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Planning Area The planning area for the Land Use Plan comprises all properties within the following two areas: Morrisville Municipal Boundary Contains all incorporated properties within Morrisville and under Town jurisdiction. Extraterritorial Jurisdiction (ETJ) Contains unincorporated properties that are subject to Morrisville development regula- tions, but are currently under the jurisdic- tion of Wake County or Durham County, respectively. The Town has been approved for annexation of properties withinWake County and has an annexation agreement with the City of Durham. These properties are subject to Morrisville’s development regulations.

Morrisville’s Beginnings

In 1850, surveyors were sent out to assess the terrain. They found the best route ran along a ridge line between the Neuse and Cape Fear Rivers. Twelve miles west of Raleigh, they came to Crabtree Creek and decided to site a depot. An enterprising local businessman named Jeremiah Morris donated land for a station, and the site lay at a rural crossroads that could help feed the rail line with passengers and freight. Morrisville was born. Despite its favorable location along the rail line halfway between Raleigh and Durham, Morrisville remained a small agricultural community well into the 20th century, only reaching a population of 251 by 1980. However, as the tech boom of the 1990s took flight, nearby Research Triangle Park quickly became a magnet for highly skilled workers and Morrisville began to experience explosive growth. Now, Morrisville is swiftly moving towards 30,000 residents, with many more projected to come. The town is once again at a crossroads, but this time concerning policy. The recommen- dations within this document will seek to accommodate new growth in a way that’s economically beneficial, but respectful of community character and the very reasons people choose to call Morrisville home.

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Prior to European settlement, archaeolog- ical evidence suggests nomadic bands of Native Americans camped along the banks of Crabtree Creek as far back as 10,000 years ago. One trail that was heavily utilized led to a shallow ford over Crabtree Creek, and crossed through the future site of Morrisville. As European settlers began moving into the Carolinas, the trail was solidified as a major highway into the new colonial backcountry. Eventually, this area became known as the Piedmont of North Carolina. locked in a deep economic slumber, with large expanses of its interior cut off from the outside world. To help change this, state leaders launched a grand civic project to build a railroad across the Piedmont that would link Charlotte with Goldsboro and an existing rail line that connected to the state’s largest port inWilmington. In the mid-nineteenth century, North Caro- lina was known as the “Rip VanWinkle State”,

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6 Morrisville Land Use Plan | Chapter 2 – Community Context