I was driving out Wendell Boulevard a few weeks ago on my way to look at a listing for a friend, and I did a double take at how much had changed since the last time I made that drive. New townhomes, a shopping center going up where there used to be a field, a line of cars at a stoplight that I swear did not used to back up like that. And then I hit Main Street downtown and it was like driving into a different decade. Brick storefronts, a barber shop that has been there longer than most of us have been alive, people waving at each other from across the street. Two totally different towns, five minutes apart, and somehow they are the same place.
That contradiction is basically the whole story of Wendell right now, and it is why I think it deserves its own spotlight instead of just a mention in a roundup. This is officially the fastest growing town in North Carolina. Census estimates put Wendell at roughly 19,700 people as of last year, up from under 9,800 in 2020. That is more than double in five years, and it is not slowing down. By some counts it ranked fourth fastest growing town in the entire country, not just the state.
I called around and talked to a few people who have lived there a while, and the growing pains are real. Wendell’s mayor, Virginia Gray, put it well in an interview a couple years back that still holds up: road construction tends to follow growth instead of coming ahead of it, so the traffic complaints you hear from folks out there are not imagined. She also said something I keep thinking about, which is that developers spend a lot of money trying to build the kind of walkable, charming downtown that Wendell already has, over a hundred years old and never manufactured.
What downtown Wendell actually feels like
Here is the part that surprised me. With all that growth pressure, downtown Wendell has not turned into a strip mall. It has actually gotten more interesting. You can grab a panini and good coffee at Sip and Shop Cafe in one of the old storefronts, then walk half a block for momos and tikka masala at Everest Kitchen, which is not a pairing I expected to find in a town this size. Parkside Restaurant is doing upscale comfort food, think short rib melt and a meatloaf that people specifically request, in a space with an industrial cool feel that would not be out of place in Raleigh. And if you are out near Wendell Falls, Farmhouse Cafe has a lakeside patio and a brisket sandwich the regulars call the Big Bubba that is worth the drive on its own.
On Saturdays there is the Wendell Downtown Market at Campen and Main, produce and local goods set up right in the historic district, which is listed on the National Register and includes some genuinely old buildings if you like that kind of thing the way I do.
Mark your calendar for October 3
If you want one reason to actually go see this for yourself, make it the Wendell Harvest Festival on Saturday, October 3. This is the 98th year they have run this thing, which tells you everything about how long Wendell has been a real town and not just a suburb that got a name. It runs from 9am to 9pm at 3rd and Main, rain or shine, with a parade kicking off at 10am, a Kids Village with a slide and obstacle course from 10 to 4, over 150 craft and business vendor booths, food trucks, and apparently a nacho eating contest, which I plan to watch from a very safe distance. The night wraps with a free concert from The Embers from 6 to 9. This year’s theme ties into the country’s 250th birthday, so expect some extra red, white, and blue mixed in with the usual fall colors.
Whether you already know Wendell or you are like me and mostly drive past it on the way to somewhere else, this is the weekend to actually stop. Bring cash for the vendor booths, get there early if you want a parking spot near Main, and give yourself time to walk the whole downtown strip before the festival crowds fill it in.
I will be out there covering it for TRL, so if you see me on Main Street with a coffee from Sip and Shop, come say hi. And if you want more of this kind of close look at the towns around Raleigh that do not always get the attention, I did something similar with Fuquay-Varina’s two downtowns a few weeks back, and I have got more of these planned as we head into fall. Keep an eye on our events page for the full rundown of what is happening across the Triangle this month.
Keep exploring: things to do in Wendell and what’s happening this weekend.
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