The Research Triangle Park (RTP) was initiated in the early 1950s by the area's leaders in education, industry and politics. These individuals included Governor Luther Hodges, industrialist Romeo Guest and banking executive Robert Hanes. RTP was fashioned after a similar industrial research complex outside of Boston. The people who designed it believed our tri-city area would be ideal for such a complex because it could, like the Boston complex, capitalize on the already extensive research facilities available at the three major neighboring universities.

The Triangle proved to be an ideal location for a major research park. Over the past thirty years, many of the nation's largest firms have decided to make RTP their research headquarters, including Glaxo Smith Kline, IBM, Nortel and Cisco Systems. In addition, a number of government agencies have chosen RTP as their home, such as the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Research Center, and the National Humanities Center.

This wealth of industry, research and education, combined with the natural beauty of the Piedmont region make the Triangle area one of the most exciting places in the country to live.