Editing Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina (section)

===Growth around the start of the 20th century===
[[File:Ben Wiley.jpg|thumb|220px|right|Ben Wiley Hotel]]
The Fuquay Mineral Spring's popularity grew in the 1890s and around the start of the 20th century as local businessman John Mills developed the idea to offer "Moonlight Excursions" to the springs. He fitted flat [[Railroad car|rail cars]] with seats and offered nighttime train trips to southern Wake County from Raleigh. As more guests came to the springs to "take the waters", a group of small hotels sprung up in town, along with restaurants, [[barbecue]] stands, and a dance pavilion with a [[player piano]]. The town became a tourist destination and was the site of special celebrations on [[Independence Day (United States)|Fourths of July]] and [[Easter]] Mondays. During these events, residents of Raleigh would take the train down to watch the accompanying baseball games and participate in the dances and celebrations. Hotels like the [[Ben-Wiley Hotel|Ben Wiley Hotel]] (now called the Fuquay Mineral Spring Inn & Garden) catered to the out-of-towners and became as much a center of town life as the springs. In 1902, Sippihaw was renamed "Fuquay Springs" in honor of its founding family and was officially incorporated in 1909.

When it was incorporated, the new Fuquay Springs town limits included the core of the neighboring town of Varina, consisting of its business district and the rail junction of the [[Durham and Southern Railway|Cape Fear and Northern Railway]] and the [[Norfolk Southern Railway (1942–1982)|Norfolk Southern Railway]]. But Varina reestablished itself the following year when the Varina Union Station was erected and a new post office was created, spurred by the lobbying of Ballentine. Four years later, the Bank of Varina was established, competing directly with the Bank of Fuquay (now Fidelity Bank). Several warehouses for the growing [[tobacco]] business were built in town over the next few years, capitalizing on the railroad connections. Another supply store and a knitting factory followed. As Varina came into its own as a hub for area agriculture, the Fuquay Springs Corporation was formed and began bottling and selling mineral water from the springs commercially. Area businesses continued to develop and, in 1927, [[U.S. Route 401]] was paved through town, shortening travel times to Raleigh and nearby communities.<ref name="autogenerated1" />