Holly Springs, North Carolina
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Holly Springs is a town located in Wake County, North Carolina. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 9,192.
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Geography
Holly Springs is located at 35°39'16" North, 78°49'29" West (35.654583, -78.824624)Template:GR.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 19.4 km² (7.5 mi²). 19.4 km² (7.5 mi²) of it is land and none of the area is covered with water.
History
Native Americans
The Tuscarora Indians used the area around Holly Springs as a hunting ground prior to colonial settlement. This tribe fled North Carolina around 1720 to escape the influx of Europeans, and eventually became the sixth nation of the Iroquois.
Pre-1800
The Town of Holly Springs grew around fresh water springs, believed to be the original “holly springs,” near the intersection of what is now Avent Ferry Road and Cass Holt Road. These roads linked Raleigh to the Cape Fear River and ultimately to Fayetteville as well as linking Hillsborough to Smithfield.
Early 19th Century
By 1800, the crossroads had spawned a village, including a general store built by Richard Jones, a Baptist Church, and a Masonic Lodge. These were soon followed by a sawmill and cotton gin.
Archibald Leslie, a Scottish tailor, arrived in the community around 1817, opened a tailoring business and a store and soon began construction of a large, impressive home near the springs. This 38-room mansion, now known as the Leslie-Alford-Mims House, is located off Avent Ferry Road near Town Hall. Mr. Leslie became a prominent citizen in Holly Springs, and under his influence the village attracted many business owners and their families.
Holly Springs Baptist Church, established in 1822, was the Town's first successful church, the original Baptist Church having disbanded because "several members became indulged in things of the world and became unfaithful". The Masonic Lodge #115 was formed in 1847, and in 1854 a two-story lodge building was erected, to replace the original lodge, which was destroyed by fire. This building also served as the Town's first school. Holly Springs Academy opened its doors in 1854 to prepare young men for admission to Wake Forest College. Two years later, the first floor of the lodge was used as a school for local girls.
Civil War
This period of prosperity came to an end in 1860 with the start of the Civil War. North Carolina seceded from the Union. Captain Oscar R. Rand recruited willing men of all ages to join Governor Zebulon Baird Vance's infamous 26th Infantry Regiment. On a single day, on a bloodied Gettysburg battlefield during the battle known as "Pickett's Charge," 13 of the 14 commanding officers died. A mere 81 soldiers out of a unit of 880 lived to tell the story.
With the men of the Town gone, both schools in Town closed, and Holly Springs became a virtual ghost town. When the Union Army receded northward, Holly Springs lay in its path. Bands of marauding robbers known as "bummers" raided the area farms and homesteads, taking food, supplies, silver, clothes and anything of value.
Also during the war, for a two-week period, a segment of the Union Army encamped near Town and set up headquarters in the Leslie-Alford-Mims House. It is reported that Mrs. Leslie hated the Yankees bitterly but loved her home more, so she treated them with cool civility. This may have protected the home from destruction, the fate of many other grand southern homes. Mrs. Leslie is said to have “charmed the soldiers so that they didn't burn the house down, but they did get the chickens, though.” Union soldiers reportedly stole the chandeliers from the house, as well.
The little community of Holly Springs had appeared to be on its way to becoming a bustling town. The Civil War ultimately left the community economically devastated. Some families moved away. The exodus was encouraged by construction of the Chatham Railroad through the village of Apex, giving that neighboring town a link to the outside world which Holly Springs did not have. Historian M N. Amis described Holly Springs in 1871 as "a deserted village."
Late 19th Century
But Holly Springs was to make a comeback, starting with the arrival in 1875 of George Benton Alford who moved his successful mercantile business from Middle Creek Township to Holly Springs and was instrumental in beginning an economic revival in the community. A year later he bought the Leslie house which was the centerpiece of the village. Over the years he made significant additions and improvements to the house until it became one of the largest mansions in Wake County, one of the few with its own ballroom.
Alford, a dynamic businessman and politician, started several businesses including a mercantile store, a sawmill, a cotton gin and the Holly Springs Land and Improvement Company. He got the General Assembly to grant the town a charter. And he started a newspaper, the Cape Fear Enterprise, which he used to promote the town. He also got other prominent men in the community to join him in seeking a charter of incorporation for the Cape Fear and Northern Railroad.
During the post-war period, several attempts were made to revive the Holly Springs Academy, but none were successful. For a time, children were taught in private homes, until the first co-educational school serving 125 students was opened by the Masons. In 1906, the Town addressed the need for a larger and better-equipped facility to educate the children. Under the leadership of Raymond A. Burt, J. Carter and the Women's School Betterment Association, 10 acres (40,000 m²) of land were purchased near local springs (soon to be the site of the future library and cultural arts center). The first bell rang for classes in 1908.
World War I
By this point, Alford was a wealthy man. He had dreams of turning Holly Springs into an industrial city of 10,000 people. The town’s population had not increased a great deal, holding at around 300, but the business community and the schools were drawing outsiders to shop and to get for their children a good education. Holly Springs was poised a second time to boom, but a second time, the flourishing village was struck down by war. With the start of World War I the young men went off to fight and many others went away to work in war-related industry.
The Depression
In 1923 Alford died, leaving the town without an effective voice in political circles. Then came the Great Depression. The Bank of Holly Springs, established before the turn of the century, failed in 1924. Holly Springs muddled along between the two World Wars, not growing much, if any, but making do, using some PWA funds to build a school auditorium but missing out on the new federal road-building projects being carried out to provide employment.
World War II
World War II did what World War I had done, drawing more young people away from Holly Springs to war and/or to cities for jobs. At the close of the war Holly Springs was faced with a depleted population. During the early 1950’s, while most Piedmont cities were booming, Holly Springs was stagnant.
1960-1980
During the early 1960’s, with a population stabilized at around 580, the little town installed fluorescent street lights about the same time that Highway 55 (Main Street) was widened. A general clean-up fix-up effort netted the town an award from a state appearance committee.
1980-Present
But it was not until the town built its first sewer plant in 1987 that any real growth occurred. Development began tentatively. It was 1992 before Holly Springs, in line for the spillover from burgeoning populations in Cary and Apex, suddenly boomed. Population increased from 900 in 1992 to an estimated 6000 in 1998.
Nearing a population of 14,000 in 2004, Holly Springs continues to grow and evolve. The Town now boasts two public elementary schools and a middle school, and a public high school is scheduled to open for the 2006-2007 school year. A Wake County branch library and a cultural arts facility are also scheduled to open in 2006.
Demographics
As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there are 9,192 people, 3,316 households, and 2,609 families residing in the town. The population density is 473.8/km² (1,227.6/mi²). There are 3,642 housing units at an average density of 187.7/km² (486.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the town is 77.14% White, 18.65% African American, 0.42% Native American, 1.23% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 1.12% from other races, and 1.43% from two or more races. 3.02% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 3,316 households out of which 45.7% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.1% are married couples living together, 8.5% have a female householder with no husband present, and 21.3% are non-families. 16.4% of all households are made up of individuals and 2.1% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.77 and the average family size is 3.14.
In the town the population is spread out with 31.3% under the age of 18, 5.0% from 18 to 24, 45.0% from 25 to 44, 15.9% from 45 to 64, and 2.8% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 31 years. For every 100 females there are 97.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 93.4 males.
The median income for a household in the town is $69,550, and the median income for a family is $74,010. Males have a median income of $52,275 versus $32,396 for females. The per capita income for the town is $28,580. 4.8% of the population and 3.3% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 6.0% of those under the age of 18 and 14.8% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
External links
- Official website of Holly Springs, NC (http://www.townofhollyspringsnc.net/)
- Holly Springs Chamber of Commerce (http://www.hollyspringschamber.org/)
Sources
Town of Holly Springs Chamber of Commerce: Town History (http://www.hollyspringschamber.org/Content/History.asp)
Town of Holly Springs: Town History (http://www.hollyspringsnc.us/about/history.htm)