4 - The Morrisville and Preston Progress, Thursday, August 29,1996
History on display
Local enthusiasts donate case, Civil War artifacts to share Morfisville’s past
ByftonPagB
Visitors to Morrisville Town Hall
can now get a glinq>se of the Ovil
War era, thanks to the efforts of a
handful of local history buffs.
A Confederate sword found 20 to
30 yards behind h>wn ball, a Colo
nial pistol that dates before the
Civil War and was possibly handed
down to a Confederate soldier frcm
bis grandfather, grape shot bullets,
a rifle, a Union belt buckle and a
variety of Confederate coins are
among the items mounted within a
specially-made exhibit cabinet
donated to the town.
Presentation of the large glass-
covered, wood cabinet was made
during the early part of the town
board’s first meeting this m»th by
Tom Smith Jr., ctmunander of the
Henry King Burgywn Jr. Sons of
the Ccmfederate Veterans Camp of
East Wake County, and sevCTal
others who either fmmd the items
or took part in preparing the
mahogany-colored cabinet
"I’m here to iweserve part of the
past of Morrisville," s^ Smith,
"which was very rich in the War of
the States. A lot of people woe in
volved in putting this exhibit to
gether."
The weaponry displayed is
RELISHING HISTORY-A display case at Morrisvilie's town hall
contains relics from the Civil War. Kelsey O^rne, a resident of
Raleigh who works in Morrisville, took time out last week to look
over the Kerns.
believed to have been left by vic-
tOTious Union soldiers during the
final days of the war. A brass pla
que explaining the display is also
part of the permanent exhibit Witii
Smith during the presentation woe
relic hunters Ira Rushing, Charles
Dreher, Carl Eason, Haywood
Jacobs and Pat Alford. Rushing’s
son, Allen, a detective with the
Morrisville Police Department was
on assignment and could not attend
the ceremony.
Pointing out that Morrisville was
a hotbed of fighting during the
Civil War, Smith reminded the
audience that many of the encamp
ments whwe soldiers stayed were
being paved over by escalating de-
veloiHnent.
The purpose of the display, he
said, is to remember long after the
sites vanish, those who saved.
"It’s so that 50 years from now,
somewhere, in some building, in
what then may or may not be Mor
risville, some child can come and
look at what was," he said.
Commissioner Leavy Barbee
pointed out that he was the only
town board member who was bom
and grew up in Morrisville.
"You jKobably walked right over
some of these items," Smith told
him.
"When I was playing ball out in
the fields, maybe I hit a line drive
and knocked up some of that stuff,"
Barbee said.
Commissitmer Mark Silver-Smith
said he was a native New Yorker
and when he came to Morrisville
two and a half years ago he didn’t
reahze the major significance of
this area. "I’m proud to be a part of
this town," be smd.
"Even though everyone of his rel
atives were on the other side," one
of his colleagues laughingly
chided. ”I knew somebody was
going to say something about that,"
Silver-Smith said. "There were
other places to move, but my wife
and I were truly happy to come
hCTe."
Cmnmissioners Hiyllis Newnam
and C.T. Moore both praised the
work that went into making the
calrinet. "It’s a beautiful piece of
art," Mrs. Newnam said.
"I’m very excited about it," said
Mayor Margaret Broadwell. "It is a
tremendous amount of hisKJry."
Mayor Pro Tern Billy Sauls
added a further thought: "Maybe
some day it can be the start of a
museum in Morrisville," he said.
Focus on Morrisvilie’s role in the
Civil War came about through an
excerpt from the daily diary of
Union cavalry Sergeant Joseph Kit-
tinger, written on the night of April
13, 1865, when he was camped in
Morrisville.
The diary is in the Library of
Congress, and leads some histori
ans to Haim the town was the site
of the last cannon barrage of the
war. In it, Kittinger wrote: "Morris
ville, N.C., April 13, 1865... This
was the last cannon firing of the
Civil War * April 13,1865.*"
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Maynard Crossing Shopping Center
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COME BROWSE OUR CALLERY!
Board okays plans for town’s first shopping center
By Ron Page
With construction of an 8.9-acre
Carmike Cinema complex on
schedule for an October opraing,
Atlantic Real Estate Corpor^on of
Durtiam has been given aj^noval to
buUd a 160,(XX)-square-foot shop
ping center on the same 33 acres
off N.C. 54 at the Morrisville and
Cary town limits.
The Morrisville Board of Com
missioners okayed the site plan at
the August 12 meeting.
Commissioner Mark Silver
smith, who cast the only dissent
ing, expressed concern for safety
because of the hilly approaches to
the proposed centm' and the need
for a traffic light on N.C. 54.
Commissioners bad asked the
N.C. Department of Transportation
(DOT) to level the roadway in front
of center, but the department said
the funds were not available. Ccan-
missioners did, however, ^prove a
motion to ask DOT to install a
tempcaary traffic signal tu one of
the two planned entryways along
N.C. 54, one which could be
moved at a l^r time when the ex
tension of Cary Parkway is com
pleted. The developer plans to
widen N.C. 54 in fixmt of the shop
ping center.
The plan apjx'oval also stipules
that the developer make a formal
request to DOT to permit the in
stallation of a third temporary
driveway onto N.C. 54 which
would be relocated eventually as an
access entry from the proposed
Cary Parkway extensicm.
Although the town has a factory
outlet mall, the shopping center
would be Morrisvilie’s first Plans
show the center will be anchored
by a food stere and drag store and
will include retail stores and
restaurants. Eight outparcels are
also inclutted.
Richard E. Rowe, director of de
velopment for Atlantic Real Estate,
noted that interest among tenants
has been extremely good because
of the location. Leasing and man
agement of the shopping center will
be handled by Kane Realty Coip.
of Raleigh. The landlord will be a
separate company known as Atlan
tic ReaWesL
What makes the location ideal is
fhat it will not CHily draw residents
frOTi the nearby Preston planned
unit development, but also from
along Cary Parkway whidi is to be
extended within the next few years.
The PresKm Develcqrment Group,
which sold the land for the shop
ping center to Atlantic real estate,
plans to build a 3(X)-home residen
tial neighborhood on adjacent prop
erty.
Construction is targeted to start
sometime before the middle of
1997. Site work grading and utili
ties installation is expected to being
shortly, with the center itself open
ing near the end of next year or the
beginning of 1998, with the time
keyed to the actual start of con
struction.
Construction of the 16-screen
(heatCT complex by Carmike Cine
ma Inc., the nation’s largest theater
chain, includes what wiU be the
state’s largest theater, a 60,000-
square-foot structure which will of
fer first-run films.
rarmilce is currently building a
similar-sized theater in Myrtle
Beach, S.C. It has more than 300
theaters in North Carolina and
more than 2,367 in 31 states with
repented total sales of $328 million
in 1964.
Other site plans aKtroved during
the same meeting included:
• Up on Pieasantwood. Rudy C.
Upten of Cary plans to construct an
8,000-square-foot flex building on
a two-acre parcel in Huntington
Commercial Park. The site is
served by the Aviation Parkway
waste water treatment plant. If the
town does not have sufficient ca
pacity to serve the site, then the
project will be placed on a waiting
list
• AP Parts Warehouse. C.M.
North Carolina Investment Compa
ny proposes to locate additic^
paitong at the existing warehouse
to be used by a prospective tenant.
Last year, AP Parts vacated the
space in the warehouse, which is
located on 32.229 acres, and a new
prospective tenant needs the addi
tional parking, commissioners were
told.
• Aviation Center IL This plan
calls fa a 24,000 square-foot office
and warehouse Imilding to be con
structed on 3,719 acres in the Com
monwealth Center by Property
Resources Inc. of Ralei^.
• Bloomin’ Orchids. Nat Carsor
plans to locate five additional
greenhouses for his existing
Bloomin’ Orchids business on 3.65
acres at 402 Church Road. The
bouses are for growing, storing,
and potting the plants and will not
be used as retail space.
• Enterprise Center III.
Perimeter Park West Associates
Limited Parinersbip of Morrisville
proposes to construct a 70,520
square-foot flex building contain
ing a mix of office and warehouse
space, on 6.07 acres on Aviation
Parkway. 'This will be the third en
terprise building which will com
plement the two existing Enterprise
flex builtfings. Approval was with
the st^ulation that the right of way
for the future McCrimmon Park
way be shown as reserved on the
site plan, and that no building
permit be issued until the Markham
Drive sewer outfall line is in place.
• Ih'eston Golf Halfway Houses.
Prestonwood Country Club plans to
consuuct restrooms half way along
the Preston Golf Course. These will
include one-room rest rooms, each
about 864 square feet, every 8 or 9
holes along the course. A(q)roval is
contingent on sufficient waste
water capacity.
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