The Town That Packed Up And Left Town-Part 3

The first Spring Hope Community remained in it's original location from 1840 until 1887. The stage coach line closed down around theconclusion of the War Between the States. The closest thing I could find in the way of documented drama  was when one winter night the stage pulled in but the driver, having failed to come in for dinner, was found frozen to death in his seat. The horses had found their own way to the inn. For the most part, the little community was blessed with a boring existence: no Indian or Yankee massacres; no deadly tornadoes or epidemics and no famous shoot outs.

In 1887 the bulk of the business leaders packed up and followed the the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company to a brand new location just a little over four miles up the road. The company bosses wanted a town situated  directly between Rocky Mount and Raleigh to complement a planned depot. With the stage line defunct, it was easy to arrange a relocation for the post office as well. Upon incorporation it was decided the new town would also take the name Spring Hope. Naturally the old village became known as Old Spring Hope.

Here are a few close up photos of the old store, showing clearly why it will not be around for many more years:





The Town That Packed Up And Left Town-Part2

Land grant records for  central Nash County show that the first settlers built homes along the Tar River and Fishing Creek in the early 1700's. Fast forwarding to 1839,  we see the arrival of a dashing gentleman directly from England who went by the title of General Daniel Sanford Crenshaw. We know absolutely nothing about his military record nor anything else of his life in the old country. But we do know that in his brief 12 years as a resident of Nash County, he was a busy man.

First, he built a 2 storied house, a blacksmith shop, a school, a general store, and a Turpentine Distillary. Of these only the store remains standing. Remarkably, the hand drawn wood and shingles used to build Spring Hope's first store was recycled from a nearby closed down store built around 1830. It was all brought in by ox cart.It features a framework of mortise and tenon fashion along with wooden pegs, with no foundation save several large rocks.

As was the norm in that day, the building was a mulit-use structure. Besides being a general store, it also served as a post office, a way station for a stage coach line, and a livery stable. Other uses down through the years include a saloon, sheep house, and as late as 1970 a gathering place for Friday night card games.

The Town That Packed Up and Left Town-Part 1

Due to a number of requests from local residents, I will be attempting to tell the story of Spring Hope's beginnings, as I myself am just coming to understand it.

A good place to start is the origin of the name of our town. It is indisputable that the "Spring" portion was inspired by the property pictured below. It lies about 4 1/2 miles outside the present town limits and contains several natural springs that were used by settlers as early as 1714. Springs were extremely important in those days considering the ease with which wells could be poisoned by enemies. So it is no surprise that when the community became large enough to need a name, they should commemorate their dependence upon the life sustaining springs thereby.

No one can say for certain where the "Hope" portion came from but there are some legends in circulation. Mrs. Shirley Bass, the town librarian for the last 26 years enjoys telling one, which I find to be the most credible of all.  General Daniel Sanford Crenshaw, the first leader of the settlement is thought to have said he hoped the springs never ran dry because he dreaded having to dig a well.



The primary spring used by the original settlers of Spring Hope, 1840-1888.

 The springs are still flowing today but have slowed down enough to need an electric pump to be of practical use. This is probably due to the fact that the property is now heavily wooded, meaning there are hundreds of trees nowdrawing moisture from what was once cleared land. The cistern in the foreground was about half  full when I took the photo.

Another Visit With Bob, Our Town's Favorite Cat





" An animal's eyes have the power to speak great languages." 

               Martin Buber                     

        

Another One Bites The Dust

For the last few months I have been compiling a list of majestic old buildings and homes in our area that I want to document for posterity's sake. Many of them appear in a couple of historical  books at the local library but the quality of the photos leave much to be desired.

 For the second time in two weeks I have been saddened to discover that a  building from my list is being taken down before I could get to it. This time it's a classic red barn just a few miles away from my house. I take some consolation in the fact that it is being disassembled by hand so that the materials can be recycled. That beats a bulldozer any day.

With the roof already removed and some boards also gone form the front, there was an eerie appearance about the place. It was  as though she was slowly vaporizing into the sky and the heavens were majestically welcoming her home after a long life of service. I am sorely going to miss that old barn.

Lighting It Up

The down side of almost always having a camera with me is  being without  excuse for missing a good photo opportunity. I was on the way home from a full day of shooting and dead tired. I wanted nothing more than to grab something to eat and shift into vegetable mode. But it was not to be, as I noticed they were finally putting in new security lights at the Food Lion parking lot. So I dutifully pulled in and captured another hundred images or so, one of which I am posting here.  Oh the life!

Dangerous Spring Liaisons

It's that time of year again.....








Disclosure: This photo was staged.  However, the box turtle really was in the middle of the road where I was driving. After the photo shoot, the little fella was carried  into the woods and released.  As Pa Ingalls used say, "All's well that ends well."