Historic Homes & Sites

Ayr Mount and Poet’s Walk

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376 St. Mary's Rd
Hillsborough, NC 27278

Directions

phone (919) 732-6886

Open for guided tours (Mar. 21 to Dec. 20) Wed.-Sat., 11am; Thu.-Sun., 2pm; other times by appointment.

One of North Carolina’s finest Federal-era plantation homes (c. 1815), built by William Kirkland of Ayr, Scotland. Carefully restored and exquisitely furnished with period antiques (Duncan Phyfe and Charles Honore Lannuier), portraits by Ezra Ames and James Wollaston, Chinese export porcelain, Waterford crystal and many original family pieces. Occupied by four generations of the family until 1985. Owned by Classical American Homes Preservation Trust. A National Trust Partner Place. $10 per person. Group rates available. Free parking.
• Poet’s Walk: Open daily (year-round), 9am-5pm (till 6pm, Mar, Apr, Sep & Oct; till 7pm, May & Aug; till 8pm Jun & Jul). One-mile walking trail meanders through woodlands and pastures along the banks of the Eno River, with views of the Kirkland family cemetery, the old tavern foundation and the Indian trading path. Picnic tables under hardwood and pine trees. Dogs allowed, but must be on leashes.

Burwell School (The)

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319 North Churton St (Downtown)
Hillsborough, NC 27278

Directions

phone (919) 732-7451

Open Wed.-Sat., 11am-4pm; Sun., 1-4pm; closed mid-Dec. to -mid-Jan. and major holidays.

Site of the Rev. and Mrs. Burwell’s School for Young Ladies from 1837-1857 and home to the prominent Collins family during the Civil War. The site offers free docent-led and self-guided tours, new exhibits, a variety of cultural events, and engaging and innovative programs for children and young adults. Parking.

Dickson (Alexander) House

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150 East King St (Downtown)
Hillsborough, NC 27278

Directions

toll-free (877) 732-7748; phone (919) 732-7741

Open Mon.-Fri., 9am-5pm; Sat., 10am-4pm; Sun., noon-4pm; closed major holidays.

Late 18th century Quaker-plan house was moved from its original site 1-1/4 mi. SE of Hillsborough and restored. An adjacent garden displays traditional 18th and 19th century plants used for cooking, medicine and dyeing cloth. The site includes an office used by Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston before he surrendered his troops to Union Gen. William T. Sherman at nearby Durham Station in April 1865, which ended the Civil War. Parking.

Eagle Masonic Lodge #19

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142 West King St (Downtown)
Hillsborough, NC 27278

Directions

eaglelodge19@hotmail.com

Open by appointment.

Chartered in 1792, Eagle Lodge meets in this Greek Revival building designed by state architect William Nichols and built in 1823 by John Berry. It’s a cube that measures 40 ft. in width, depth and height, with walls of solid brick. Through its history, the building has also served as an opera house, unofficial town hall and Civil War hospital.

Forest Theatre

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Country Club Rd (near Battle Ln)
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3475

Directions

phone (919) 962-0522

Open daily, dawn to dusk.

Outdoor drama was first performed here in Chapel Hill’s Battle Park in 1916 to celebrate the 300th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death. The site was chosen by William C. Coker, who also developed Coker Arboretum nearby in 1903. The theatre was rebuilt in the early 1940s.

Historic Occoneechee Speedway Trail

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Elizabeth Brady Rd (at US Highway 70 and NC Highway 86)
Hillsborough, NC 27278

Directions

phone (919) 732-6886

Open daily, 8am-5pm (Jan.-Feb. & Nov.-Dec.); 8am-6pm (Mar. & Oct.); 7am-7pm (Apr.-Sep.).

Free four-mile trail around this 44-acre site (listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002), where Native-Americans and later settlers hunted and farmed, Gen. Julian S. Carr trained his horses, and the original NASCAR stock-car racers tested their driving skills from 1948-1968 around a one-mile oval track.

Hughes Academy and the Regulator Monument

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Cameron and East King Sts (behind Orange County Board of Education)
Hillsborough, NC 27278

Directions

toll-free (877) 732-7748; phone (919) 732-7741.

Exterior open daily, dawn to dusk; interior open by appointment.

The academy, founded by Presbyterian educator Samuel Wellwood Hughes originally six miles north of Hillsborough, offered programs in Greek, Latin and English from 1864 to 1914. The monument marks the site where six Regulators (Colonial farmers) were hanged on June 19, 1771, by Governor Tryon after they refused to pledge allegiance to the Crown following a battle at Alamance Creek. Their unmarked graves are reported to be nearby.

Morehead-Patterson Memorial Bell Tower

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South Rd and Stadium Dr
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3475

Directions

phone (919) 962-1630

The tower (with hedge, lawn and flowers created by botany professor William C. Coker) was designed by McKim, Mead & White and given to the University in 1930 by John Motley Morehead III and Rufus Lenoir Patterson. It is 172 ft. tall, and its 10-bell carillon calls students to classes, provides twilight music and serenades football crowds departing the adjacent Kenan Memorial Stadium.

Occaneechi Indian Village

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Foot of Cameron St (on the Eno River),
Hillsborough, NC 27278

Directions

phone (919) 304-3723.

Open daily during daylight hours.

The Occaneechi Village, near present-day Hillsborough, sits along the banks of the Eno River. It was one of the last palisaded (walled) American Indian villages visited by European explorers in the latter part of the 1600s. The current site displays an information kiosk, a portion of the log palisade wall and two historically accurate dwellings that were used by the Occaneechi ancestors. In partnership with Orange County and the Town of Hillsborough, the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation rebuilt this portion of the Village as an educational display.

Old Orange County Courthouse

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North Churton and East King Sts (Downtown)
Hillsborough, NC 27278

Directions

toll-free (877) 732-7748; phone (919) 732-7741

Open Mon.-Fri., 9am-5pm; closed major holidays.

This outstanding example of Greek Revival architecture was designed and built by John Berry in 1844-1845 and features details of woodwork and stair brackets from Asher-Benjamin’s pattern book. (The Courthouse is still in operation for county judicial business.)