Theater production tells the story of this Wake County town, from slavery to suburbs

From Raleigh News and Observer By Henry Gargan

hgargan@newsobserver.com

A scene in “Finding Patience” depicts the founding of a church by Holly Springs’ freed slaves immediately after emancipation. TONYA PALUMBO COURTESY OF T&T PHOTOGRAPHY

When Angie Staheli arrived in Holly Springs four years ago from Seattle, she wondered how a growing suburban community so overrun by newcomers could still feel so much like the rural crossroads she’d heard it once was.

“I lived in a lot of places, and I’ve never been somewhere that felt like this,” Staheli said. “People said they were drawn here. I heard that so much from people, and I wanted to know why.”

In a drug store one day, Staheli came across a book that fed her curiosity: an illustrated history of Holly Springs by Barb Koblich, who works in the town clerk’s office and has become the town’s de facto historian.

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