Smedes YorkSmedes York grew up with Raleigh. He was both a witness to and participant in the evolution of the city from a small state capital with legislative and educational institutions to the vibrant metropolitan community that it is today.Smedes bears the nme of both families that have been influential in Raleigh's maturing. With the arrival in Raleigh of the Yorks, his father's family, and the Smedeses, his mother's family, the foundations for building successful businesses and educational enterprises were laid. The Yorks came from England by way of Randolph County and brought with them their knowledge and abilities in construction and development. And then the Smedeses arrived from the Netherlands by way of New York in the 1840s when Bishop Levi Silliman Ives of the Diocese of North Carolina invited Aldert Smedes and his family to relocate in Raleigh to revitalize St. Mary's, a languishing girl's school. Smedes was the beneficiary of these two creative and industrious families from whom he learned devotion to family, friends, and community, bound together with vision and hard work.Early on as the Smedeses and the Yorks put their mark on the community through their contribution to education, construction, and development, he followed the examples set by his parents and grandparents. In these conversations he reflects on both what his families gave him as well as the rich offerings of his community. As he observed the changes, he made his own contribution to the transformation of the City of Oaks. Read More Read Less