Cary Town Council Meetings Reopen to Public Next Week
Cary, NC — Next week’s meeting of the Cary Town Council will be the first since February 2020 to allow members of the public to physically be in attendance.
Cary Residents Nationally Recognized for Service & Innovation
Cary, NC — In a Saturday awards ceremony, several Cary residents made history as the first Asian-American group to receive U.S. Presidential Service Awards.
Park After Dark: July 14 in Downtown Cary
Cary, NC — This week Wednesday, July 14th kicks off the “Park After Dark” series at the Old Library Site in Downtown Cary.
During a few select Wednesdays through the summer and fall, each Park After Dark event at 310 S. Academy Street will bring together live entertainment and foods, beverages and treats from local vendors.
American Legion to Host July 20 Fundraiser at Waverly Place
Cary, NC — If you’re wanting a good meal out to break up the work week next Tuesday while supporting local veterans, Chicken Salad Chick in the Waverly Place shopping center is the place to be.
Money Matters: What to Know Before Retiring Early
Cary, NC — Thinking of retiring early? Here’s what you need to know.
Tokyo-Bound USA Baseball Team Plays Next Week in Durham
Cary, NC — Want to see a world-class baseball game? Next Monday, July 19 is your chance.
Harold’s Blog: Staycation Week & 150 Celebrations
Cary, NC — This was a holiday week and a “staycation” for me. So there were no meetings on my calendar. I did talk with the town manager about a couple of issues, and I did answer emails.
Top 5 Stories of the Week – July 9, 2021
Cary, NC — It’s hard to believe we’re more than halfway through 2021 already.
Time is precious, so here’s a quick recap of the most-read stories of the week.
Cary Sees Heavy Rains, Wind from Tropical Storm Elsa
Cary, NC — The Triangle saw gusty winds and a full day of rainfall from Tropical Storm Elsa today.
Considering the effects seen in Florida and Georgia from the storm, Cary and most of North Carolina were fortunate to not bear the full brunt of this storm’s strength. Read more
Cary History: The Early Swimming Holes
Cary, NC — In this month’s look back into the history of Cary, we hear from four native Cary residents who recall their childhood swimming holes.
Billy Rogers
“We had to go to Pullen Park in Raleigh to go to a swimming pool. That was a long way. You’d take a picnic over there and go swimming on a Sunday afternoon.”
Esther Ivey
“We had a church picnic every year. Sometimes we would go to Pullen Park where, at that time, they had caged animals and they always had a merry-go-round. We used to go there to go swimming, and also down to Wilders Pond. We would have a picnic lunch there. Company pond had a grist mill.”
Robert Heater
“We had two swimming places. One of them was called “the washout.” It was a creek that had washed out at that spot, which meant you could do a little bit of swimming, but not much. That was in the lower, southern end of Urban Park. You could dog paddle, but that’s about all. That’s where we would go to get wet and cool off.
The better one was “the pothole” at the bottom of North Harrison Avenue. There was a right steep hill going down to the bottom on the other side of Arby’s. Back then that street used to stop where the water tank is and then you’d walk through the woods down to the pothole.
It was probably 12 to 14 feet down and was a place where water washed over a hard rock. That was one place where I got in trouble with my dad because you weren’t supposed to be there. We walked by the road, or ride bicycles if we had them.”
Fred Seeger
“Before I was old enough to have a motorcycle or a car, maybe five or six of us would ride out to Silver Lake. It was a half or three-quarter day trip out beyond Lake Wheeler Road. It wouldn’t be a formal outing or anything. We’d grab our bicycles and take off, maybe once a week to go swimming. We’d stop at Rhamkatte Trading Post on Rhamkatte Road and get us a moon pie and a Pepsi, coming and going, if we had enough money to buy them in both directions. No one cared if you went out there and went swimming. There was a platform about 30 or 40 feet from the shore directly out from the dam, and it was deep enough to dive off of.
We would either go to Silver Lake or go to Billy Pierce’s farm out on Kildaire Farm Road, which was directly across from the Winn-Dixie shopping center. There were turtles in the pond and we didn’t like to swim in there. They wouldn’t bother you, but we knew they were there, so we didn’t have much to do with that pond.
That was the majority of our swimming unless we wanted to go to Pullen Park, but that was too commercial. We didn’t go to Pullen Park to go swimming.”
Story by Peggy Van Scoyoc. Much of the Cary’s History column is taken from the book, Just a Horse-Stopping Place, an Oral History of Cary, North Carolina, published in August of 2006. The book is a collection of oral history interviews conducted between local citizens and Friends of the Page-Walker Hotel. The rest comes from later oral history interviews with local citizens.
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