BUTNER — “We’re on the cusp of a lot of things happening,” said Mayor Terry Turner with confidence at the end of a three-hour meeting on Jan. 6.

That meeting began at the impressive town hall with Mayor Turner and Town Manager Tommy Marrow, following a brief introduction to town clerk Barbara Rote.

It ended with a tour around town and lunch with the mayor at Old South. But it only just scratched the surface on the amount of information regarding the residential, industrial and infrastructure development happening here since Camp Butner was first planned and built in 1942.

The sudden relocation of 550 farmers by the U.S Army on a war footing to make way for the base to be built warrants a series of stories all on its own. According to Councilman

Tom Lane, most of the property owners in the impact zone were able to get their land back, though others in what became the barracks area did not.

But what’s happened here since then is a story for the ages — and it’s only just begun in part with the incorporation of the town on Nov. 1, 2007.     

“Growth is coming whether we like it or not,” Turner said from behind his desk. “We’re trying to control it and trying to keep our identity.”

According to both the mayor and town manager, considerable planning work has accompanied plans for this coming growth, namely the 2040 Plan.

The Gateway Project is the most immediate and ambitious project for Butner: the development of a 400-acre tract between Route 56 and Central Ave with two miles of interstate frontage along Hwy 85 and adjacent to a railroad in between exits 189 and 191. Work on the land will begin this year and become a mixed-use development of commercial and residential buildings.

Turner and Marrow also note that the East End Connector, linking highways 70, 85 and 40 will be a “game-changer” for southern Granville County.  

While the pandemic took its toll here like everywhere else, six industries reportedly expanded over the past two years. In addition to the prison complex, many other companies are doing business in Butner, including the gigantic Food Lion distribution center, the UPS distribution center, AMT, All-Tech, Nugget and Ontic, to name just a few. Turner said that the population of approximately 8,000 in town doubles every day with some 8,000 people coming to work here.

Beyond that, the mayor said Lake Holt is a “hidden gem” and the town’s “best kept secret.” Located up off Old Route 75, the lake sits on 388 acres where typically the only noise is the sound of fireworks on the Fourth of July.  

The town also has a strong history of activism. Citizen groups in cooperation with the newspaper rejected county plans to bring a superconducting super collider and a hazardous waste incinerator to the area.  

Together with its history, the number of employers, plans for the future, strong municipal leadership and access to it, there is good reason to believe in the coming Butner boom.
“Local government is what keeps towns going,” Mayor Turner said. “It has a direct impact on the lives of people.”