Historic Preservation

The Friends of the Page-Walker Hotel is the only Cary-based historic preservation organization. Our parent organization, the Cary Historical Society, dissolved in 2006 and transferred their remaining assets to us.  We serve to raise awareness of preservation issues in the Cary area and to prevent the loss of our remaining historic resources.

We cannot accomplish this alone. Our financial resources are limited and we are a small yet highly dedicated organization. We work with a number of public and private organizations to achieve our goals. Please consider joining the Friends or providing a donation to help us to pursue this important mission.

Great accomplishments have been made over the years to protect what we still have. We need to thank Phyllis Tuttle in particular. A former president and founding member of the Friends of the Page-Walker, Phyllis was the driving force behind Cary historic preservation for many years.

Thanks to these efforts, Cary today has three National Register of Historic Places historic districts as well as three properties individually listed in the Register. Listing in the National Register is a great honor and can provide some tax incentive to the owners, however it affords little real protection for the property.

We have three properties that are designated as local historic landmarks. The tax credits available to the owners of landmark properties are substantial and with them come limitation on alterations to these precious buildings. The highest level of protection comes with preservation easements which can protect structures from demolition or modification permanently.

Of larger concern are the older and/or historic buildings that do not yet benefit from any protective designation. The Friends are working to add the most significant of these to the list of registered and designated properties. We are also working with state and local government to enact plans and ordinances that provide additional protection. 

The Friends also drive a number of activities to raise public awareness of preservation issues. We sponsor a series of preservation speaker programs throughout the year culiminating with What Have We Got to Lose?, our annual update on the status of Cary's historic structures. We also facilitate the procurement of plaques for our National Register listed buildings.

To learn more about what you can do to help preserve Cary’s architectural heritage, please contact the Friends of the Page-Walker or any of our partner organizations. We also suggest a number of books that can provide both general and local-area preservation insight.