witnessed a dramatic carriage accident, was awarded a masonic honor, and as The “Nation’s Guest” spent his first night celebrated and hosted by Col. Allen Rogers at his family’s Rogers Inn, a Cross Roads establishment located at the location we now call Wake Cross Roads, at the intersection of Mitchell Mill and Forestville Roads.

Wake County residents are encouraged to come out as we celebrate the famous Marquis in nearby Rolesville, on March 1, 2025–exactly 200 years to the day after area residents of 1825 welcomed this hero to our capitol county. Wake County Historical Society, Preservation Zebulon, Little House Museum and the Historic Rolesville Society will address this grand “Farewell Tour” of 1824-25, the drama surrounding the Marquis’ entrance into Wake County, the experience of Lafayette the Freemason on tour in the New World, and more details about Lafayette’s host family at the Rogers Cross Roads. Historic Rolesville Society offers fascinating insight into this era of revolution and reunion, presenting period artifacts recently discovered within the soil of today’s Rolesville area. 

This free event begins at 1pm on North Main Street’s Little House Museum, with introductions and General Lafayette’s 1824 Speech to Congress. An Open House follows inside the museum’s John Lewis Terrell House. From 2 to 3:30pm, thirty minute presentations will be offered at the town’s Masonic Lodge on Pulley Street, with questions and discussion. Children’s craft activities and light refreshments will be provided. At 3:30pm, our party returns to the museum, offering us all the chance to bid a fond farewell to the Marquis as he heads south down the stage road, bound for the Rogers Cross Roads.