RALEIGH – Don’t let rising gas prices derail your plans for having fun this summer. The 27 North Carolina State Historic Sites offer many free entertaining experiences. In just an hour’s drive or a day trip, the historic sites will allow you to escape today’s cares and see how others managed work and play in bygone days. Maybe you’d like to talk to a colonial governor, see how a famous author lived, or pan for gold. All that and much more adventure is waiting.
“With so many interesting places to visit, the cost of fuel is a good reason to check out our fine historic sites, state museums and local historic areas near your home.” says Keith Hardison, division director of N.C. State Historic Sites.
“One of the things I suggest right off that’s great family fun is Reed Gold Mine in Cabarrus County, not far from Charlotte,” Hardison continues. “Folks from time to time are able to find a bit of gold through panning.”
Hardison points out that gold was discovered in North Carolina in 1799, and that this state was home of the first gold rush years before the 1849 discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill in California. The 800 acre site includes a museum, trails and a mine shaft tour. ‘We like to tell folks that we offer the only holiday candlelight tour you can go on during the daytime,” Hardison says.
“If you’re talking about going East, Tryon Palace Historic Sites and Gardens in New Bern comes to mind immediately,” explains Hardison. “Whether your interest is the Colonial period, Civil War, or the African American experience, you can find it at Tryon Palace.”
The Tryon Palace site includes three historic houses, 22 acres and 13 gardens. It was the seat of government under colonial Gov. William Tryon. Historic interpreters are always about, and sometimes including the governor. Independence Day is a big event, with a re-enactor reading the Declaration of Independence.
“It’s a participatory event; last time we had folks cheering when enumerating the rights of the colonists, and jeering at the litany of woes and wrongs of the king and parliament,” says Hardison, noting that King George III may have been hung in effigy.
“If you want a variety of experiences, and to travel pretty much to one spot, I would suggest you go to Durham,” Hardison continues. “We offer three sites in the immediate Durham Area – Historic Stagville, which was one of North Carolina’s largest plantations; Duke Homestead, home to the founder of the nation’s tobacco industry; and Bennett Place, site of the largest troop surrender of the Civil War.
“At Stagville we talk about its significance, we talk about the construction of the house, and Horton Grove, a rare collection of original buildings occupied by the enslaved workers, and the Great Barn, the largest agricultural building in North Carolina prior to the Civil War.”
The site offer tours and extensive genealogical records of the enslaved workers, Hardison says. The site also hosts a variety of special events throughout the year. At Duke Homestead, the history of Washington Duke and the Duke family is presented. Duke’s method of curing tobacco and making cigarettes was spread by Union and Confederate soldiers at the end of the Civil War.
“We have preserved the original Duke Homestead and some of the original buildings, which were the first tobacco factories, if you want to use that term,” adds Hardison. Periodically the site presents mock tobacco auctions, 19th century religious revival portrayals, and other special events, in addition to regular tours.
Further west, Hardison recommends the Thomas Wolfe Memorial, the restored “Old Kentucky Home” boardinghouse run by the famous author’s mother, and memorialized in Wolfe’s writings as “Dixieland.” Located in downtown Asheville, the site is convenient to the arts and business district. Regular tours amplify Wolfe’s experiences growing up in the house, and special programs include barbershop quartet performances, character portrayals, and ice cream socials.
Hardison also highlights the nearby Zebulon Vance Birthplace, home to the controversial governor and Civil War figure. “Vance was born literally on the western frontier and you can learn about frontier life in the early 19th century,” he says. “We do from time to time have a militia or Civil War muster, or various pioneer lectures and demonstrations there too.”
The pastoral mountain site in Weaverville offers picnic tables too. “It’s just beautiful up there in the Reems Creek Valley,” Hardison adds. “All these sites offer opportunities for strolling about the grounds, picnicking, bird watching and enjoying nature. You can learn history, enjoy nature, have a lot of fun and do it fairly inexpensively. And it is located just minutes from the Blue Ridge Parkway.”
Other N.C. Historic Sites include Roanoke Island Festival Park, the Battleship North Carolina, the State Capitol, N.C. Transportation Museum, Horne Creek Historical Farm, and many others. Tryon Palace and a few others charge admission; most are free. All sites are open at least Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; some have additional hours. Visit www.nchistoricsites.org or call (919) 733-7862 for information.
The Division of State Historic Sites is within the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources, a state agency dedicated to the promotion and protection of North Carolina’s arts, history and culture, with the theme “Telling Our Stories” for 2008. Information and podcasts are available 24/7 at www.ncculture.com.