Late 1800s-1990

Scottish tailor Archibald Leslie married Isabell Rogers on Oct. 11, 1838, and built a home near the crossroads that would become Holly Springs. The Greek Revival style home was briefly occupied as headquarters for Union officers in April 1865. A general store, blacksmith shop, brick kiln, turpentine distillery, and slave quarters were also on the property. Leslie sold the mansion to G. B. Alford in 1870, who expanded the house, which eventually passed to Alford’s grandson, Edwin Mims, and is now known as the Leslie-Alford-Mims house.

After incorporation, Holly Springs worked to recover from the effects of the Civil War. Businesses thrived, and by 1891 Holly Springs had a telephone. The Nov. 4, 1891, issue of the Daily State Chronicle stated, “Mr. Alford tells us that yesterday a telephone message was sent from Holly Springs to Apex at 10:40; copied at Apex and put on the Raleigh & Augusta train at 10:49, and it reached Raleigh at 11:20 on the R & A mail. ... That’s the kind of telegraphic work that the people want and will always commend.”

State Department of Labor and Department of Commerce records show early activities in mining, lumber, tobacco, and cotton. For a brief time, G B Alford ran a newspaper, The Cape Fear Enterprise, which was mostly used to promote the Town and the railroad that was chartered in 1892 after the existing railroad bypassed Holly Springs in favor of Apex. That railroad became the Durham and Southern, then Seaboard Coast Line Railroad, then CSX and ran through Town until 1981. Other businesses of this era included a furniture store, carpenter, blacksmith, doctor and attorneys. John R. Seagroves ran a hotel, and W B Collins presented a moving picture show.

The NC Bureau of Labor listed the population of Holly Springs Village in 1890 as 218 people. By 1930 it had reached 362. Early mayors include G. B. Alford, John G. Utley, Rufus Templeton, and Joseph R. Carter.