In 1945, Sylvester Hursey and his wife, Daisy, took his father’s favorite method of preparing hickory smoked pork and added a "secret sauce" to establish the Hursey’s Bar-B-Q tradition. From a homemade pit in their backyard, with neighbors and friends as their first customers, their method was rehearsed and perfected.

As their business outgrew their home, the Hurseys purchased a café on the corner of Piedmont St. in Gibsonville, NC. They had two large pits built on the back to accommodate the growing demand for their barbecue. In 1949, the first license ever granted by the state of North Carolina to a barbecue wholesaler was framed and hung proudly on the walls of that little café.

Charles, the older of the two sons, began "learning the business" by helping his parents during the summers and after school hours. His first position was that of carhop. In 1960, he joined his parents in their business fulltime, operating the retail café and managing the wholesale end at the same time. In mid-1966, Charles took over the Burlington location on Rauhut St., which his father had built and operated since 1957.

Nearly 60 years after its humble inception, Hursey’s Bar-B-Q is going strong. Charles currently operates Hursey’s Bar-B-Q wholesale located on Hwy 87 N., which is an up-to-date, Federally inspected facility. In addition to running his own refrigerated trucks, he sells to several major meat distributors. His sons, Chuck and Chris, manage the restaurant on 1834 S. Church Street in Burlington, NC.