Downtown Wake Forest is the South White Street historic district around Town Hall, zoned for Wake Forest High. ZIP code 27587, about 3 miles from U.S. 1.

Last checked Oct. 12, 2026. Sources: the Town of Wake Forest’s historic districts page and map (PDF), the Wake County Public School System’s current base attendance areas, the N.C. Department of Public Instruction’s 2025-26 accountability data, GoTriangle schedule data, OpenStreetMap and Zillow Research.

Downtown Wake Forest is the town’s commercial core: the brick storefronts of South White Street and the blocks around Town Hall, 301 S. Brooks St. It is a National Register historic district, it has the town’s social district and theater, and it is where the WRX express bus to Raleigh starts.

What this means for you

  • Zoned high school: Wake Forest High, 66.5% of state tests at grade level in 2025-26. Check an address with the district’s base school lookup.
  • Home value: $508,282 in ZIP code 27587 in August 2026, according to the Zillow Home Value Index.
  • Nearest U.S. 1 exit: Exit 125, N.C. 98 Business (Durham Road), about 3 miles by road.

Part of our Wake Forest neighborhoods guide. For shops, restaurants, events and parking, see our downtown Wake Forest guide.

Where it is

The Downtown Wake Forest Historic District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on Feb. 20, 2002, the town’s historic districts page says. It is the commercial core of the town, and every building in it was built between 1890 and 1949, most of brick and one to three stories tall. Building downtown largely stopped in the early 1950s after Wake Forest College moved to Winston-Salem. The one later building on South White Street, the 1971 Fidelity Bank between East Roosevelt and Owen avenues, is not part of the district.

On the town’s historic districts map (PDF) the district runs along South White Street from about Wait Avenue south toward Jones Avenue. The older Wake Forest Historic District, with the former college campus, borders it to the west and north; see our Historic District page. The whole area is in ZIP code 27587 and inside the town limits.

The town’s Downtown Plan sets policy for reviving the historic downtown and names sites for new development, according to the town’s community planning page. Downtown properties also pay the Downtown Municipal Service District tax in addition to the town rate; see our property tax guide.

Schools

We checked 25 points across downtown against the Wake County Public School System’s current base attendance areas. All were zoned for the same middle and high school; the elementary school depends on the street.

Level School Share of points At grade level, 2025-26 Growth
Elementary Wake Forest Elementary 80% 67.4% Met
Elementary Richland Creek Elementary 20% 73.4% Met
Middle Wake Forest Middle 100% 52.5% Not met
High Wake Forest High 100% 66.5% Exceeded

“At grade level” is the share of state tests at grade level or above in the state’s 2025-26 accountability data; “growth” is whether students gained as much as the state expects in a year. Wake Forest Elementary is a few blocks west, at 406 S. Main St., in the federal school directory. Because the zones split here, check a specific address in the base school lookup. More in our schools guide.

Home values

All of Wake Forest is in ZIP code 27587. The Zillow Home Value Index for 27587 was $508,282 in August 2026, down 0.8% from $512,457 in August 2025. Zillow’s figure for the town as a whole was $507,240. The index is a modeled typical value for the middle third of homes, not a sale price, and it covers the whole ZIP code, not downtown alone. More in our home prices guide.

Parks and trails

  • H.L. Miller Park, 401 Elm Ave., a two-acre wooded park behind Town Hall with paved trails and picnic tables, according to its town page.
  • Holding Park, 133 W. Owen Ave., west of downtown, with the inclusive playground and the town pool, according to its town page.
  • Kiwanis Park, 400 E. Holding Ave., a one-acre park next to the Wake Forest library with a playground, picnic shelter and paved greenway trail, according to its town page.

More in our parks and trails guide.

Getting around

  • U.S. 1 (Capital Boulevard): Exit 125, N.C. 98 Business (Durham Road), is about 3 miles by road from downtown, and Exit 124, N.C. 98 (Dr. Calvin Jones Highway), about 3.6 miles. Exit numbers and names are from NCDOT’s interchange inventory.
  • Raleigh-Durham International Airport: about 22 miles by road.
  • Bus: GoTriangle’s WRX express to Raleigh starts at the Wake Forest Center for Active Aging, 235 E. Holding Ave., and stops at Elm Avenue and White Street and at Holding Avenue and Brooks Street, according to GoTriangle’s schedule data. Inside town, book Go Wake Forest rides at 984-342-2319.

Distances are measured on the OpenStreetMap road network from the middle of the district; they are distances, not drive times. More in our getting around guide.

Groceries and everyday stores

From OpenStreetMap:

  • Pharmacies: CVS Pharmacy, East Roosevelt Avenue, two blocks from White Street; Village Pharmacy, South Franklin Street, in the Franklin Center.
  • Supermarkets: Lidl, South Main Street, and Lowes Foods, Gateway Commons Circle, each about a mile away.

Frequently asked questions

What schools is downtown Wake Forest zoned for?

Every point we checked downtown was zoned for Wake Forest Middle and Wake Forest High in the district’s current attendance areas. Most was zoned for Wake Forest Elementary and some for Richland Creek Elementary.

What ZIP code is downtown Wake Forest?

Downtown Wake Forest, like the rest of the town, is in ZIP code 27587.

When was downtown Wake Forest listed as a historic district?

The Downtown Wake Forest Historic District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on Feb. 20, 2002, according to the town. Its buildings date from about 1890 to 1949.

What is the typical home value in downtown Wake Forest?

The Zillow Home Value Index for ZIP code 27587 was $508,282 in August 2026, down 0.8% from a year earlier. Zillow’s figure for the whole town was $507,240.