History
Here the land is meant to be enjoyed as it has been for generations. Holding Village is on the site of a former dairy farm owned by the Holding family, who were instrumental in the establishment of the town of Wake Forest between 1880-1920. The Holding family also owned a drugstore, bank and co-founded the Royall Cotton Mill.
The Holding family once had picnics under the trees, launched Estes Rockets by the lake, and fished for the infamous dairy farm raised “Milk-Fed Brim.” It was a place where families gathered to celebrate life and enjoy time together.
Notable Holding Family Members in Wake Forest:
Royall Cotton Mill
The first Isham T. Holding lived in Wake County and in the Forest of Wake or the Forest District.
Holding farm was documented in census and was passed down to Isham Tolbert "Pompey" Holding (1844-1921)
T.E. Holding Sr. also went into partnership in 1899 with his two brothers-in-law, Robert E. Royall and William C. Powell, and others to form the Royall Cotton Mill on land just north of the town of Wake Forest.
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Robert Powell Holding, a son of T.E. Holding Sr., went to work as a cashier at the Bank of Smithfield in 1918 and worked his way up to president and chairman of the board. Founded in 1898, in 1929 the bank adopted a state charter and became First Citizens Bank and Trust Company.
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Solomon Pace Holding married Eva Dunn and was a doctor and the mayor from 1927 to 1929 with a large house on South Main. After it was torn down his son, W.J. Holding, donated the land for a park next to the Community House and pool in memory of his parents.
Lewis Holding was 29 when he became president and chief executive of First Citizens after his father died in 1957, and became the bank’s chairman in addition to chief when his brother Robert died in 1979. He enjoyed 50 years with the company.
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Nannie and Hannah Holding, daughters of Otho Holding, became important voices in many town affairs. It was Nannie who urged the town to find a larger home for the Wake Forest Library than the two rented rooms it had been in since 1961, and it was Hannah who urged the town’s women to form the Wake Forest Woman’s Club.
