- The early history of Apex stems from a railroad station that was chartered in 1854, although the first train did not pass through town until 1869.
- The first settlers came to the area in the 1860’s,
- The early history of Apex stems from a railroad station that was chartered in 1854, although the first train did not pass through town until 1869.
- The first settlers came to the area in the 1860’s, and the town was incorporated in 1873.
- Our community is situated at the highest point along a 30-mile section of the Chatham Railroad, hence the name ’Apex’. Steam engines would stop at the top of this climb to replenish their water supply on the way to Raleigh.
- Another justification for the name Apex comes from the fact that water which falls on one side of Salem Street flows to the Neuse River, while water falling on the other side of the street flows to the Cape Fear River.
A small community developed around the railroad station and the dense forests in the area were cleared for farm land. As one of the first towns to develop around the state capital of Raleigh, Apex became an active trading and shopping center. Since the train station was located in the heart of a vast pine forest, Apex became a shipping point for such products as lumber, tar and turpentine.
By the turn of the 20th century, the little town of Apex boasted a population of 349.
Tobacco farming became an important part of the local economy in the early 1900s when a plant disease forced many tobacco farmers in Person and Granville counties to relocate. Many of the farmers discovered that the land around Apex produced excellent tobacco crops and decided to move to the area. The first tobacco auction market in Wake County was established in Apex in 1905.
The town’s early growth was shaped by 2 disastrous fires in the early 1900s.
- In February 1905, a fire destroyed 