- Title
- Our state
-
-
- Date
- April 1999
-
-
- Place
- ["North Carolina, United States"]
-
Our state
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tar heel towns
story and photography by Frank Roberts
Murfreesboro
Past centuries still live in Murfreesboro, accounting for much of the towns charm.
Many of the old homes still stand, a delight for tourists who spend much of their time in the
historic district — excited to see what life was like in colonial times.
The slaldy Roberts- Vaughan Village Center, a Federal- and Creek Revival-style home built in 1790
I shown here from the side), is headquarters to the quite active Muifrreesboro Historical .Association.
settlers was William Mm It
ее. .ш
Irish
immigrant who established a king’s land¬
What in
Таг
I leel is
going on in this
I lertford Coiiniv
community?
Л
breakdown of
Murfreesboro's impressive fig¬
ures explains (bottom tight».
< )ncc called "a quiet and
moral village,” Murfreesboro
historically has been centered
around agriculture — peanuts,
corn, soybeans, and cotton
have been leading commodi¬
ties. But today, the town is
expanding its social and eco¬
nomic base-, capitalizing ott its
colonial charm and intellectual
centerpiece. Chowan College.
Consider these examples:
Alxnit 25.000 folks come for
the folksy Watermelon Festival
in the gotxl
оГ
summertime.
This year the entertainment,
riders, crafts, games, and food-
food-food will lx' offered dur¬
ing the first week of August.
.Another enticement to resi¬
dents and visitors alike is the Candlelight
Christinas Tour, in which about 1.000
people participate.
Murfree’s landing
Murfreesboro, in the Allx'inarle area
lietween the Roanoke and Chowan
rivers, was first occupied by Nottoway.
Meherrin. and Clmwanoke tribe's. The
first White visitor — ve's. e apital "\\~ —
was John White of Roanoke Island, who
stopped bv in the 16th century. In the
17th century an expedition ventured
down from Jameste >wn.
Deeds indicate that settlers lived on
the site as earlv as 1710. One e»f the later
ing, where imports and exports were
ins|X4 ted by a representative of the
knglish ( Town.
I he- site Ixcatne known as Mm free s
landing. In appreciation, in I7K7 he
donated 07 acre's ol laud for a town,
(hateful, the town called itself
Mui freesborough. later simplifying
the spelling.
In the 18th and early I9th centuries,
the area allrat ted New kugland. West
Indian, and Kuropcan sailing vessels
offering their goods in exc hange fot
lexal agiii uliuial products.
Important
figures about
Murfreesboro
Population: 2.585
Visitors last year: about 35.000
Number of antique irons: 957
Number of antique
washboards: 257
April 1 999 Our State I 3