(PINEVILLE) — The 212th birthday of one of America’s most effective presidents, James K. Polk, will be celebrated in a festive program at the President James K. Polk State Historic Site in Pineville, Saturday, Nov. 3, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.The day will feature interpreters costumed as the Polk family would have been when they lived here in the late 18th- early 19th century, performing various tasks once commonly done on the former farm. The Polk birthday celebration is free and open to the public though donations are appreciated.
Polk had an extraordinarily eventful term in office and was responsible for acquiring more territory for the U.S. than any other president since Thomas Jefferson, who made the Louisiana Purchase. In four short years, the nation gained over 800,000 square miles of western territory, extending its boundary to the Pacific Ocean. This land included present day California, Texas, New Mexico and Oregon.
During the celebration, demonstrations of how families cooked in late 18th century piedmont North Carolina will highlight such rustic fare as cornmeal mush cooked with bear’s oil. Yeoman farmers, hunters, merchants, and even planters who settled around Salisbury, Charlottetown (as Charlotte was then called) and Salem had to literally live off the land during the period when James K. Polk was growing up here (1795-1806).
Other highlights will include Marilyn Price and Cara Schuman playing such period musical instruments as the fife, recorder, spoons and mandolin. Visitors may also enjoy joining in typical 18th century English country dances, like those performed in the movie “Pride and Prejudice”. Meanwhile, children can play the Game of Graces (here two players, usually young girls, toss a wooden hoop back in forth, while trying to catch it on dowel rods), investigate Jacob’s Ladder (a toy consisting of blocks of wood held together by strings or ribbons-when the ladder is held at one end, blocks appear to cascade down the strings), try out Cup and Ball, and more.
James Knox Polk, the eleventh president of the United States, was born in Mecklenburg County near present day Pineville on Nov. 2, 1795. For 11 years, he lived with his family on this farm before moving to Tennessee in 1806. He graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill and went on to be elected president of the United States on the Democratic ticket.
The state historic site’s mission is to preserve and interpret the birthplace and history of Polk. It is open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. through October and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. from Nov. 1 through March 31. The site is located approximately 1.5 miles south of Pineville off exit 65 B, I-485, at 12031 Lancaster Highway in Pineville, N.C. For further information on the Polk birthday program or the site, call (704) 889-7145, e-mail polk@ncmail.net or visit www.nchistorisites.org/polk/polk.htm.
Administered by the Division of State Historic Sites, President James K. Polk State Historic Site is part of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources, a state agency dedicated to the promotion and protection of North Carolina’s arts, history, and culture through such programs as “History Happens Here”. For more information, visit www.ncculture.com.