Author: James-Admin

Shirley Simmons

Buildings, like cats, are known to have had many lives, however sometimes there are gaps where more research might be possible or where time has completely lost the history.

Interest had been peeked as to the different lives of the building now identified as “The Brick” located on Fayetteville Street in Varina, when Erin Montgomery and Ted Powell came to the museum seeking pictures of the premises over the years. In trying to document the dates of pictures in the museum collection, the following research has given us some history of the old building.

From the History of Fuquay-Varina we noted a 1911 map which placed a store labeled W. L. Johnson on what appears to be the site. According to Miss Ruth Johnson’s family research, William Lewis Johnson was the 7th child of William Wesley Johnson and Rhoda Ann Jones. Willie married Lydia A. Jones.

Our history found that W. L. Johnson was listed in a business directory as a merchant in Varina from 1913-1915. The same individual had been one of the forces in the Bank of Varina. He was reported to have left town for Raleigh business interests in 1917. Willa Akins Adcock believed she had heard that William Sidney Adams had used the brick building. Confirmation of a furniture store operation by Adams and E. A. Tingen came from Willa.

As we looked further into the land comprising Varina, these lots were originally property of B. G. Ennis who sold to the Johnsons. W. L. Johnson and wife Lydia A. Johnson deeded property for the Varina Warehouse Co which was adjacent to the store lots in 1914. There appear to have been other Johnson’s in ownership of the store property as a deed of August 23, 1925 selling the building to Varina Supply Company was signed by H. W. Johnson, W. L. Johnson, W. B. Johnson, and Florence A. Johnson.

There is agreement that Varina Supply Company opened for business on January 1, 1924 under the partnership of James Herbert Akins and Newton Hart Hopson in this large brick building. Thus the longest tenure of the building’s life was as VARINA SUPPLY COMPANY.

The Hopson and Akins progressive partnership expanded to general merchandise and developed quite a customer base. . Willa Akins Adcock says that there was a clothing store on the east side of the Varina Supply building and the other side housed groceries, tobacco plugs, shoes, hats, horse collars, mops, tubs, feed, and grain. Outside was a gasoline pump of the old type—gas was pumped into a globe on top and gravity fed fuel into an automobile.

The Upstairs was built as apartments or rooms to rent to persons (travelers). There was a common bathroom and shower facility for all the apartments (according to Steve Ashworth). Willia Akins Adcock remembers visiting tenants up stairs in the apartments. Hopson and Akins rented the upstairs apartments to various tenants during their tenure.

Adjacent to that structure is the one story building the earliest use of which we have been able to document was as a cleaning establishment run by Crawford Ransdell. Ransdell’s son states that his father moved from back of the barber shop on Board Street to this one story site in 1939. To date, we do not know what was there prior. The building is unique in that it contains the original coal shute which was in use for the cleaning establishment.

When Akins died on May 27, 1965, the partnership of Varina Supply Company dissolved and the business with all its merchandise was auctioned. On January 1, 1965, Hopson officially closed after forty-two years what was the oldest continuous business in Varina.

J. Emory Smith, Jr. purchased the property on January 1, 1970 and occupied the building until at least 1975. For a time Leon Smith operated a motor repair shop therein. Smith owned this property during the tenure of Electric Motors and into Ashworth’s Performance Engines. Smith and Godfrey Plumbing operated in the adjoining smaller building.

Robert Jackson Faucette, Jr. purchased the property on April 1, 1981. Ashworth’s Engines continued in the brick building with Faucette’s Plumbing succeeding Smith and Godfrey in the smaller building.

Circa 1985, Ashworth asked for the entire property. He says he removed a dividing wall between the two stores inside the two story building. Cary Lubricant Ventures Inc purchased the property June 2, 1998. Steve Ashworth noted renting during a short ownership of an out-of-town group in his tenure.

William Reeder Akins, (grandson of J. Herbert) acquired the property May 4, 1999. Steve Ashworth left the building in 2000. Reorganized as Akins Properties LLC May 25, 2001, Bill Akins had an office upstairs in what had been the original apartments.

The 2002 renovation pictures show the darker paint used by the Sports Bar. The Sports Bar was a tenant of Akins ownership. Another plumber, Preston Blanchard , found the little building inviting. Blanchard’s Plumbing took over the small building remaining there until the Blanchard family closed to move to S. Fuquay Ave in 2016.

Montgomery and Powell presided over a business which closed in 2022 . Akins sold the property to Whiskey Helps LLC officially on January 4, 2024. The Brick, so named by these next tenants , had the larger building remodeled opening a door in the side on Durham Street. Today operation continues in the two-story building with owner listed as Whiskey Helps under the name Brickhouse Bar and Grill.

The former smaller plumbing area remained vacant until the current renovation of 2025. Kim and Lyle Blue, residents of Fuquay-Varina for 25 years, had dreamed of opening a cafe. She saw the former Blanchard’s Plumbing site as one to house Lucci Blues Social Cafe opening in June of 2025. Kim has kept the old coal shute as a “wine window”

Today Varina has a new face on Fayetteville Street and the old Varina Supply Building like the preverbal cat is alive again!

Eric Christofferson, October 19, 2025

This post is related to the historic Fuquay Springs Teacherage in Fuquay-Varina. For newcomers that may be reading this, the Teacherage is the big 2-story brick building at the corner of Ennis and East Academy Street. It was first built for the Charles Strickland family in 1925. Then in 1945 it was sold to the Wake County School Board for the purpose of lodging K-12 teachers in Fuquay Springs that could not afford a home or an apartment. The School Board doubled the size of the building and operated it as a Teacherage for 23 years until 1968. It was a very prominent part of the school and civic community during those years.

When we purchased the Teacherage in 2003 one of our goals was to capture and preserve the wonderful history of the building. We’ve identified 31 teachers that once lived there and posted all of their pictures on the wall with info on their careers and time at the Teacherage. But that goal to capture history still stands and we’re always on the lookout for more. That’s why we were so tickled when my friend Gail Woolard introduced me to Joseph Benjamin Johnson, whose mother Alice Rosy Bryan Johnson was a teacher and had once lived at the Teacherage. We arranged to meet on September 6th, 2025 at the Teacherage. Present at this ‘sit down’ were Joe, his wife Debra and Gail and Dale Woolard. Dale and Joe were longtime friends and Gail was once a teacher at Mt. Auburn Elementary School when Alice was the principal there.

After a tour of the Teacherage, we all sat in the lobby and pulled up a chair. This was a place that Joe had never visited but that his Mom had lived in some 80 years earlier. Joe brought a 9×12 brown envelope with him that was filled with dozens of black and white photos taken long ago. Photos of his Mom with his Dad, with her students, with other teachers she was close to. As we passed them around, Joe, Gail or Dale would elaborate on those photos that evoked a memory or struck a chord. Joe allowed me to keep several that I was interested in and later shared more photos from his personal collection. For me, it was Christmas in September!

Joe also brought with him a detailed timeline of his Mom’s teaching career. She graduated from Meredith College in 1935 with aspirations to be a teacher. And she was a good one! She had a 42 year career stretched over 5 different schools. She taught the 4th grade at Fuquay Springs School from 1945 through 1952 and lived in the Teacherage in the 1945 and 1946 school years. Alice loomed large over her students – she was very nearly 6 feet tall! In pictures that Joe shared of her with her students, genuine smiles were everywhere and it was clear that she was well liked and respected.

Alice was one of the first teachers to occupy the Teacherage before it was doubled in size. She roomed with Estelle Litaker upstairs in the original portion of the building. Joe shared many photos of the two of them together and it was evident that they were not only roommates but good friends too.

Joe’s mother and father met at Elliott’s Pharmacy in 1942, as World War II was raging. His father, Boyette Leon Johnson, worked at Acme Dry Cleaners right behind Elliott’s on Depot Street where the empty lot sits today. (His sister Ila and brother-in-law Cellie Benton Barefoot owned Acme and also a barber shop on Main Street.) Their courtship began when he asked Alice if he could take her out for a nickel. She said yes so he took her to Elliott’s, bought her a fountain soda and there their courtship began at the lunch counter. Not long after, Boyette was drafted into the Army and sent to New Guinea. While away he regularly sent Alice money for an engagement ring. She saved the money and eventually bought a ring at Weatherman’s Jewelers in Raleigh. Boyette returned from the war in December 1945 and he and Alice were married on June 2, 1946. After the wedding the newlyweds bought a home at 311 Wade Street in Fuquay Springs where they lived for 10 years. Joe was born there.

Alice Rosy Bryan Johnson is now the 32nd teacher that is known to have lived at the Teacherage. In addition to the photos that Joe provided he also wrote a lovely biography of his mother’s life and family’s businesses in Fuquay Springs. These will be framed and put up on the walls of the Teacherage in a tribute to Alice. So many thanks to him for sharing this information with me and allowing me to share it here and on the walls of the Fuquay Springs Teacherage. Thanks also to Gail who put me in touch with Joe and who has a wealth of knowledge about the history of Fuquay-Varina in her own right.

A strange twist of fate worth noting: When growing up on Wade Street Joe had a childhood playmate that lived across the street named Curtis Holleman. Turns out that Curtis and his wife Kitty would one day own Elliots Pharmacy…and the same lunch counter where in 1942 Joe was but a sparkle in his parents’ eyes.

2025 brings not one, but two milestones for the Fuquay Springs Teacherage: the 100th anniversary of the original home built by Charles Strickland in 1925, and the 80th anniversary of the Wake County School Board’s purchase and conversion of the property into a Teacherage in 1945. An open house to the community to celebrate this piece of Fuquay-Varina history is being planned for December 6th. More information to come soon.

Shirley Simmons

Main Street over the years has undergone many changes. This short article is intended to publicize a few of the smaller changes which did not fit into the narrative in the earlier Main Street Articles. Pictures are preserved and treasured in the museums collection.

First the Bank of Fuquay established in 1909 to provide funds to pay for the Fuquay Warehouse tobacco market and other business opened in one small room or building. Immediately construction began on the large brick building at the corner of Main and Raleigh Streets.

This imposing structure of light brick was joined by a smaller one story to the south and then the Wade Theater. All of the structures in the middle of that block were destroyed in the 1946 fire, including the Wade Theater and the Proctor Barbour tractor sales, leaving only the bank on the north and the Proctor Barbour large retail store on the south.

Following the fire, the Bank of Fuquay expanded, constructing an adjoining addition to the south which is visibly different from the original structure. This housed offices and work at the bank and remains intact today as part of the Ashure Realty establishment.

The block was rebuilt into businesses between the bank and Proctor Barbour. The entirety of the rebuilt block of buildings to the south in 1946 and the original large Proctor Barbour building were destroyed in the Fire of 1977. Thus the parking expanse from the bank to Vance Street which exists today.

Farther north on Main Street, a picture shows the structures of Planter’s Warehouse and the new Fuquay Theater built by Wade in 1946 on the east side of Main Street. On the right we can see Powell’s Cafe, the Fuquay Springs Baptist Church, and both the Gulf (later Ashworths) and ESSO (Clarks) stations. Clarks Station and the church were noted in an earlier article as having existed where the Fidelity Bank is now located

The Tastee Freez stood all alone on the right with fields of tobacco behind where the shopping center is today.

On the South, Fuquay Ford occupied the entire section today housing the Mason Jar and Pass It On. The Lawrence House was to the south of the Ford place.

The last structure in this short section of change is the Fuquay Furniture Company which was located where we find the parking lot and Fainting Goat on South Main today. This structure was also destroyed by fire leaving a vacant area between what was originally Roger’s Esso and the original American Legion building.

Our goal is to try to post and describe our historical town as often as we have materials. Fuquay-Varina has a rich history which we want to share. Keep artifacts and pictures coming to our collection! When owners post one, please try to send us a copy, too.

Fuquay-Varina High School is celebrating the move to Bengal Blvd from Woodrow Street in 1975 this year: the FIFTY YEAR ANNIVERSARY.

The Friends of the Museums Board agreed to share some of our artifacts with the school upon the request from Principal Robert James. One of our docents, Denise Weeks, graciously volunteered to facilitate the displays.

The plan is to educate the student body about the past high school histories. For this semester, there is a display in the cafeteria highlighting the original two high schools in town.

The museums are happy to help share our history! We hope the student body enjoys the displays in the cafeteria which feature each original school. Among these artifacts are a copy of the yearbooks from both schools, band artifacts from the Rowland family, the family of Kathy Bennett, and Jimmy Ashworth. diplomas from a graduate of both high schools, an FFA Jacket from the Medlin family, along with copies of an early newsletter and other artifacts from the Alumni of Consolidated. A number of pictures highlight events with both student bodies.

Students will also see a display of athletic artifacts at another location to celebrate the accomplishments of the “Falcons” and the “Bison” from earlier days. The two school letters, megaphones, cushions, and banners are displayed along with a Falcon sweat shirt, a
letter sweater, and pieces of past basketball uniforms donated by the Howard family. There are a number of picture highlights here, too.

This brings us to repeat our request , that members of the community who are willing, donate items to the museums so we can have them for future generations to “remember.” History is important! Many members of the current student body never knew there were these past schools!

While this display is primarily to educate the current student body and staff, the events being planned by the Committee to Celebrate the 50th Anniversary will have plans for some public events, too. Thank you to Principal James and Denise Weeks for their excellent displays and for including “our school history! “

Shirley Simmons and Denise Weeks

by: Shirley Simmons

MAY DAY Is an ancient festival originating in Europe at the beginning of Summer. Many celebrated with a May Queen, May Pole, and other traditions. Most early American schools held some kind of celebration for students in which they performed various talent feats. Fuquay Spring High School was no exception. Recorded here by Mr. Prince, we can see the outdoor event held in front of the “Old Red Building” on Academy Street. No date was recorded with these photos but it appears to have been between the opening in 1918 and when the 1927-28 building was added on Ennis Street. The photos are not of good quality but still interesting historically.

The public sat along Academy Street to watch the performances. A number chose to “hang out” in the windows behind the performers. Whether they had any part in the event is not clear. For May Day the children were showcased and the public enthralled.

Robert Prince and wife were deeply involved in recording the history of our town. We have received a number of his photos of historical event in our town. Mr. Prince began work at the Bank of Fuquay as a youth and rose to the Presidency.

Collecting mail from the station, he actually missed the picture with his high school graduates in 1922 as recorded in our school house display. Mrs. Prince was a beloved teacher in the Fuquay Springs High School English department to whom the 1928 annual was dedicated.

The Princes were at home on N. Main Street. Note that the snow pictures in earlier articles showed Mr. Prince and his home. Here the couple pose on the front steps. This structure was eventually moved and redone as a dwelling near Fuquay Consolidated.

On July 4, 2026, America will celebrate our 250th birthday.

The Fuquay-Varina Museums invite you to begin the participation for our 250th Birthday with these events around our state for April 2025. Our local story of the Fuquay Brothers serving in the Revolution may or may not be factual. See the article entitled “What we know about the names of our town: Fuquay & Varina” on Historically Speaking, Dec 2, 2022. However, we do want to begin the celebration for our 250th American Birthday and to let our members know of planned events.

Following is list of April 2025 early celebration events from our state historical news.

Mothers of Mountain Music: Blueridge and Beyond
April 5, 2025, 11:00 am – 3:00 pm
House in the Horseshoe State Historic Site
288 Alston House Road, Sanford, NC 27330

The Battle of Shallow Ford: An Exhibition of Words and Watercolors
April 5 – April 19, 2025, (see website for more information)
Alpha Chapel
5393 Ham Horton Lane, Bethania, NC 27010

Halifax Resolves Days: Prelude to Revolution
April 11-12, 2025, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Historic Halifax
101 N. King St., Halifax, NC 27839

America’s 250th: The Women of Brunswick
April 12th, 2025, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Historic Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site
8884 St Phillips Rd SE., Winnabow, NC 28479

History for Lunch: Bringing a Plank House Back to Life
April 16, 2025, 12:00 – 1:00 pm.
The Museum of the Albemarle
501 S. Water Street, Elizabeth City, NC 27909

Revolutionary Randolph: Col. David Fanning and the War at Home
April 17, 2025, 6:30 – 8:00 pm.
Asheboro Public Library
201 Worth Street, Asheboro, NC 27203

The New Bern Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution Invite You to Participate in the 250th Anniversary Commemoration of the Battles of Lexington and Concord
April 19, 2025, 3:00 – 4:00 pm
Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 2514
3850 Butler Road, New Bern, NC 28560

McDowell County: America 250 Kick-Off Celebration
April 26, 2025, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
The Historic Carson House
1805 Hwy. 70, Marion, NC 28752

Another fixture on Main Street will be going away.: T. R. Ashworth, Inc. The business occupied an office building, a site formerly of a service station and a warehouse at this location.

The office of T. R. Ashworth housed in the two story brick building was on two lots of the original property of T. Anna Harrison on Main Street, conveyed to several individuals including J.R. Boothe and S. S. Rogers . There are references to a Boothe building on the lot and a picture of the building dates from what appears to be the famous snow storm of the late 1920’s. it is not known exactly what business was operational here in those years.

The property was in the hands of Boothe, Rogers, and in 1931 T. W. Brewer and the Trustees of Wake Forest College. Finally the property ended up in the holdings of E. L. Keith.

In April 1948, Keith leased the Keith Hardware building and the Keith Warehouse building to I. J. Stephens and J. H. Loyd for five years. These two brothers-in-law operated on Main Street Stephens and Lloyd Hardware Company as a partnership in the brick building Their business was closed when Lloyd moved to Wilson. I. J. Stephens continued their main operation in Varina on Broad Street for many years.

The office building was purchased by T. R. and Rheunelle Ashworth in 1954 and opened as their office. Joe does not know what all the upstairs was used for in the hardware days. For many years, Ashworth rented the front part of the building to Service Barber Shop and kept the back and side portion as an office.

The service station portion of T. R. Ashworth was known as Bethune’s Gulf Service Station when the Ashworth family took over the business. That property was in the estates of A. M. Barham and W. J. Ballentine before purchase by Ashworth. This original service station buildling located where the metal awning and gas pumps were installed was demolished by Ashworth in 1968.

Between the service station and the original Fuquay Springs Baptist Church, there were several other buildings which left Main Street. Clarks’ Esso was one of those, as was a pizza location. The pictures show some others. Fidelity Bank took over the church property and other areas adjoining Ashworth’s there in 1979 when they moved into the current building from their original Bank of Fuquay farther down the street.

The Ashworth family came into the picture when T. R. Ashworth returned from World War II service. For several years, Max Ashworth operated the station business. Tom Ashworth expanded the business to become the Gulf Oil Distributor and Tire Service over the years. Eventually T. R. Ashworth used a warehouse located on highway # 42 (demolished when Judd Parkway crossed) for the expanded business.

Joe Ashworth, son of Tom, says he returned from college and graduate school in 1977. Tom continued to be active in the operation of the business from 1977 until his death in 1993. Joe continued the operation until 2024 when he sold the properties to Fidelity Bank.

Sadly, another long-time family institution has left the scene. Fidelity Bank, first a fixture on Main Street as Bank of Fuquay, will now expand their operation. The property will have a new use at some point. The museums have asked for the large sign to be saved as an artifact from T. R. Ashworth and gifted to the museums collection.

Other pictures of Main Street at different times will be valued if readers can add them to our collection at the museums.

NORTH MAIN STREET FROM ACADEMY TO JONES ON THE EAST SIDE

The most recent news change involves the area which ran from Academy to Jones as one travels South on Main. This is the potential site offered for multi-use development by the town in recent news broadcasts.

Our earliest pictures show the street scene believed to be during 1927 when Main Street was being paved the first time. Townspeople and school children came out to watch the big event.

The brick building located to the north of Planters Warehouse bearing the words ? Equipment and Manufacturing has not been further identified to date. We hope someone may be around who remembers this establishment. It was there when the street was paved. Donald Cotton remembers a grocery store in that vicinity but is not sure of the brick building.

Planter’s Warehouse occupied this area in the 1927 snow storm and is still there in the 1959 Dean aerial photo. There are two houses which we have not identified beyond the warehouse toward Academy Street on the left. We know Mr. & Mrs. Prince lived on the right in the house pictured here (it was later moved over near the Consolidated school.)

South of the warehouse, Louis Wade constructed the second Fuquay Theater following the fire which destroyed the original theater on South Main between the Bank of Fuquay and Proctor Barbour. We have records that this theater reopened in 1946, built the same year the fire destroyed the first Theater. Wade sold operation to several out-of-town firms over time.

This building was eventually closed as a theater and sold at auction. A picture of the building and bill of films exists in the museums display.

It is this area of N. Main Street which has completely vanished and is now “open for development’ that we focus on next. Parker’s Furniture moved from across the street into the old Wade’s Theater according to Charles Parker in the 1970’s. Parker constructed another metal building next door which housed their furniture business until they sold to the town.

Next door on the south side, Mitchell Chevrolet had a parking lot for their automobile business. During the Centennial Celebration, the Centennial Commission sought this corner desirous to commemorate the Centennial Year for the next 100 years. On that was built Centennial Square which has become a concert venue and parking lot. This planned commemoration of the centennial for the next 100 years may be short lived, the future uncertain to date.

On the site of the Planter’s Warehouse, a new post office was constructed in 1965. This was the last business constructed by A. Y. Hairr within the town. After the Post Office moved to Judd Parkway, the Post Office building was converted into the FV Police Station.

With the moving of town hall into the John Byrne Building (which was constructed by Bob Barker originally), the Police Station removed to Judd Parkway and the old Post Office became vacant until it was demolished by the town in 2024.

Next door, Hardees became the first fast food in town under Mayor Alfred Johnson. Last this site was the foot doctor’s domain until the town was able to purchase this lot. When the town completed purchase of this block the current open space was the result along N. Main. Today a developer is sought to construct a multi-use building upon most of the area according to the town’s advertisement.

The area to the north on Main was in 1927 open land. This became the Farmer’s warehouse, then Cornell Dubilier, then Bob Barker and a new owner today. This includes the two warehouses along Woodrow Street and Jones, now occupied by a church and other businesses. Barker added what is now the John Byrne Building on the corner of what was warehouse property. The was purchased and remodeled by the town to house municipal functions in 2022.

This east side block of North Main has thus shown multiple “faces” over time. What the future face might become is to be determined. Main Street is indeed “a changing.”

Many people who were not here some years ago are wondering just what Main Street might have looked like. Let’s look at what is here now and how it has changed over time! Let’s take a look at what used to be in some of the spots now empty.!

For some it will be a journey down “memory lane” and a good deal of nostalgia for the past. For others it will be “an amazing trip” a bird’s eye view of what has been here in our past. Unfortunately, some people just rejoice with change, all things “new” and forget the past. However; we can, our historians hope, both remember and preserve—- celebrating today while sincerely honoring those generations and achievements which made us what we are!

We begin with this: PART ONE

THE THOMPSON-HOWARD BUILDING: 1914

Our oldest pictures of Main Street show the Thompson Howard Building, better recognized by many as Elliott’s. Pharmacy. The awning covered buildings down to the “meat market” all have new occupants today and the street boasts parallel parking. Today the recent former “Elmo’s” part of the building has been refurbished with the exterior intact and a new interior for the Lighting Store and apartments. In the past, that upstairs was home to the Recorder’s Court and offices of mayors, lawyers or others, all of which evidence was removed for the new apartments. The former pharmacy right-half of the building known as “Elliotts” remains intact and unoccupied under a new owner. We hear rumors that someone in Ice cream may decide to preserve and save this historical site!!

Originally, the brick structure was home to three businesses on the street level in the building owned by A. W. Thompson and E. A. Howard. Upstairs was accessed by an entrance from Main Street and another from Depot Street with open access to the businesses, courtroom and offices over all the three downstairs establishments. The original 1914 building was rebuilt after the 1916 fire within the remaining brick walls.

We know of the 1914 occupants by the accounts of the 1916 fire. Three businesses housed on the street level were destroyed—-Fuquay Drug Company owned by A. G. Elliott; Deitz and Isaacson, general merchants; and Fuquay Hardware Company. Upstairs were Dr. C. E. Check, Dr. J. R. Edwards, dentist, and A. J. Fletcher, lawyer.

Though the years following the fire, upstairs businesses changed frequently. Some people went to their beautician, some their lawyer, and many remembered getting their polio shots in a big open area. Skinny Ashworth remembered going to a court session and Jewel Ballentine Stephens attended a meeting in the courtroom relative to hiring the publisher of the Independent, Todd Caldwell.

The Dec 7, 1939, Independent pictures Elliott’s Pharmacy with the new black front. At that point the other two stores seem to be occupied by Kress’s Five and Dime.

In 1954, when Hurricane Hazel paid her visit, the building was undergoing its transition to two establishments downstairs with a brick wall constructed to divide the upstairs storage for each. The court and all related town business had removed to the new municipal building on S. Fuquay Ave. in 1951. At this point there appears to have ended all other occupants besides the two owners from downstairs.

Curtis Holleman took over Elliotts Pharmacy after “growing up” with the establishment. His was the last pharmacy to occupy the right side of the store. When Elliott first opened A. G. Elliott, Sr. merged several older drug stores under Fuquay Pharmacy. The public loved the lunch counter for a generation—pimento cheese sandwiches and orangeades.

The upstairs building in 2009 was very much vacant except for storage. During this Centennial Year, pictures were taken recording the state of the upstairs so we could partially preserve the past. The museums feature a picture of the courtroom at that point along with what we presume to be one of the benches of the courtroom. From the Elliotts side, we have preserved one of the interior doors from upstairs.

The last two older businesses in the Howard Thompson Building were Elmo’s and Elliott’s. Elliotts’ closed in 2013 after 99 years and has been vacant since. Elmo’s left the building and gave place to the Lighting Store in 2022-23. Originally A. N. Johnsons, the Elmo Company actually began in 1911 next door to the Thompson Building.

Today the Howard Thompson Building still remains on the corner of Main and Depot—one of our earlier structures still intact, with much history to remember. Let’s hope this old structure will remain with us under these new owners.

Opal, better known as “Trixie,” Porter was born in Martin, Tennessee in 1913. She developed an interest in art at an early age according to her daughter, Cheryl McConnell. Her first known oil painting at the age of 11 years was a winter snow scene done on the back of a poster. She was still painting at the age of 90 years or almost until her death on October 5, 2004.

Trixie met a Kentucky tobacconist named Vernon “Jack” Porter whom she married in 1933. The couple were blessed with two daughters, Beverly and Cheryl . Fuquay-Varina’s long connection with tobacco sales brought the couple to North Carolina in 1949. Jack was in the employee of North State Tobacco Company, a redrying plant here then.

The tobacco markets, two daughters, and many adventures later she had made a career for herself with work well renowned in our town. Head of residential design for Standard Homes Plan Service on Sunset Lake Road, she was responsible for many home designs in the area all found in their plan books during her 25 year career there.

Trixie was noted for her exuberance. One such incident involved her volunteering as a “sidewalk artist” for the Jr/Sr prom at Fuquay Springs High in 1963. She dressed the part for their “Evening in Paris” theme that year.

The wardrobes of many gentlemen in town may still possess one of her hand-painted neckties. Her daughter says she sold about 1,000 to individuals and men’s shops. Jack would model one on the various tobacco markets and come home with numbers of orders, even some from other countries. Eleanor Howard told us of one tie in J. E. Howard’s collection. Many other individuals have one or more of her original art miniatures which she sold out at the “Two Flags Over Fuquay” festivals every year. Cheryl has recreated copies of these in “My Mama’s Art.”

One of her most recognized paintings, “The Tobacco Man,” hangs in the Fuquay-Varina Woman’s Club Clubhouse. Trixie was Chair of the Arts Department in the Fuquay-Varina Woman’s Club, Woman of the Year 1953, and donor of the original painting to the club. The Art Department framed the painting and hung it over the fireplace during the 1956-57 administration when they completed the new brick facade over the chimney.

Joanna Johnson Proctor (from the Standard Homes family) picked one of Trixie’s originals, a depiction of the spring house over the Fuquay Mineral Spring, to represent the Fuquay Springs Quester Chapter 1034. Chapters designate an historic name when formed.

Cheryl has made a collection of her mother’s works and allowed the Fuquay-Varina Museums to realize some of the profit from sales. The museums still have a number of miniatures, Christmas ornaments, and even a package of notecards. Cheryl has access to many reproduction pieces. Trixie’s subjects ranged from tobacco life here to scenes at the beach and things in between. We are not sure of the subject or category of her First Prize entries into the GFWC Arts Festival but she brought fame to the club those years.

The Friends of the Museums are happy to recognize Trixie Porter for her contributions to our town’s history and her extensive work in all mediums from pastels to oil.

Shirley Simmons
Sources: FV Woman’s Club archives, Fuquay Springs Quester archives, Cheryl McConnell’s contributions of pictures and material.