snippets ~ chatham history BLOG

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

The Endor Iron Furnace is legendary in Chatham County--even though it "moved" to Lee County when that county was formed in 1907.

The Endor Iron Company was chartered in April, 1862. Two months later investors purchased the Deep River plantation of Alexander McIver and constructed a smelting furnace on it. The furnace is constructed of soft local reddish-gray stones and measures approximately 32 feet square at the base and rises to a height of about 35 feet.

It is likely that the furnace supplied the Confederate arsenal at Fayetteville in addition to small nearby arms factories. The ironworks changed hands twice before a Maryland manufacturer purchased Endor and, with a local partner, invested heavily in the operation. By 1872, their Cape Fear Iron and Steel Company was one of the South’s largest and best equipped iron furnaces.

Only two years later, it was determined that local mineral deposits were smaller than had first been thought and by 1876, the company had ceased operation. Though most of the machinery was dismantled and removed, the furnace continued operating until 1896 on a smaller scale, serving only local manufacturers.

Back in 1990, Robert Weisner wrote a detailed article about the furnace for CCHA's journal. He tracked down records and tried to sort out the furnace's story. He entitled his article "Wading through Error and Confusion: An Update of a Study of the Endor Iron Furnace." If you care to know more about the site, you can read it on our website (along with other, shorter articles in that issue): https://chathamhistory.org/.../PDFs/Journal/CHJvol3num1.pdf

#ChathamNCHistory #ChathamHistory #ChathamNC #EndorIronFurnace #DeepRiver #mining

The Bonlee and Western Railroad 1915.

This short line, home-owned and operating entirely within the county, was incorporated in 1908 for the transportation of freight and passengers. It extended from Bonlee in a southwesterly direction for about ten miles to Bennett. It was completed in 1910. The locomotive was a wood burner.

At Bonlee, the Bonlee and Western connected with the railway running between Greensboro and Sanford. The train made four round trips a day. The line primarily served the lumber business of John H. and Isaac H. Dunlap, who were also its principal stockholders. It also provided important freight and passenger service to the general public.

For several years, the Bonlee and Western ran a special on July 4 to take passengers to the celebration in Siler City.

The railway operated until the early 1930s. The principal station between terminals was at Wells, located three miles northeast of Bennett. There, a dilapidated building remained as late as 1971, when the county history, Chatham County 1771-1971, was written.

Folks from that part of the county have told us that they have found spikes from this line. If you have some, how about donating one for the Chatham County Historical collection?

#ChathamNCHistory #ChathamHistory #ChathamCountyNC #ChathamNC #BonleeNC #BennettNC #BonleeandWestern #railroad #locomotive #July4 #1900s

This is the G. W. Blair Filling Station and Store, which was located on West St. in Pittsboro. It was built in the 1940s by G. W. Blair, who also built the Blair Hotel in Pittsboro and served as Chatham County Sheriff from 1920 to 1932.

Unlike earlier commercial architecture, this building had a more residential look that mirrored neighboring one-story homes built in the 1920s. The building also served as Whitaker's Tire Sales and West End Grocery, as well as the Greyhound Bus Stop. The exterior was altered in 1989. The building now (2024) houses Keepsakes Frame Shop.

#ChathamNCHistory #ChathamCountyNC #ChathamHistory #ChathamNC #PittsboroNC #GWBlair #FillingStation #CommercialArchitecture #architecture #1940s

More than 100 years ago, Isaiah Cole visited the house in which his father was born, and reported that it was in good condition. The house was said to be 106 years old at the time. Reported in the 20 Mar 1919 Chatham Record.

The house, pictured here in 1983, when the county's architectural survey was conducted, was in "very dilapidated condition." It was said to be one of the most important early houses in Chatham County. It is believed to be the homeplace of Methodist minister Isaiah Cole (1778-circa 1850), who bought the land on which it stands from his father, William Cole, in 1811.

According to the Architectural Heritage of Chatham County NC, the original house was a south-facing saddle-notch log cabin, probably one room in size, constructed circa 1800. The beautifully crafted chimney can be seen in our photo. Subsequently, in the mid-1800s, a frame addition with pegged joints was built on the western elevation of the cabin and given a Federal era treatment that included flush sheathing in the hall-parlor interior, an enclosed stair, and "a notable mantle with reeded pilasters and a two-part frieze." I wish we had photos of those features!

The house no longer stands today. Click on the image to enlarge.

Chatham's architectural heritage has recently been updated, at least in part, by a project undertaken by volunteer Kimberly Steiner, to photograph older houses in four of Chatham's townships. You can find her results to date on our website: https://chathamhistory.org/Architectural-Update-2019-2021

If there's an old house or outbuilding in the county that you think is worth preserving in photos, send us some photos along with whatever information you have.

#ChathamNCHistory #ChathamNC #ChathamHistory #OldHouse #IsaiahColeHouse #LogCabin #architecture