snippets ~ chatham history BLOG

Did you know that Ore Hill in Chatham County was an important source of iron ore for munitions during the Revolutionary War?

A NC Highway Historical Marker on Old US 421 at Mt. Vernon Springs notes the site of the Wilcox iron works. Robert Hendricks and Chadburn Spivey provided  photos of the smelter. Randy Whitt, who visited the site in the 70s notes that there are still pick marks in the walls where candles were placed. Please respect that the site is on private property and not open for visitation.

Here's some history:

Only three locations in North Carolina with substantial iron ore were discovered by early European settlers. One of these was the Deep River deposits in Chatham County. However, it was almost two-hundred years after the initial discoveries that mining and refining began.

The British Parliament passed an act in 1750 that prohibited the manufacture in the colonies of any iron product except pig iron and bar iron (i.e. no iron forged into useful implements). This was part of the effort to maintain the colonies in North America as economic dependencies unable to compete with British home industries. But, as relations between the Crown and the American colonies deteriorated, the colonial legislature encouraged the development of a colonial iron industry and, in 1775, rented the furnaces and iron forges built by John Wilcox at Ore Hill near the Deep River iron ore deposits in Chatham County in order to supply iron cannons and cannonballs for the revolutionary forces. The lack of well-trained, experienced workers greatly hindered operations and the furnace proved expensive and ineffective. Congress surrendered its interest in the works to Wilcox in 1777. The structures were heavily damaged by a storm in 1780 and were abandoned.

Just prior to the Civil War, efforts were made to build up the iron industry in North Carolina. In 1861 the Sapona Iron Company built a furnace at Ore Hill (now known as Mount Vernon Springs) on the site of John Wilcox's eighteenth-century iron works. This furnace operated throughout the war.

North Carolina’s iron industry fared poorly in the face of northern competition following the end of the Civil War. Ore Hill is recognized as a Natural Heritage Natural Area by the NC Natural Heritage Program.

#ChathamNCHistory #ChathamCountyNC #ChathamHistory #ChathamNC #OreHillNC #RevolutionaryWar #Wilcoxironworks #DeepRiver 

The Hadley Hotel, 1908.

Hotel Hadley, Siler City. Built in 1907 by Franklin Minter Hadley, the Hadley Hotel is said to be Chatham's "most elaborate eclectic Victorian commercial structure." It represents Siler City's development as a small manufacturing and regional commercial center during the thirty years after its 1887 incorporation.

The Hotel Hadley opened in 1908, featuring modern innovations found in other, larger Piedmont cities. It was Siler City's first building to have running water--pumped from a well into each guest room--and a central heating system. Many of the hotel guests were traveling salesmen from Greensboro and other larger cities who came here by train and stayed at the hotel while calling on customers in the surrounding rural areas.

This historic photo of the hotel was contributed to the Chatham County Historical Association digital collection by Jonus Nobels.

#ChathamNCHistory #ChathamCountyNC #ChathamHistory #ChathamNC #SilerCityNC #HadleyHotel #1900s #hotels 

Meadow Creek School 1915

Meadow Creek was a one-room schoolhouse located near Sam Fields Road just east of Gee's Grove. The Chatham Record article accompanying the photo notes that the school ran on a six-month schedule, with interruptions for farm work. There was a big wood stove in the middle of the room--and no bathrooms. "Boys went outside to the left and girls went to the right."

The location of the school was marked when the article was published in 2008, by a large flat rock -- formerly the play area for students -- located in a pasture south of Siler City.

Thanks to Dawn Overman for pointing us to this photo, which was printed in the 24 April 2008 Chatham Record. We clipped it from there and have posted the list of students below. This picture courtesy of B.T. Phillips, Jr. of Rockingham, who attended the school in 1930. The identifications were made by Willia Phillips Seawell in 1995.

Shown (L-R) First Row: Wanda Pickett, Willia Phillips, Mark Brewer, Leona Pickett, Myrtle Fields, Blanche Webster, Carrie Webster, Jennings Phillips and Sam Fields.

Second Row: Teacher Martha Wright, Unknown, Shafter Elkins, Myrtle Phillips, Alma Pickett, Emma Stanley, Arlene Dorsett, Ida Dorsett, Unknown, Johnny Stanley, Sam Phillips.

Third Row: Sallie Stanley, Grace Phillips, Lula Phillips, Laura Pickett, Alma Lambert, Robert Johnson, and Clyde Brewer.

Dawn says this photo is the only one she has of her grandfather as a child. Maybe you'll find someone you know as well.

#ChathamNCHistory #ChathamHistory #ChathamNC #MeadowCreekSchool #OneRoomSchoolhouse #1910s

Pittsboro Post Office 1939

Pittsboro Post Office, July 1939 – Pictures from the Pittsboro Dorothea Lange collection. The building appears to be the building where Eric Michaels’ studio is now located (2024).

Just a month later, in August 1939, a Chatham News article announced that a new post office building was to be constructed “on a vacant lot on the northeast corner of Hillsboro and Salisbury streets next door to the Bank of Pittsboro on the old WL London store site."

#ChathamNCHistory #ChathamHistory #ChathamNC #PittsboroNC #PostOffice #1930s 

Chatham's Historic Goldston Depot being restored by NC Railway Museum.

The North Carolina Railway Museum, Inc., home to New Hope Valley Railway (NHVR), has received a national grant to help restore the historic 1884 Goldston Depot in its rail yard that will be used to educate visitors. The depot will eventually be used to store and display railroad artifacts and memorabilia.

The old train depot originally served the community of Goldston from 1884 to 1973. In the mid-1970s, the building was saved from demolition by Goldston resident Jerry Gaines, who moved it a few blocks away and used it for storage for many years. Jerry’s son, Todd Gaines, donated the 23’ x 58’ building to the railway in 2017 so it could be restored.

The NHVR group plans to preserve the handwritten messages on the interior wall of the depot left by railroad employees, townspeople and others passing through Goldston more than 100 years ago.

Read more about the Goldston Depot:

https://www.triangletrain.com/goldstondepot/

About New Hope Valley Railway

New Hope Valley Railway (NHVR), the Triangle’s Train, is the vintage railway operated by the North Carolina Railway Museum, Inc. NHVR straddles the historic towns of Bonsal and New Hill, North Carolina, 30-minutes southwest of Raleigh, off of U.S. Highway 1, Exit 89. A real train takes passengers on one-hour scenic rides through the woods in covered, open-air train cars.

#ChathamNCHistory #ChathamHistory #ChathamNC #GoldstonNC #railroads #trains #NCRailwayMuseum #GoldstonDepot #depot 

This great photo of the Thompson School in Siler City has been donated to the Chatham County Historical Association by Katherine Collins whose great great grand-uncle, James Alexander Wilson Thompson, opened the school in 1887 in Chatham. The school was located where Siler City Town Hall was built in 1939.

Much of the history of the school has been preserved by the late local historian Wade Hadley, who noted that the school "... forms an important chapter in the early history of Siler City." The school, which opened in 1887, was a private boarding school which attracted about 100 out-of-town students each session. It became known as one of the outstanding preparatory schools in the state. The students of the school were "a dominant factor in the social and economic life of the village, which had a population of only 254 in 1890."

Mr. Hadley’s article about the history of the Thompson School can be viewed on our website:

https://chathamhistory.org/.../History%20of%20Thompson...

Mr. Hadley's document contains a photo of the Thompson School as it appeared “around 1924 after being abandoned. Located where Siler City Town Hall was built in 1939. This view is looking toward the northeast.” The photo posted here on Facebook is the best we have seen of the school building in its prime. Our thanks to Katherine for sharing it with us!

We also learned a bit about the school from a letter written by a student -- shared by Wally Jarrell. You can also read the letter and some background on our website:

https://cdn.wildapricot.com/.../Letter%20from%20Thompson...

#ChathamNCHistory #ChathamCountyNC #SilerCityNC #ThompsonSchool #Education #schools

Bynum Bridge was entered into the National Registry of Historic Places on April 23, 2020. Built in 1922 and closed to vehicles in 1999, the bridge still occupies a place of community importance in the village of Bynum. It’s history, unique characteristics, and place in the community are detailed in this article by Diane Swan and Debbie Tunnell, whose hard work resulted in the historic designation for this Chatham County landmark. Even those who know Bynum will likely learn something from this article.

A plaque was placed on the bridge in February 2021 noting the historic designation.

https://chathamhistory.org/.../BynumBridgeAwardedHistoric...

#ChathamNCHistory #ChathamHistory #ChathamCountyNC #BynumNC #BynumBridge #NationalRegister #Bridges

Connie McAdams writes about the discovery of an old cemetery and her research into the Alston and Hill families that lived on the Hailbron Plantation near Pittsboro. Her findings provide a glimpse into life in early Chatham County.

Read more on our website:

https://chathamhistory.org/.../CemeteryMysteryatHailbron.pdf

#ChathamNCHistory #ChathamCountyNC #HailbronPlantation #HillFamily #Alston #PittsboroNC #1800s

This is Sheep Rock in Chatham County. Where can you learn about Sheep Rock; Chatham gold mines, Chatham flatwoods and the Devil's Tramping Ground, soapstone, quartz, and more? On our website where retired professional geologist Chris Palmer has provided a document about Chatham Geology Facts and Oddities.

https://chathamhistory.org/.../ChathamGeologyFactsandOddi...

#ChathamNCHistory #ChathamHistory #ChathamNC #geology #SheepRock #rocks #minerals #mining #gold #hydrogeology

This photo shows participants at an early Juneteenth celebration in Texas. A quick search of the Chatham Record revealed no photos or reports of Juneteenth celebrations in Chatham County until recent years. Juneteenth celebrations in surrounding counties were mentioned in the early 2000s.

Chatham does, however, have a long history of celebrating emancipation, but on January 1--not June 19. There are many mentions of Emancipation Day (or Freedom Day or Jublilee Day) in old issues of the Chatham Record. We found mentions in the 1890s through the 1910s, and such celebrations could well pre-date the newspaper. According to the news articles, the day often involved parades and speakers.

#ChathamNCHistory #ChathamCountyNC #Juneteenth #Emancipation #FreedomDay #JubileeDay #BlackHistory #AfricanAmericanHistory