All Aboard: The Railroad Through Holly Springs
Unlike some towns that were built because of railroads, the railroad through Holly Springs was built because of the Town.
Town founder and prominent resident G. B. Alford, always looking to promote Holly Springs and its businesses, founded the Cape Fear & Northern Railroad in 1892. Construction was delayed until the project received financial backing from the Duke family, and the first shovelful of dirt was thrown by Miss Mattie V. Alford on July 27, 1898.
By 1903, the railroad ran from Durham to Dunn, with a branch line running to the town of Duke (now Erwin). In 1906, the rail line was purchased by the Durham & Southern Railroad, with the formal dissolution of the Cape Fear & Northern occurring in 1907. Advertisements for the Holly Springs Academy boasted the Town’s railroad connection to Apex, where passengers could change trains for other destinations on the East Coast.
The Holly Springs Depot & Derailments
The train depot in Holly Springs was located where the parking deck downtown now stands, at the corner of Avent Ferry Road and Ballentine Street. The depot measured 30 by 60 feet with two passenger rooms, a ticket office heated by a stove, a 5-by-72-foot freight platform, and a 15-by-58-foot cotton platform. The depot was served by a two-stall outhouse.
The Durham & Southern Railroad ran two passenger trains along its route in Holly Springs through the 1930s and finally ended all passenger service in 1952, running only freight trains. It was during the mid-1950s that the switch to diesel trains began.
At least two derailments occurred in Holly Springs, one in May of 1965 and one in June of 1969. Neither derailment resulted in personal injury, but streets were blocked, and clean-up efforts were required. A newspaper account of the 1969 derailment stated simply, “The Durham and Southern train derailed Sunday afternoon. Fortunately, the tracks were clear, and no one was injured.”
The End of Rail Service in Holly Springs
In 1976, to celebrate the nation’s bicentennial, the Durham & Southern decorated an engine with the names of the towns served, including Holly Springs. The Durham & Southern line was sold to Seaboard Coast Line in 1979, and the last train went through Holly Springs in 1981. Holly Springs did not have a mainline passenger route running through it, like Apex and Raleigh, and vehicle ownership and highways offered more flexible transportation, both for people and for freight.
The abandoned train tracks that once served Holly Springs have been largely removed, and the land has been repurposed for other uses, such as for sidewalks and road expansions. While intact train tracks running through the center of Holly Springs cannot be found, the flattened and linear geography of the former right-of-way can still be seen in the space where the tracks once were, such as alongside Avent Ferry Road near Elm Street.
Important Deliveries
Trains – including the ones through Holly Springs – were used to deliver the mail, both regular US Mail and, more uniquely, “telephone mail.” This was before telephone service connected all communities in the region with each other.
The Daily State Chronicle of November 4, 1891 described a telephone letter sent from Holly Springs to Raleigh. It was telephoned from Holly Springs to Apex at 10:40, copied at Apex and put on the Raleigh and Augusta train, and arrived in Raleigh at 11:20. “This enables people in Holly Springs to telephone their letters to Raleigh and have them delivered in less than an hour,” the Chronicle noted.
Special trains were chartered to bring veterans to Holly Springs for the Town’s annual Fourth of July picnic, and to take Holly Springs residents to other towns for fairs and baseball games as well as business.
1965 Train Derailment Report
Railroad Depot prior to 1930
The train depot in Holly Springs was
located where the parking deck
downtown now stands, at the corner of Avent Ferry Road and Ballentine Street.
The depot measured 30 by 60 feet with
two passenger rooms, a ticket office
heated by a stove, a 5-by-72-foot freight platform, and a 15-by-58-foot cotton platform. The depot was served by a
two-stall outhouse.
Railroad Grantor List
A railroad grantor list is a chronological and alphabetical record of entities (the "grantors") who have sold, transferred, or granted property rights to a railroad.
The Durham and Southern Line
In 1976, to celebrate the nation’s bicentennial, the Durham & Southern decorated an engine with the names of the towns served, including Holly Springs.
Former Depot and Train Tracks in 1981
The Durham & Southern line was sold to Seaboard Coast Line in 1979, and the last train went through Holly Springs in 1981.