Morrisville Town Center Plan - 2007

Chapter 3: Detailed Design

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 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)

24 │ Town Center Plan

January 2007