CityView Magazine

people person." People around Stedman remember the soda shop as the cool aſter school hangout back before neighboring Sted- man High School closed its doors in the early 1970s. Jane Horne, who co-owns Horne's Furniture with her brother, Curtis, spent many an aſternoon at the soda shop herself and even worked there. "I'd love to have a timeline of the people that have run that place, and the teenagers that have worked there. A lot of people have been employed in that place at one time or another." They came for the hamburgers, the fries, the milkshakes, the camaraderie. "At one time, they did have like a carhop where they had the shelter and people came out and took your order." Think Sonic without the roller skates. The bar- hops and teenage crowds are gone, but if you want country ham, fried okra, western omelets, fried bologna, BLT's and PB-and-J's, the soda shop has your order up. Despite the turnover of own- ers through the years, Ezzell tells me "I plan on staying. I love it. I do." From Blockersville To Stedman Had a native of Pittsboro won the governor's race more than a century ago, the name Stedman might enjoy more familiarity in North Carolina, something akin to a Tryon or a Vance or an Aycock. But Charles Manley Sted- man lost the Democratic nomination in 1888 and again in 1904. Still, he was the state's fiſth lieutenant governor. And he was president of the North Carolina Railroad for a year. And he was a con- gressman for 20 years until he died at age 89. It's in this man that the town of Stedman has its namesake. He lived in Fayetteville as a boy and is buried in Cross Creek Cemetery. Aſter his death, the town then known as Blockersville decided to change its name to honor this would-be governor and congressman. Stedman has grown through the years, but not much. only about 1,050 residents, and those residents generally prefer to keep their small town just that – a small town. No It still claims Harry Parker and Crystal Ezzell chit chat at the Stedman Soda Shop. CityViewNC.com | 49 Stedman's Soda Shop, Crumpler's Automotive and Carroll's IGA offer old fashioned customer service to visitors as well as locals. Richie and Richard Crumpler take a look under the hood of a customer's car. Photography by Wanda Walters

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