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Town Center Plan
January 2007
Pugh House at the southeast corner of Chapel
Hill Road and Aviation Parkway. This building
helps to define the intersection and signal to
residents and visitors alike that they have
arrived in Morrisville’s historic Town Center.
Like the Maynard Store and Page Cottage
immediately to the south, the Pugh House
faces the railroad tracks, the traditional focus
of Morrisville. The Town Center Design calls
for making a special effort to preserve these
structures in their original orientation on their
original lots, consistent with the guidelines
established by the National Register of
Historic Places, while moving them back as
necessary from the road to accommodate
needed road improvements in and around
the intersection.
On the northeast quadrant of the intersection,
the Town Center Design proposes to
commemorate the Town’s participation in
the textile industry by locating new uses on
this corner in a mill-style structure. Some
Morrisville residents still remember playing
on the steps of Samuel Horne’s knitting
mill before it burned down in the 1930s. A
new structure that evokes this architectural
style would help celebrate this history and
provide another visual reminder that people
have arrived at a place of prominence in the
community.
Morrisville Fire Station #1 is currently located
at the northwest corner of the intersection.
However, planned additional railroad lines
for passenger and freight service within the
North Carolina Railroad’s 200-foot right of
way will hamper the operational functions
of this facility. This, combined with growing
space needs, has caused the Town to begin
exploring other locations for the fire station.
If and when the fire station is relocated,
the Town Center Design proposes that this
site be used for a reconstruction of the
train depot that once stood along the North
Carolina Railroad (see historic photo on page
7). This was the approximate location of the
depot on the west side of the tracks, and the
site provides an opportunity to celebrate the
town’s railroad history. The reconstruction
should draw on existing historical records
to provide as accurate a reconstruction as
possible. Such a structure would further
enhance the visual prominence of the
intersection, and could potentially be used
as a visitor center to help orient newcomers
to points of interest in the Town Center.
Ben’s Bargain Barn is currently located on
the southwest quadrant of the intersection.
This site has long been a cornerstone of
Morrisville’s small commercial district, with
this structure once housing the Red & White
Grocery. TheTownCenterDesignrecommends
maintaining and restoring this building, and
continuing to use it for commercial activities.
Longstanding residents of the Town Center
remember that the grocery once fronted
onto Franklin-Upchurch Street (formerly
Cedar Street) to the south, not Morrisville-
Carpenter Road to the north, since at one
time Cedar Street was the main road that
crossed the railroad tracks. It was here that
the town experienced several dramatic train
wrecks, including one in the 1930s when a
gasoline truck was hit by a passing train,
causing a big explosion.
Franklin-Upchurch Street:
To highlight the
location of Morrisville’s original crossroads at
the intersection of Church Street and Cedar
Chapter 3: Detailed Design
The Dodd Grocery pictured here once fronted on
Franklin-Upchurch Street (formerly Cedar Street) and
helped to anchor the Morrisville business district in the
mid twentieth century. (Photo: Town of Morrisville
Archives)