STATESVILLE - Time travel back to late-1700s frontier North Carolina at the fourth annual 18th-Century Trade Faire at Ft. Dobbs State Historic Site in Statesville, to be presented from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4-Sunday, Oct. 5.
At the site where soldiers once defended frontier settlers during the French and Indian War, visitors will have a chance to experience a vivid recreation of a lively and colorful colonial American marketplace. More than 100 juried artisans and historic interpreters from across the nation will demonstrate their trades and sell their wares while entertainers and musicians delight audiences with 18th-century amusements. Admission is free, although donations are accepted.
The most authentic and diverse event of its kind, Ft. Dobbs’ 18th-Century Trade Faire brings together accomplished period artisans and entertainers, all in colonial dress. As visitors shop, artisans demonstrate their craft and explain the historic trades used to make items similar to those used by soldiers quartered at the fort when this region was the edge of the western frontier. Faire fare will be available at the Beggar & Boar tavern, where delicacies such as turkey legs, rice and beans and cakes will be sold. Modern concessions will also be sold.
Activities will highlight civilian life on the frontier. Demonstrations will feature a printing press, bookbinding, blacksmithing and potting. Visitors will have a chance to stroll through colonial military and Cherokee camps, to watch cooking demonstrations and to buy tasty colonial treats including pasties, a meat pie native to the Cornwall region of England. Other programs will include military drills and a hunter camp where interpreters will be tanning leather, doing weapon firing demonstrations and more.
Throughout the weekend, visitors will also have a chance to play 18th-Century cricket with Tom Melville, a nationally recognized author and cricket historian.
Each day at 1:30 p.m., a reenactment of an April 1760 Cherokee raid on the home of a local frontier family will be presented, followed by a program in the Cherokee camp highlighting how captives lived. To learn more about the weapons British troops used during the French and Indian War, catch “From Brown Bess to Basket Hilt,” a lecture given Saturday at 3 p.m. by the DeWitt Museum at Colonial Williamsburg’s Curator of Numismatics and Mechanical Arms Erik Goldstein. A divine service like those the soldiers at Ft. Dobbs once held will be reenacted Sunday at 11 a.m.
In the 18th century, market “faires” featured streets filled with booths overflowing with fabric, metal wares, jewelry, toys, animals, food and second-hand clothes, among other goods. Fairegoers could also enjoy singing, dancing and even dramatic performances. Throughout this period, these gatherings played an important role in the lives of farmers, merchants, tradesmen, entertainers and even thieves. Like today, everyone came to the “faire.”
For more information on Ft. Dobbs and the trade “faire”, visit www.fortdobbs.org, call 704/873-5882, or e-mail info@fortdobbs.org.
The role of Ft. Dobbs and North Carolina in the French and Indian War (1754-1763), the first true world war, makes up an important chapter in North Carolina’s colonial history. Built in 1756, the fort was named for Royal Governor Arthur Dobbs and manned by provincial soldiers. It was garrisoned from 1756-1761, sheltering frontier settlers during the war and serving as the colony’s western frontier company headquarters. The fort was attacked February 27, 1760, when soldiers fought off more than 60 Cherokee.
Ft. Dobbs’ mission is to preserve and interpret the history of North Carolina’s only French and Indian War fort. It is open Tuesday-Saturday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., offering living history programs daily.
Ft. Dobbs is part of the Division of N.C. Historic Sites and Properties 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. Cultural Resources is currently presenting “Telling Our Stories,” a yearlong celebration of North Carolina’s stories of struggle and freedom, memorable characters and colorful daily life. For more information on Cultural Resources programs, visit www.ncculture.com.