( Note: the following story originally appeared in the N.C. Museum of History Associates E-newsletter on October 9, 2009)
Latch and hinges enable Museum staff to make a positive ID
Bill McRea’s heart was pounding as he stood in a dim loft at ABC Moving in Greenville, looking at an old door–a very old door.
The Museum’s associate director and chief of design had been in Greenville several weeks earlier to speak to the crowd at an Associates Museum Day when he learned about the existence of the door.
The subject of his talk was the Robson-Whichard-Taylor House, built in Pitt County in 1742 and one of the oldest known dwellings in the state. The house is being moved to the Museum this fall and restored as the centerpiece of the antebellum section of the Story of North Carolina exhibit.
Ronald and Donald Taylor heard about the Museum Day and the subject of Bill’s talk, and realized they might have the door to the house stored in one of their warehouses. They invited Bill to take a look, and when he saw it, he realized its importance and its provenance.
“The door hardware is identical to that surviving on an interior door still attached to the Robson House as well as matching in style, detailing and paint history to that door,” he said.
The hardware was crafted in England–see photos, right, of latch and hinge–and are readily identifiable. It was serendipity that the Taylors made the connection.
“I am grateful to the Associates and their Museum Day program in Greenville focusing on the Robson House,” Bill said. “It was directly as a result of the event that this important part of the Robson House came to our attention.”
The N.C. Museum of History Associates have established a fund for moving and restoring the house. The Associates “adopted” the house at last spring’s Frolic in Wilmington, when attendees at the gala dinner and live auction “bid” on the opportunity to help underwrite the house’s removal from storage and its restoration on site at the Museum. The restoration project will be what is called a living exhibit–visitors will watch it as it happens. For more information, contact Walker Mabe at wmabe@ncmuseumassoc.com or 919-807-7855.