Photo Essay: Collins Grove Development
Story and photos by Hal Goodtree.
Cary, NC – Dirt is turning at a project called Collins Grove in west-central Cary. We’ve got a few pictures as the earth movers move-in to capitalize on Cary’s hot housing market.
Collins Grove
Collins Grove, a town home development project of Standard Pacific, sits behind Davis Drive Elementary at the intersection of Collins Road and Waldo Rood Blvd. It occupies a small piece of land across from the railroad tracks behind the Upchurch Farms neighborhood. See Collins Grove on a map.
In the pictures, you may notice that the old farmhouse is up on jacks, presumably to be moved to another location.
Signage on the property indicates Collins Grove will be open in the Fall of 2013.
Pictures
[Courtesy Friends of the Page-Walker]
Despite the severe economic hardships following the Depression in 1893, George Upchurch and his brother Rufus Merrimon Upchurch were able to build substantial residences on their small adjoining farms by growing the lucrative and increasingly popular bright leaf tobacco.
George Upchurch Farms at 6101 Collins Rd. (now Waldo Rood Blvd.) contains the original farmhouse [pictured in this CaryCitizen photo essay]. Upchurch Farms community stands where the Rufus Merrimon Upchurch Farm originally was at 6141 Collins Rd.
The Rufus Merrimon Upchurch farmhouse was moved intact, chimneys and all, to its new location on Jenks-Carpenter Road when the Upchurch Farms subdivision was built. Current owner Dale Carpenter (owner of Carpenter Farm Supply) has beautifully restored the original farmhouse.
The George Upchurch farm is the site of a future development [Collins Grove, as described in this CaryCitizen article]. In 2012, the farmhouse was at risk, with no plans to save it as the new development occurred. As a result of discussion during the rezoning process, the owner, developer, Town of Cary, the Friends of the Page-Walker and Capital Area Preservation collaborated to save the house by moving it to a site across Waldo Rood Boulevard, where it will be restored, receive a preservation easement and be offered for sale to private buyers. The house is scheduled to be moved very soon.
The Friends are delighted that this important part of Cary’s history will be preserved, and we applaud all the parties involved in making this happen – with special thanks to Capital Area Preservation and Gary Roth, CAP’s executive director.