Editing Holly Springs, North Carolina (section)

===Early history===
The [[Tuscarora people|Tuscarora Indians]] used the area around Holly Springs as a hunting ground prior to colonial settlement. This tribe fled North Carolina around 1720 to escape the influx of Europeans, and eventually became the sixth nation of the [[Iroquois]].<ref name="Town History, Holly Springs, NC">{{Cite web|title=Town History {{!}} Holly Springs, NC - Official Website|url=https://www.hollyspringsnc.us/378/Town-History|access-date=December 31, 2021|website=www.hollyspringsnc.us}}</ref>

The town of Holly Springs grew around freshwater springs, believed to be the original "holly springs", near the intersection of what is now Avent Ferry Road and Cass Holt Road. These roads linked [[Raleigh, North Carolina|Raleigh]] to the [[Cape Fear River]] and ultimately to [[Fayetteville, North Carolina|Fayetteville]], as well as linking [[Hillsborough, North Carolina|Hillsborough]] to [[Smithfield, North Carolina|Smithfield]].