Trip to Wendell Museum

122 W 2nd Street,Wendell NC 27591

13 May, 2023

Description

The tour will begin at noon. There will be an optional, Dutch treat lunch afterwards at Peedie's Grill on Main Street, a soda fountain grill with good sandwiches, burgers and hot dogs. Wendell Museum is housed in the former home of Alex Wall, longtime Wendell chief of police. Wall (1880-1976) became nightwatchman for the town in the early 1930s and chief of police two years later, serving until his retirement in 1961 at the age of 81. During his years of service, much attention was given to his small stature. At five feet four inches tall and weighing 120 pounds, he was thought to be the smallest police chief in the country. The Wall family home was purchased and moved from Pine Street to its present location. It continued as a private residence until 2019, when the Town of Wendell acquired the property to assist the Wendell Historical Society in creating the museum. The bricks on this structure were salvaged by Wall when the Rigsbee Hotel, built as the Morris Hotel in 1913, was torn down in the 1960s, thus enhancing the house’s value as a historic landmark.