Politicians and just ordinary people argue about federal investment in infrastructure, but in Wake Forest in the 1930s it helped families whose breadwinners had lost their jobs and left us with buildings we still use and a safer route for an important street.
Early in the decade, the town won a federal grant of $31,000 to improve and expand the water system that was installed in 1925 – and some of those water lines are still in use. Town voters had to approve $38,000 in bonds. Of course at that time there was no reservoir (look to the 1960s for that). The water came from a small impoundment on Smith Creek. And the state was still fine with the sewer system which sent untreated waste into both Richland and Smith creeks – but below the drinking water impoundment. The water treatment plant was on Elm Avenue west of the railroad tracks and still stands, though heavily renovated into a dentist’s office.
A second deal was even sweeter for the town. The town had to put up $2,500 in cash and materials, and in return the federal government and the State of North Carolina spent $11,000 to build a gymnasium for the new high school that isnow the Forrest Building at Wake Forest Elementary. That gym is still a vital part of the school and the town’s recreation program.
The town fathers strongly urged the federal government to participate in building a town auditorium. It was not a winner and neither was a push for a National Guard armory in town.
The big change in the landscape came with a nation-wide push to eliminate at-grade railroad crossings because there had been a large number of school bus-train collisions which killed and injured youngsters, including one in Wake Forest which killed two Wake Forest High School students and injured one.
In 1938, Wait Avenue came up the hill from the east and crossed the railroad tracks before ending at Front Street, one of the four streets around the Wake Forest College campus. Wait ran between the freight station, which stood where there is now a parking lot along South White Street, and the passenger station across the tracks owned by the Seaboard Airline company. The stone arch that marked the entrance to the campus stood at the end of Wait Avenue.
To separate the cars and school buses and trains, the New Deal contractors began digging a big ditch at the corner of South Avenue and Front Street and continued it on up to North Avenue. It was a red clay gash that dismayed town residents until the Wake Forest Garden Club undertook beautification. After building the sturdy bridge that supports the tracks and trains, the contractor had to build a new street which was appropriately named Roosevelt Avenue.
But there was more building to be done. Since a post office was first established in town back in the early 1800s (a spotty history with gaps), the post office had always been either in the post master’s house or in a rented building. The WPA (Works Progress Administration) designed and built the first post office building that was completed in 1940. It still stands on South White Street and is now a chiropractor’s office.
It was also in 1940 that Dr. Nevill Isbell recommended the town build a community center and a swimming pool – and the WPA made them a reality. The town had to purchase the land on West Owen Avenue and the WPA paid $67,117 to build the pool and the community house with its meeting room on the upper floor, dressing rooms for the pool below. That original pool had stone walls and a stone platform for the diving board. Today it is a brand new aquatic center with three pools. The community has still retains its original design with the huge stone fireplaces but has been updated several times so that it continues to be functional. In normal years it is busy every weekend with reunions, parties and wedding receptions.
In the 1930s and through the 1960s Dr. and Mrs. Solomon Holding had a spacious house that fronted on South Main Street with the community house and pool behind it. After they died, their heirs had the house demolished and, with the help of Zua Davis, the next-door neighbor, donated the land that is now Holding Park to the town.
(The editor cannot promise to include a history article in every issue of The Wake Forest Gazette but will strive to do so. And if town residents with long memories find errors they are strongly encouraged to point them out by calling 919-556-3409 or send a note to cwpelosi@aol.com.)
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One Response
It is always remarkable to be reminded that cooperation between the government and the governed can result in outstanding, lasting results. It would be best to remember the word ‘socialism’ has many nuanced definitions. None of which accepts’ communism’ as acceptable.