It's been a while since we blogged. We no sooner arrived at Carolina Crossroads in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, then we had to rush off to get a rental car, drop Great White off so our backup electric generator could be serviced, and then drive all the way up to Philadelphia so Kathy could attend a Bridal Shower for her niece (Jen) and attend a birthday dinner with two of her sisters (Barb and Sue). Did we mention it poured the whole weekend and our 5-1/2 hour drive back turned into 6-1/2 hours? We know, poor excuse for not blogging. However, we are back and at it again.
Today dawned bright and clear. All the bad weather and crazy schedule things can be set aside (well, at least for today). Time to do a little exploring. The last thing we wanted to do today was drive. So, we looked around for some place that we could reach by bicycle. Last week, as we drove around town completing our chores, we kept seeing signs for Historic Halifax. It has the sound of a likely destination. Let's Google it. Turns out that Halifax is one of North Carolina's most influential early towns. There's a Visitor Center. What's not to like about an historic place with a Visitor Center? Halifax is only seven miles from our campground. Let's ride!
We had a pretty straight forward ride south on NC Route 125 right into Halifax. We rode through mile after mile of rural North Carolina. The few big rigs and logging trucks that passed us were very nice to move over and not knock us off the road. On another bright note, we rode the whole way there and back without a flat tire! As we came into town, we saw forsythia starting to bloom.
We stopped briefly at the Visitor Center to get a map and directions to the nearest place for lunch. Turns out that the two places we saw on Yelp and Google Maps were no longer in business. Halifax has clearly seen better days, and the absence of restaurants was only one symptom of that. The nearest place to get something for lunch was at the Halifax Deli at the Exxon down the road. Well, any port in a storm.
You've heard of that TV show, Dinners, Drive-ins and Dives. Well, this place could enter in all three categories. However, it would most certainly win the World's Best Fried Chicken category - hands down. We kid you not. This is not an April Fools joke - there was a line of folks waiting to be served. The chicken was crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside, piping hot and loaded with flavor. We topped off all that delicious chicken with gigantic potato wedges and Gatorade. This was not a diet lunch, but it was worth every calorie! If you are ever in Halifax, make sure you stop at the gas station for fried chicken.
Now that our hunger was sated, it was time get serious about our exploring. We spotted this little gem just for you, Aunt Jane. Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church was built in 1889 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.
We stopped again at the Visitor Center in order to watch a video on Historic Halifax. Settled in the early 1700s by British Colonists, Halifax was named for George Montague-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax. In January 1759, Halifax became the county seat of the new county of Halifax County. Here is the remodeled courthouse.
Halifax had developed into a commercial and political center at the time of the American Revolution. North Carolina's Fourth Provincial Congress met in Halifax on April 12, 1776, and adopted the Halifax Resolves formally sanctioning American Independence. Those resolutions made North Carolina the first colony, and Halifax the first place, where Americans formally resolved for independence.
After the Revolution succeeded, President George Washington, stayed in Halifax on April 16 and 17, 1791, during his Southern tour. Even then, he noted that Halifax appeared to be on the decline.
Nevertheless, after the American Revolution, Halifax entered into a golden age of wealth, power and influence. Planters and merchants built fine homes.
Halifax remained prosperous until the late 1830s, when its political power diminished and the new railroad bypassed the town. Many of the old buildings were repurposed or demolished. Those that remain are being restored. In one case, all that was left of Joseph Montfort's house was the foundation. Archaeologists excavated the site and covered it with a fake facade. Visitors can tour through the dig site.
Halifax shares a similar history with Williamsburg, Virginia, which is only about 130 miles away. In fact, the two towns were connected directly by a post road that ended at the Halifax Ferry across the Roanoke River. However, in constrast to Halifax, Williamsburg was able to maintain some of its business and commercial interests after the Civil War.
Historic renovations in Halifax started back in the early 1900s but have a long way to go. Historic Halifax was just placed on this list of historic places in 1970. There are currently 17 different buildings you can tour. Here is the open air Market Square, which was the center of commercial and social activity in the town in the 1700's.
Just a few blocks from Market Square are the banks of the Roanoke River, accessible down an old road that was originally the road to the Ferry and a host of mills and warehouses that sprang up along the river in Colonial times:
During the Antebellum years, Halifax was the center of one of the largest slaveholding communities in North Carolina. As a consequence, it also experienced a high incidence of runaway slaves. Quakers who lived across the Roanoke River were instrumental in smuggling escaped slaves out of the South along the fabled Underground Railroad. All along the trail leading to the river are historical markers with facts about the Underground Railroad.
Few original plantation structures remain. However, Historic Halifax has attempted to illustrate typical residences of the area. Moved here from Scotland Neck, this house was part of a 12,000 acre plantation with 266 slaves.
The Clerk's Office was built in 1832 and originally housed the Register of Deeds, Superior Court Clerk and County Clerk. That's a really small building for all those important guys. It is no wonder they later built a larger courthouse building.
No self respecting town would be complete without a gaol (a/k/a jail). Here is Dave demonstrating one of the favorite forms of corporal punishment used back in the day.
The county's oldest black congregation, established in 1865, built the First Baptist Church, in about 1881 at 145 St. David Street. At that time, the sizeable black community lived outside of the town boundaries to the northwest, north of St. David Street. Halifax's Catholics, who had met since the 1820s in the parlor of Irish Catholic immigrant Michael Ferrall's house on S. King Street, erected their own church in the side yard of the Ferrall property, at 145 S. King Street, in 1889. The diminutive Gothic Revival-style, weatherboarded church was designed by Philadelphia architect Edwin Forrest Durang.
Now, you know we can't leave town without visiting a tavern or two. This tap room was built in 1760. Unfortunately, they are no longer serving beer. However, if you take the tour you can learn colonial era tavern games.
We enjoyed our visit to Historic Halifax. They are working hard to preserve their history. As we bicycled back to the campground, the day became glorious and warm, with the smell of cherry blossoms and fresh-mown grass in the air. The country roads seemed bucolic and peaceful. We felt the historic tour, the weather and this rural Eden were ample rewards for our efforts!
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