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. Trail is free and open daily year round.

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 -early Feb. 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-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 theater was rebuilt in the early 1940s. University and community groups continue to perform here in the warmer months. Woodland trails into the 93-acre Battle Park start here.

Historic Occoneechee Speedway Trail

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320 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—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 (shown in photo).

Horace Williams House

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610 East Rosemary St (Downtown)
Chapel Hill, NC 27514

Directions

phone (919) 942-7818

Open Tue.-Fri., 10am-4pm; Sun., 1-4pm; closed Sat., major holidays and July 31-August 16 for cleaning and repairs

The only historic house in Chapel Hill open to the public. This 19th-century house was owned by a succession of University professors. On the death of Horace Williams, a UNC philosophy professor and the last owner-occupant, the University of North Carolina became the sole owner of the house named for him. Restored in 1974, the house is maintained by the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill as a cultural resource and art exhibition space.  Guided tours of historic Franklin Street leave the Horace Williams House each Sun at 2 pm. Cost $5. Guided tours of the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery leave from the cemetery gazebo (South Road across from Carmichael Auditorium) at 10am every Saturday. Guided walking tours suspended during entire month of August.

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.

Montrose Gardens

320 St. Mary's Rd
Hillsborough, NC 27278

Directions

phone (919) 732-7787

Open year round for guided tours by appointment Tue. & Thu., 10am; Sat., 10am or 2pm.

This 61-acre property, a listed property in the National Register of Historic Places, features specimen trees, rock garden, wood gardens with massed plantings of unusual bulbs and hellebores and sunny perennial borders as well as 19th century buildings, decorative arbors, planters and architectural items. Nationally known gardens begun in the 19th century by Gov. and Mrs. William Alexander Graham, several 19th century buildings and architectural items remain. Guided tours plus tours for groups of 6 or more people may be arranged at other times. Per person, $10.

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.