There'd be no Spring Lake without Arthur Priddy. Now his home is a historical site
Arthur Esto Priddy was a problem solver. Living in a modest home on what is now Spring Lake's Main Street, the entrepreneur identified needs within the community starting in the 1920s and took action to address them. His initiatives included establishing the Spring Lake service station in 1923 and providing a bus service for then-Camp Bragg troops to access the homes he constructed on the outskirts of the Army post to fill the lack of troop housing.
"They needed somewhere to house the soldiers, so Priddy was building houses, and a lot of the soldiers didn’t have cars," said Patrick Morrison, owner of Priddy's still-standing A-frame house adjacent to the gates of now-Fort Liberty. "So, he built a bus station so they could get back and forth to work. He’s seen a void and stepped in and said this will be a good idea for the community."
Morrison, who now owns the Priddy home at 103 N. Main St., has spent considerable time researching his predecessor and concluded, as have others, that there would be no Spring Lake without him. Morrison's admiration culminated in a slideshow he presented to the Spring Lake Board of Alderman on March 11, where he successfully lobbied to have the Priddy House designated as a house of historical and cultural significance.
"Now, developers can't come in and erase the history or tear it down and build a vape shop on the land," Morrison said.
He recalled how the Priddy House stood out to him and his wife, Luz Castillo Morrison, as the perfect fit for their vision of purchasing a property in Spring Lake to house a boba tea cat cafe. He emphasized the importance of preserving the Priddy House for future generations and said he plans to keep the renovations period-correct to maintain its historical integrity.
So, who was Arthur Priddy?
Arthur E. Priddy, born in Fayette, Ohio in 1878, was a forward-thinking merchant who married Fanny Lee Black after meeting her during a hunting trip hosted at Camp Bragg, according to Morrison's research. They tied the knot in Fayetteville in 1918.
Morrison found that Priddy built what is now the oldest house in Spring Lake at 109 N. Main St. but later moved it back a plot to Mitchley Street. Priddy then built the two-story house that Morrison owns today. It is considered the oldest surviving structure on Main Street.
During World War I, Priddy's businesses, including the area's first Texaco station, played a crucial role in Spring Lake's development. He named his service station Spring Lake for the lake that formed following when the railroad was built through a swamp, damming up the water. Eventually, the town of Manchester became known as Spring Lake.
Priddy died Sept. 1, 1969.
"I think the fact that the house has received this recognition is certainly an honor," said Priddy's granddaughter MaryEllen Wright, who still lives in Spring Lake "I have always known that my grandfather was instrumental in naming the town, but the other history that Patrick discovered about him as a person and how people felt about him was news to me."
Reporter Lizmary Evans covers growth and development for The Fayetteville Observer. You can reach her at LEvans@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Who is Arthur Priddy and why is his house historically important?
