Nr. Page's Extraordinary Hotel
In bustling Cary llic old inn’s restoration will
preserve links with the romantic railroad era
and a distinguished \«rlli Carolina family.
«I/ КАШЛШМ:
WOOL I’ AltlCISII
In (he desperately poor south of 1868
the town of Cary was prospering. Lit¬
tle more than a village at the time, it
was bisected by The North Carolina
Railroad and becoming well known as
the home of the industrious Page family.
Back in 1854. Allison Francis (Frank)
Page had moved his family into a home-
near the center of the small rural settle¬
ment. According to the Wake County
Deed Book, he bought three hundred
acres of land for $2000 and built his
town. Page was an enterprising busi¬
nessman, and saw the railroad (which
had just reached the town) as promis¬
ing transportation for his thriving lum¬
ber business. By 1868. the Chatham
Railrixid was completed as well, and the
town began to grow, offering work to
many men who were displaced and
homeless after the War Between the
States.
About this time. Page heard a stirring
sermon by the Rev. Samuel Fenton
Cary and named his growing town for
the prohibitionist preacher. It was in¬
corporated as a "dry" town in 1871, with
the sale of whiskey forbidden within
two miles of the town's limits. Active all
his life in civic affairs. Page was Cary’s
first mayor and postmaster (the Post Of¬
fice was probably in his home), and do¬
nated land for the Chatham railroad sta¬
tion.
A Spacious “Ordinary”
Historical rumor has it that, in earlier
days, the vicinity of Cary was a refresh¬
ment slop on the stage coach line be¬
tween Raleigh and Durham. Thomas
Byrd, author of Around and About
Cory, says the area’s "first business was
Bradford's Ordinary, owned by John
Bradford." According to this history.
"An ordinary was an inn. licensed by
the state to provide food and shelter for
travelers and their horses." Bradford's
appeared on the first official map of
North Carolina, in 1800. Frank Page
followed this tradition by building an
elegant two-and-a-half-story hotel
which served as a rest stop for train pas-
10
sengers. This probably happened about
1868. as there is a listing in Branson's
North Carolina Business Directory
(1869) for "hotel. Cary. A. F. Page."'
This spacious "ordinary" hardly
resembled the crude inns of the past. It
contained a parlor or lounge, a large
dining room, entrance hall, a small
room toward the rear (probably used for
a family sitting room) and a kitchen on
the first floor There were, of course, no
facilities for drinking. Two narrow, sin¬
gle flight stairways led to the second
floor which contained six bedrooms.
Interestingly enough, this floor was
divided by a partition— men were to
stay on one side and women on the
other— and each half was reached by a
separate stairway. The attic floor had
four rooms which could only be
reached by the western stairs, as the
eastern stairway ended at the second
floor.
The Page Family
The Page home was located just
northwest of the hotel, on property now
occupied by Cary's Town Hall. It was
destroyed by fire several years ago.
Only a smokehouse remains, and is
preserved on the town property. The
family consisted of eight children, all of
whom probably took part in their
father's business ventures— the stores
and factories which grew up as Cary
became a town.
Page's wife, the former Catherine
Raboteau. was an innkeeper’s daughter
from Cumberland County, and she may
have influenced her husband’s planning
of the hotel. However, on Branson's rec¬
ords. Mr. A. J. Clegg is listed as propri¬
etor in 1878. According to Wake County
Tax listings. Page had a rental income
of $2150 in 1870. which indicates that
the hotel was leased, rather than run by
the Page family.
The 42. 000- square-fool structure built of handmade brick is essentially shaped like a rectangular bo». Be¬
fore the current work to protect and restore the old structure, weather and vandals had taken a harsh toll.
Now. under lease from the Historic Preservation Foundation of North Carolina, the site will be restored by
Friends of Page-Walker Hotel, and will becomo a community center.
THE STATE. FtOBUARV 1987
