Apex

Links of Interest

• Population: 32,000
• Major Highways: I-40

The Apex downtown district reflects the town's rich historical beginning. Apex was one of the earliest new towns to develop around the state capital of Raleigh, as railroads traversed the county, after the Civil War. The Apex railroad station was first chartered in 1854 "for the purpose of effecting a communication between the North Carolina Railroad Company (at Raleigh) and the coal fields of Chatham County," but because of the war and problems with reconstruction, the first locomotive did not pass through Apex until 1869. Since the Apex station was located in the heart of a vast pine forest, it became a shipping point for forest products such as tar, turpentine and lumber.

Apex was first settled in the 1860s by a number of private landowners, and was incorporated in 1873. At the time of its '73 charter, Apex had two lumber mills, several general stores; a sash, blind, and door factory, a turpentine distillery, a wheel manufacturer, and Baptist, Methodist, and Christian churches. The name "Apex" was adopted because the community was the highest point on the Chatham Railroad between Richmond, Virginia and Jacksonville, Florida. The current town motto "Apex, Peak of Good Living" not only captures the name's historical significance, but refers to the fact that in places along the main street of Apex water which falls on one side of the street flows to the Neuse River, and on the other side it flows to the Cape Fear River.

A community soon developed around the train station. Stores and warehouses were built and many of the large forests in the area were converted to farmlands. Before long, Apex became an active trading and shopping center. When the disease know as "The Granville Wilt" ran many tobacco farmers out of Person and Granville counties, at the turn of the century, these farmers found land around Apex to be equally suitable for tobacco production and settled here. The first Wake County tobacco auction market was established in Apex in 1905.

A fire in February 1905, which destroyed a number of frame commercial buildings on Salem Street, provided an incentive to build fireproof brick buildings. Fire again took its toll the morning of June 12, 1911, when what is known as the "Great Fire" destroyed most of the business district, including the Merchants and Farmers Bank, the postmaster's house, and many of the old frame stores. A newspaper report of September 15, 1911 indicates that efforts to rebuild were already in place, with modern brick buildings being erected. By 1913, the 100 block of Salem Street presented an array of pressed-brick front stores and in 1914 the city capstone, the Union Depot, was rebuilt.In 1900 the Apex population was 349, increasing to 1,000 by 1920. With the decline of the tobacco market, however, Apex population dropped to 863 in 1930. By 1934 only four train stops were made at the Apex depot, reflecting the tough economic times which extended into the early 60's. In 1990 the population had increased to 5,000 and in the intervening years has skyrocketed as Apex's quaint small-town atmosphere attracts people and businesses moving to the thriving Triangle area. As of June 1998, the town population is over 14,000 and continuing to climb!

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