By Elisabeth Strillacci

EAST SPENCER — The Southern Railway Spencer Shops of the Southern Railway, a locomotive repair facility in Rowan County, gave birth to both the town of Spencer and the town of East Spencer, originally named “Southern City.”

The shops, which were located in what is now the Transportation Museum, needed housing for its employees. East Spencer, located to the south of Spencer and separated by the railroad, was where Black workers from the rail shops settled, and in 1901 it was incorporated under its current name.

A small community of 1.6 square miles with about 1,600 residents, the town is a landlocked area that for many years has been primarily residential. Schools that were originally located in East Spencer, including Dunbar High School, closed once integration became the law of the land.

But the community has always been a tight-knit collection of families and neighbors, and when needed, residents have always come together for its good.

In 1978, trustees of the Spencer Royal Giants Baseball Club donated land for a park to the town, and the Royal Giants Park was established. The community banded together to raise $300,000 for the park to meet a matching grant from the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund (PARTF) and those funds brought the park to life, including a swimming pool.

A number of residents can recall going to the park in childhood to meet friends, to play ball, and to enjoy being outside safely.

“I remember growing up there and my parents sending me outdoors to play,” said Gerald Brown, who grew up in East Spencer before moving to Lexington. “My buddies and I would go to the park, to hang out, play ball, whatever, and we’d be there all day. My parents didn’t worry about us being there. They knew we were safe. And the park has always been that kind of place for kids in town.”

During the renovations, it was determined the pool was beyond repair, and plans for a new water feature were designed. With the funds raised by residents along with the grant money, the town was able to plan for a new splash pad. But in 2019, COVID caused the park to close and renovations to be put on hold. Town Manager Michael Douglas made additional renovations and upgrades to the park a priority, however, and in 2022, the North Carolina Department of Commerce awarded East Spencer a $580,000 Rural Transformation Grant to update and improve the park.

At the time, Douglas acknowledged that the park “is the hub of the community.” He said the park was busy every Sunday with cookouts and families coming together. In May of that year, the park celebrated its grand reopening. In addition to the intricate splash pad, there were improvements to playing fields, restroom facilities and a walking path. The basketball courts were resurfaced with a new material that gives cushion to feet and knees and is easier on bodies that fall, and the concession stand has been upgraded and the parking lot expanded and resurfaced.

Douglas has said there is one last improvement planned for Royal Giants Park, located at 200 Robinson Road with a side entrance from Andrews Street and a main entrance on Long Street. The final step will be new fencing around the baseball/softball field. The town has received bids but no selections have been made yet.

“That will be the last thing at the park, at least for a while,” Douglas said. “We’ve done a lot there, and I’m proud of that park.”

Royal Giants may be small, but it houses an important piece of the Carolina Trails. Just under a half mile of the trails passes through the town including connecting to the park, and Douglas made sure to make the trails available.

Douglas and members of the board of aldermen, including Mayor Barbara Mallett, have worked to breathe life back into the community in recent years. The community has long depended on residential taxes with few commercial properties to contribute. But in the last two years, new commercial development has come to East Spencer, giving the town a stronger foundation for growth.

More residential development is also coming, in part to prepare for those new workers, and in part because the town is actively working to remove blighted properties and replace them with new housing. With growth comes the need for new amenities for residents.

“We have to continue updating; we have to start giving more amenities so that people want to come and stay,” said Douglas.

Mallett has long been a supporter of the park in the community, and when the renovations were begun in 2016, then put on hold because of COVID, she was thrilled when the park was not only able to reopen, but do so with some great improvements in 2022.

“We waited a long time, but the park is an asset, not only for East Spencer community but the whole northern Rowan community,” she said.