open orange nc
POTD: Lost Booties
[Update… blogger and skincare specialist Ruth has pointed out my terrible storytelling and possible crimes against proper sentence structure (I’m so laughing, Ruth…). No, I didn’t find these booties walking down the sidewalk all by themselves. I should have inserted “while I was” ahead of “walking”, hopefully indicating that *I* was doing the walking, not the empty booties. Thanks, Ruth. I really must behave myself in the future!]
Found these […] walking on the sidewalk. The stone on this wall is at the corner of the James Cheek house property (c. 1875). I guess they weren’t wanted anymore.
I am forever finding strange things in this town. ~Vic
08-16-2020
Picture of the Day
Christmas Countdown 9.0
Another Gingerbread House submission. I walk past this house every day. It’s nice to see these historical homes being restored. We had another house jacked up on on stilts 18 months ago while the foundation was repaired. ~Vic
If you’d like to vote:
Homes for the Holidays 2020
12-09-2020
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Trick the Eye
12-09-2020
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12-09-2020
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Folk Victorian Home
07-14-2020
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07-21-2020
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for the concrete basement/garage.
12-08-2020
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Christmas Countdown 8.0
Some more natural decorations. ~Vic
12-05-2020
Same Front Yard
12-13-2020
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The Crawford House
12-13-2020
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You can’t see this house from the street.
12-13-2020
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Christmas Countdown 3.0
Another installment of the Gingerbread House submissions. ~Vic
If you’d like to vote:
Homes for the Holidays 2020
12-05-2020
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Site of Edmund Fanning’s House 1762
Eagle Lodge #19 1791
Masonic Lodge #71 1823
Civil War Hospital 1865
04-30-2020
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Town Tuesday: Twin Chimneys 1768
Another one of Hillsborough’s oldest homes. ~Vic
Historic American Buildings Survey
February 1965
Twin Chimneys, so named for the paired chimneys in each gable end, is sited on a hill on West King Street, directly across from the Colonial Inn and the Parks-Richmond House […]. An iron gate from Stewart Iron Works in Cincinnati, Ohio, separates the house from the pedestrian traffic of the sidewalk. [It] is reputedly a pre-Revolutionary house, however, the exact date of construction is not known. It is important to note that a house is sited at the exact location on the 1768 Sauthier Map of Hillsborough but, it cannot be assumed that the houses are the same.
Photo Credit: Pinterest
This is a most delightful old house, with four huge chimneys and a second-floor balcony, from which a view of the busy thoroughfare, King Street, may have been enjoyed down through the years. The lot on which it stands was once owned by Edmund Fanning.
It is interesting to know that this house was the setting for the old romantic novel, “Joscelyn Cheshire.” According to the story, the heroine concealed her lover in the attic to protect him from Cornwallis’ army. The house served at one time as Hillsborough’s Post Office.
Archibald DeBow Murphey was a North Carolina politician known as the “Father of Education” in his state for his proposals that benefited public works and public education. [Murphey] died at Twin Chimneys in Hillsborough on February 1, 1832. He is buried at the Presbyterian Church […]. The town of Murphy, North Carolina (despite its spelling) was named after him.
Additional Information & Sources:
Twin Chimneys Photos (Library of Congress)
National Register of Historic Places Inventory (PDF) (North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources)
Twin Chiimneys (Open Orange NC)
Joscelyn Cheshire Full Text (Project Gutenberg)
