History of Little River Historical Society
How it all started
In the early part of 1977 a group of Zebulon residents began to put together a group that would become The Little River Historical society. The first official organizational meeting was held on January 25th 1977 with thirteen people in attendance. Dr. Jerry Cross summarized the reason for the groups creation in a newspaper article about the first meeting in the Zebulon Record.
The Little River Historical Society was officialy incorporated on February 7th, 1977 as a Non-Profit Corporation. On February 8th 1977 a second meeting was held to formulate the new groups bylaws and elect the first set of officers and directors.
Officers
- Dr. Jerry Cross, President
- Mrs. Edythe Tippett, Vice President
- Mrs. Eva F. Liles, Secretary/Treasurer
Board of Directors
- Mr. Robert Massey
- Mr. B. F. Lewis
- Mr. Ferd Davis
On February 25th 1977 the newly elected officials held the first board meeting. At this meeting they finalized and approved the bylaws, created several sub-committees for the organization, planned the calendar for the first year, and set membership dues. The calendar included a monthly meeting of the members where they would hear a historical presentation, a summer picnic at a local historic site, a fall field trip, and a Christmas party.
Original Dues
- Individual $5.00
- Family $7.50
- Each Child $2.50
- Student $3.00
On March 8th 1977 The Little River Historical Society held it's first official meeting with a program by Dr. Maurice Stirewalt, State Coordinator for local history programs. By the time of the second meeting on April 12th 1977 the society had grown to 55 charter members. During the first seven years through 1984 the society remained very active in researching local history. They continued to maintain a calendar similar to the first year and participated in many projects in the Zebulon area. Each year a new set of officers were elected to lead the organization. In the late 1980's Dr. Jerry Cross who had served as the organizations first president was re-elected to the position. Dr. Cross would maintain his position as president and continue to maintain the organization for more than thirty years until his death in 2017. During Dr. Cross's time as president the organization continued to have monthly meetings, occasional field trips and an annual Christmas party. Dr. Cross prepared and led many of the presentations himself during this time. In 1995 the LRHS began the Heritage Award program to recognize someone in the community each year for their efforts to preserve local history.
Community Involvement
Cemetery Records
One of the first projects LRHS undertook was to research local cemeteries. The members tracked down and cataloged many family cemeteries in the area. The project was so extensive that ti took from 1977 until 1981 to complete the project. The cataloged results were turned over to the wake county library.
Zebulon's 75th Anniversary
In 1982 LRHS petitioned the town of Zebulon to hold a celebration for the town's 75th anniversary. The town agreed and LRHS was involved in much of the planning for the celebration.
Zebulon's 100th Anniversary
LRHS participated in the town's 100th anniversary celebration by highlighting the town's history.