Raleigh, Wake County honor Memorial Day with closures and tributes

Raleigh and Wake County shut down their administrative offices for Memorial Day, but the holiday did not bring every local service to a stop. Raleigh said emergency police, fire and rescue help remained available by dialing 9-1-1, trash and recycling service was not affected, and GoRaleigh ran on a Sunday schedule. The city’s Yard Waste Center was closed from Saturday, May 23 through Monday, May 25, and Wake County Public Libraries were also closed for the holiday.

The city also kept Memorial Day work restrictions in place in the right-of-way from May 23 through May 25, part of the annual holiday schedule that limits construction and related activity around the long weekend. Wake County listed Memorial Day as a county holiday closure for 2026, matching the city’s shutdown of routine offices while keeping essential services moving.

The observances carried a visible reminder across the state. Gov. Josh Stein ordered U.S. and North Carolina flags at state facilities flown at half-staff from sunrise until noon on Monday, May 25, and encouraged municipalities, counties, businesses, schools and other government subdivisions to do the same. In Raleigh, images posted by city and county accounts showed local memorials and flags along Fayetteville Street, tying the day’s formal tributes to one of the city’s most recognizable civic corridors.

Local remembrance services gave residents specific places to gather. In Raleigh, memorial events were listed at Historic Oakwood Cemetery at 4 p.m. and at Montlawn Memorial Park from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nearby communities held their own ceremonies throughout the morning and afternoon, including Apex American Legion Post 124 at 9:30 a.m. at Apex Fire Station 1, Cary’s Memorial Day Remembrance at 2:30 p.m. at Veterans Freedom Park, Durham County Veterans Services Department’s remembrance at 9 a.m. in the William V. Bell Building, and Garner’s observance at 9:30 a.m. at the Garner Veterans Memorial in Lake Benson Park.