Learn more about the distant history of the land that the Park now sits on and discover the 20+ year journey of the Park’s development below.
Prior to the arrival of Europeans in the early 18th century, the Cary region served as hunting grounds for the Tuscarora tribe, which hunted for the plentiful game of the piedmont forests. Spearheads and arrowheads found around Cary, like the ones pictured here, are evidence of this hunting activity. It is possible that they used land in what’s now Downtown Cary Park for exactly this purpose.
Born in 1845, Ben Savage was an early owner of part of the land upon which Downtown Cary Park is situated. Mr. Savage loved plants and planting and by 1870, he developed a pea and bean harvester, a rice harvester, and a cotton harvesting machine for his growing farming operation. By the mid-1890s, the Savage family moved to Cary where they bought land on the east side of Academy Street and used it to establish Valley Nook Decorative Landscape Nursery and Rose Farm. Ben was known as a “great fruit and nut man” and built on that reputation by growing berries and planting nut trees. He said: “I shall plant trees every year as long as I live. I am never happier than when I am planting something.” He continued to live in Cary until his death at the age of 83 in 1928. He is buried in Cary’s Hillcrest Cemetery. Today, Downtown Cary Park honors Ben Savage’s legacy through thousands of plants and endless opportunities to create happy memories.
Carefully crafted over a period of three years, this documentary explores the complex and courageous decisions that led to the opening of this iconic place and its impact on the community.
