Today on the blog we’re happy to announce the addition of The Morrisville & Preston Progress, published in Morrisville from 1995-1999. This newspaper was contributed for digitization by Olivia Raney Local History Library, part of Wake County Public Libraries.

The Progress is a really interesting view into an area that has changed a lot in the last thirty years. During the span published in The Progress you can see a focus on development and growth, with articles describing the diminishing farm economy and the development around RDU airport and RTP. The article below, taken from the front page of the January 31, 1996 issue, talks about land being sold at a premium thanks to Morrisville’s convenient location.

The paper also covers Preston, a community in Cary. Most of that news centers around golf; Prestonwood is a large country club with an extensive course. The September 1998 issue highlights a celebrity golf tournament, the Jimmy V Classic, that brought players like Mia Hamm, Scott Wolf, and Michael Jordan among others.

Many of the early issues include a feature entitled “Our Neighbors Speak,” which posed a current events question to Morrisville and Preston residents to get their take. Topics range from proposed federal income tax changes, to college athletics, to more local concerns. In the example below from November 1995 a number of white residents were asked their opinion about rapid growth after the population of the Triangle surpassed one million.

Read about Morrisville local politics (and drama!), commercial and residential development, and ongoing cultural changes in The Progress, or take a look at all of the materials we’ve digitized for Olivia Raney Local History Library on their contributor page.