The Colonial Inn, Hillsboro, as it now appears.
Ancient Inn
Is Restored
You can now dine and .sleep in the
same old building in Hillsboro where
Lord Cornwallis once held forth.
By L1JCILE 1
IN the days before the American
Revolution changed its pattern
of gaiety for one of grim realism,
the town of Hillsboro was North
Carolina’s summer capital. Plant¬
ers from the low country, seeking
refuge from the heat, the mos¬
quitoes and malaria, brought their
families to the old inn at Hills¬
boro where they engaged in a
round of varied activities. Included
in its repertoire of guests were
Governors Tryon and Martin of the
Colonial Period, and Lord Corn¬
wallis. Britain’s eighteenth-cen¬
tury "war lord.” Cornwallis was
in fact so much of a visitor to the
inn. that while in Hillsboro he
found time to have his soldiers
construct stone streets in the town
in defiance of its bottomless red
mud, and to increase the hatred
of the community by raising the
king’s standard, and firing a twen¬
ty-one gun salute.
On May 15 of this year, the inn
was reopened by Col. Paul Hender¬
son of Chapel Hill, who bought it
early in the past year, and had it
restored to its former elegance.
Called "The Occoneechee Inn"
when Cornwallis was signing the
register, the inn now goes under
OELL HULA
the name of "The Colonial Inn,"
a name that it has carried for the
past half-century at least, and it
has combined the best features of
the pre-Revolutionary era and our
own twentieth century.
Actually there is little changed
about the inn, which attracted the
famous and the near-famous of the
history-making eighteenth cen¬
tury. People today who wish to
combine a historic pilgrimage with
their vacation can find no better
spot to visit than Hillsboro’s Inn.
Only the modern conveniences
that we of the twentieth century
have come to consider as necessi¬
ties have been added, and the hotel
faithfully copies the pre-Revolu¬
tionary architectural pattern. Its
huge lobby, done over in pine, re¬
minds one of the days when Oliver
Goldsmith, and others of England’s
Classical Period gathered at the
Coffee Houses of England for a cup
of tea, a mug of ale, or a heated
discussion of political and personal
affairs. The sign that identifies the
inn shows a stage coach, complete
with horses, and further accentu¬
ates the fact that the inn is a relic
from another age brought up to
date for today’s guests.
All places as old as the inn have
their legends, and this one is no
exception. One of the stories gees
that General William Tecumsch
Sherman was hot on the trail of
Confederate General Joseph E.
Johnston, and that they were cer¬
tain to pass through Hillsboro.
Soon Johnston's army was seen
passing along the fringes of the
town, and it wasn’t long before
word reached the town that Sher¬
man's men were on their way. The
keeper of the inn was away at war,
and the slaves were instructed by
his wife to hide all the valuables,
and to drive the live stock down
a country road just outside the
towui limits. This accomplished,
they could do nothing but wait.
As expected; the Federals arrived,
and made straight for the inn. They
began their systematic job of loot¬
ing the building from pillar to
post, and in the midst of the con¬
fusion, the inn-keeper’s wife
rushed into her husband’s room to
see if anything had been missed.
There she found her husband's Ma¬
sonic apron, and for no logical rea¬
son, started waving it frantically
from an upstairs window. To her
amazement, Aladdin's lamp would
not have been any more effective.
The plundering stopped immedi¬
ately, and a red-haired officer
started making his way towards
her through the crow'd. A brief
conversation with him revealed
that as a Mason himself he could
not leave a fellow' Mason's wife
in distress, and by night order had
been restored to the inn, and a
guard was left to protect it w'hen
the segment of the army moved on.
Today at this inn you can regis¬
ter in the same lobby where Corn-
w'allis stayed, can walk to the cor¬
ner drug store and set your watch
by the same old town clock, and
then return to the inn where every
modern convenience is at your fin¬
ger-tips. On the patio you can eat
in a setting of small tables covered
by mammoth umbrellas in brilliant
hues, while a border of potted red
geraniums adds further color to
the setting. Inside the colonial din¬
ing room you can find food to suit
the most discriminating gourmet,
and you can engage a private din¬
ing room for your next party with¬
out lifting a finger.
Williamsburg, Virginia was re¬
built; The Colonial Inn is simply
a restoration of what has existed
in historic Hillsboro since the
eighteenth century carved out its
history-making activities that
made of the United States a nation
free from British control.
10
THE STATE. AUGUST 9. 1947
