(Seagraves Hotel)
“Ye Olde Meeting Houses”
Over the years, Town of Holly Springs elected leaders and staff have conducted town business in many locations. The first mentioned in town records was the Holly Springs Council Junior Order of United American Mechanics #221 (OUAM) building once located on Main Street, between what is now the Bryan law office and Main Street Mini Mart.
The OUAM was a brother organization of the Masonic Lodge. The Wake County Register of Deeds shows the Lodge selling the 40-foot lot to the OUAM in 1908. When the town acquired the building in June 1941 from OAUM, the selling price was recorded as “$10.00 and other good and valuable consideration to them.” Mayor William Lonnie Price also was a trustee for the OUAM; he and fellow trustees D.A. Baker and R. F. Collins signed the deed selling the land and building to the town.
Town meetings were held in a nearby drugstore from 1943-1945; meeting minutes from 1946 show a newly elected mayor, Irvin Gattman, and commissioners taking bids for demolishing the old town hall building. The cost for the removal of the old building and debris was recorded as $325. During that time, the town’s elected leaders conducted business in the Masonic Lodge on Raleigh Street.
By 1947, Mayor Irvin Gattman had blueprints for a one-story cinder block building. Constructing a new building was a major investment for our little town of 491 back in the late 1940s, and the proposed new building was not a decision taken lightly. Finally, in 1952, Mayor Thurman Johnson approved and finalized the construction. A change in the board and mayor in 1953 saw Mayor Ivan Mims approving the purchase of 400 cinder blocks to form the exterior shell of the new town hall with a total building cost of $1055.34. The building was only 20 by 30 feet, and before long additional space was needed. A special census taken in 1965 recorded the town’s total population at 621.
Soon, town leaders realized a larger town hall was necessary. Across the street sat an empty Victorian-era Holt House (picture on previous page). Miss Blanche Holt had passed on in 1981, and the estate sold the old homestead to the town in 1985 along with an empty lot between the house and Earp Street. The lot soon would house a fire station.
Mayor Gerald Holleman and town staff moved into the Holt House, making use of every square foot of the beautiful old home. The town finance office was housed in the front parlor of the home. Debbie Whitaker-Mann recalls writing water bills by hand and collecting the revenues in an old cigar box when she first began working for the town in 1992. The office of Town Clerk Joni Powell, hired in 1994, was the drafty hallway leading into the mayor’s office. The hallway allowed just enough room for a desk and file cabinet. The Code Enforcement office was the hallway leading to the bathroom, recalls director department director Ricky Blackmon, and Public Utilities was in the back bedroom. The staff of 10 or 12 kept the town of 1,000 running smoothly.
Due to a lack of space in the house, Public Works Director Luncie Mc Neil used his truck as an office when he was hired in 1989 until the old pump-house shed under the Lee Street water tower was not needed. When water lines from Raleigh had been completed, the shed was cleared out to make way for Mr. Mc Neil and the public works crew of three.
Town board meetings were held at the “Wake Optional School” on Stinson Avenue, now known as the W.E. Hunt Recreation Center. The old classrooms used noisy window units for air conditioning, and occasionally the choice of being cool overrode the need to hear speakers at meetings.
After the municipal offices moved to the Holt House in the mid-1990s, the Wake County Sheriff’s Department used the old cinder block building as a substation complete with a call box residents in distress could use to request help.
The need for more office space had the board purchasing the Underwood’s furniture store in 1994 for $235,000. The store was originally the Seagraves Hotel, built around 1900 and run by Johnny and Mary Seagraves. George Underwood had purchased the old hotel and added a metal warehouse/showroom for his furniture business. After major renovations and combining the two separate building with a hallway, staff moved in. For the first time in recalled history, the town board had its own proper meeting room complete with microphones and comfortable padded chairs.
Mayor Holleman and Ms. Powell had offices in the old hotel section and faced unique challenges. The attic floor was unstable, and whenever anyone ventured upstairs to place an item in storage, a shower of plaster dust and particles rained on their desks. The old porch was enclosed by glass and was without heating and cooling. Code Enforcement staff, excited to be moved from the hallway outside the restroom in the old Holt House, was willing to take the high road and locate their offices on the old porch.
olly Springs was making strides to provide the best customer service staff could offer as the population grew by leaps and bounds. An after-hours drop box was installed on the porch near the front lobby for the ease of residents dropping off water bill payments during the evenings and over the weekends. The newly established parks and recreation department under Len Bradley had parents standing in line at the finance lobby windows to sign up youngsters for football and soccer. Don Mizelle and his assistant, Linda Harper, made up the planning department while Jenny Carr-Mizelle was the director of community development, which later became economic development. Engineering was led by Stephanie Sudano and her team, Derek Baker and Ralph Tilley.
Public Utilities Director Thomas Tillage had an office at town hall but usually could be found keeping an eye on the wastewater treatment plant. Mr. Mc Neil and the public works staff, who had outgrown the tiny shed under the water tower, rented space in the new business park.
It was not long before we were busting at the seams once again. Plans were drawn up for a two-story, 35,000-square-foot office building at the cost of $3.8 million that recently-hired Town Manager Carl Dean envisioned as a keystone building to anchor the downtown he had dreams of developing.
By 2001, newly-elected Mayor Dick Sears once again was holding board meetings at the Hunt Center, this time not in a classroom but in the cafeteria, still with the noisy air conditioning window units. The old Seagraves Hotel and metal building were razed by early 2002 without much fanfare. The same footprint was used for the new building. During construction, town offices were housed in mobile units. By August 2003, the building was finished and we were open for business. The beautiful brick building with the clock and copper-topped cupola looked out over Main Street as if it had sat here for decades. Debt for the building was paid in full in 2015.
The Town of Holly Springs never has ventured from its humble beginnings. The goal always has been to provide the residents with an accessible and welcoming place for them to conduct business and interact with elected leaders. A building is mortar and brick; the true heart of any building is the occupants. In this case, those are the dedicated employees who strive to provide the best customer service they can to the public they serve.
