'The Great Fire:' Original Downtown Apex was destroyed by fire. Twice.

That's because the original stretch of historic Downtown Apex was destroyed.

Twice.

In 1905 - and then again just a few years later in 1911 - the people of Apex looked on helplessly as an enormous blaze devoured nearly the entire stretch of their main street.

"Almost all the buildings were made of wood," said Apex historian and author Warren Holleman, whose historic research is behind 'Forged in Fire: The Story of Apex,' a play that explores the town's origins – and how these two fires impacted the town's character.

"It spread very quickly," he said. "There was nothing they could do to stop it."

In the early days, the story of Apex is a tale of two steps forward, one step back – a trajectory that could have ended with Apex ceasing to exist, but that instead ended with the town rebuilding stronger than ever.

When the Chatham Railroad came through in 1869, the town experienced a boom of growth.

"The railroad was a game changer. Instead of hauling their goods by donkey to nearby areas, farmers could ship their goods much farther and faster by train," said Holleman. "Some moved to Apex to get rich, pulling up their roots and settling here."

During the first years of the 1900s, Apex experienced a boom of growth that sparked hope in the residents. After the fire in 1905, they rebuilt again and the town kept on growing. So by the time the next fire came in 1911, there were even more wooden buildings standing.

The 'Great Fire' of 1911 changed everything.

The people of Apex were woken up after midnight to the screaming sound of a train blaring its whistle in warning.

"A train happened to come through at 1:15 a.m. The engineer saw smoke coming from downtown and blew his whistle to wake up the residents," said Holleman.

The town gathered outside to watch the flames spread down the main stretch. It was a dark night, very likely windy, and the only light source was the fire itself, according to Holleman.

"It must have been very dramatic," he said.

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The fire spread rapidly through the wooden buildings, crawling up the north side of the street, then jumping across the street and burning the other side.

According to The Raleigh Times, "the lack of a fire department was never more keenly felt." The Raleigh Fire Department, many miles away, was called for help. However, water was not accessible near enough to the flames.

According to the newspaper, the town's people did work together to protect a nearby home, using whatever buckets and water they had on hand to prevent the flames from spreading into the residential areas. They battled the flames with buckets for three hours until the blaze was finally under control.

However, in the end, at least 10 buildings in downtown were lost. Salem Street was described as 'a desolate scene.'

Even newspapers written the day after the Great Fire of Apex aren't sure what sparked the flames.

One article refers to it as "a fire of unknown origins," saying there are two differing stories on where the fire started and no conclusion on how the fire began.

"One version is that it originated in the meat market owned by J.W. Jenks on Salem Street , and the other that it started above the near-beer salon on the corner of Salem and Cabarrus."

Holleman says through his research, evidence points to the fire originating in the butcher shop of Mr. Jenks. Today, Anna's Pizzeria stands on the origin point for the Great Fire.

Still, the cause of the fire has not been completely determined.

"The newspaper said he left a cigar burning," said Holleman. "One newspaper said matches were ignited by rats or a cigar stump. This was before electricity, so candles and lanterns were being used for light inside wooden buildings. Some stores had sawdust on the floor, made with pine and turpentine."

In short, the fire was likely accidental and foul play was never suggested.

An article released a mere day after the fire said the undaunted people of Apex had already decided to rebuild bigger and better.

"Town leadership had foresight to have everyone rebuild in brick. Beautiful, durable and strong – the charm of what you see today," said Holleman.

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"We explore the character traits it took to rebuild after the fire. The town character was forged in those two fires - like the brick we became strong and resilient," he said.

And while the original Downtown Apex may have been destroyed, all of that brick, paint and pluck can still be seen etched into the new buildings of Downtown Apex. Those bricks tell quite a story.