Digging the 18th Century...uncovering Edenton's past

1767 Chowan County Courthouse and the Green on which the
original 1718 Courthouse stood (photo by the author)

It may not be Indiana Jones territory, no Ark of the Covenant, no Holy Grail, no marauding Nazis, no slithering snakes (well maybe the odd snake or two,) but my town of Edenton, North Carolina was the scene last week of an archaeological dig, nonetheless. The quiet streets and pathways, dripping with crape myrtles and history, are inroads into the early years of American life. The casual tourist, reading the many historical markers and admiring the dozens of beautiful homes and buildings in continual use since the 18^th and 19^th centuries, is unaware of what might be hiding beneath the surface. It could be the surface of a tiny, inconsequential-looking cottage, covered over by asbestos shingles or it could be the surface of the lush, green expanse on which they tread between the majestic brick Courthouse, constructed in 1767, and the water’s edge where two 18th century cannon stand guard over Edenton Bay, a bay that merges into the Albemarle Sound which, itself, leads all the way to the Outer Banks and to the seas of the Atlantic Ocean. Edenton is in an area known as the Inner Banks and was, once, an important port of entry for merchants sailing from the Old World to customers in the New.

Lane House, 1718, (photo by Harvey Harrison -
 Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Wikimedia Commons)

The little, old (very old, indeed) cottage of which I refer, resides on the eastside of town, used for years as a rental house. Its tin-roofed, asbestos-shingled exterior belied a historical treasure unknown to all until its owners, Steve and Linda Lane, ordered some renovation work be done to improve it for the next potential renter. My friend and neighbor Wayne Griffin, owner of Old Edenton Co., was the first to discover the modest home’s hidden secret. Pulling away cheap cherry paneling, he found hand-hewn wooden beams pegged together in ways not seen since the early centuries of this country. He knew, immediately, there was more to the house than met the eye. Experts were brought in and the upshot of it was the house was thought to be built around 1718 making it not only the oldest standing structure in the town, but in all of the state of North Carolina. Ironically, it was built in the same timeframe as Edenton’s original courthouse building.

The beautiful, 1767 Chowan County Courthouse, with its commanding view of Edenton Bay, is still in use and open for visitors. What many do not know is, although it is very old, it is not the county’s first courthouse. The first, built in 1718 and in use for fifty years, sat on the green just across the street from its newer version. The original building was in no way similar to the grand structure that replaced it. Covered in clapboards, its windows not glazed with glass for some time, it was rather ignobly described in 1729 by visiting William Byrd II: “Justice herself is but indifferently Lodged, the Court-House having much the Air of a Common Tobacco-House.”

Old Postcard of "New," 1767 Courthouse, bricks painted white

Beginning July 28, 2014, a group of archaeologists from New South Associates armed with a GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar,) surveyed the green and discovered a likely area for the foundation of that original building. For several days, they meticulously dug up the sod and set it aside, retrieving brick fragments as well as 18^th century glass and nails that point to the probable site of Edenton’s first house of justice. Their initial work completed, the archaeologists replaced the sod, returning the green to normal, a place on which people walk, every day, unaware of the history beneath their feet.

Who knows what historical treasures might be sleeping just below the surface of the ground on which we walk or, for that matter, beneath the façade of another little, shingled rental house?

The author's granddaughters on 18th century cannon, Edenton
(photo by their dad, John Sutton)

Have a good week, dear Reader. Thanks for stopping by...Y'all come back now!

Kate 

Living in an 18th century town...a historical novelist's dream

The Barker House, 1775

Two years ago, we moved from the relative noise and bustle of Virginia Beach, Virginia to the peaceful quiet of Edenton, North Carolina. How amazing it is to walk these streets and see homes built in the 1700s still occupied today, not as roped off museum pieces or reproductions but as living breathing examples of 18th century life. As a matter of fact, it was recently discovered that the oldest known house in the state of North Carolina (circa 1712) was hiding beneath a veneer of asbestos shingles on one of the town streets. Our

The Cupola House, 1757

own little cottage doesn't go back that far but even at its "youthful" age of 114, it carries a spirit of history, charm, and continuity not found in contemporary housing. As a writer of historical fiction, it's like waking each day inside a dream, inspiration singing from every corner of the town. I tell our out-of-town friends we are the only town I know with its own soundtrack. Several times each day, the carillon of First Baptist Church rings out lovely melodies of hymns and classical music wafting on the light breezes of Edenton Bay.

The West Customs House, 1772

Commemorative Teapot and a Satirical Drawing of the
1774 Edenton Tea Party from a London newspaper, 1775

Edenton was officially incorporated as a town in 1712. Its name changed four times over its first ten years: The Towne on Queen Anne's Creek, Ye Towne on Mattercommack Creek, The Port of Roanoke, and finally ending as Edenton when named for Governor Charles Eden upon his death in 1722. In the 1770s,  

Edenton was at the forefront of protests against unfair taxing by England. On October 25, 1774, the first ever organized political action by American women, the Edenton Tea Party, occurred when fifty-one ladies of the town met at the home of Elizabeth King and signed a resolution to no longer drink tea or purchase English made cloth
until the tax acts were repealed. In March, 1775, a very unflattering
political cartoon appeared in a London newspaper meant to embarrass and degrade the ladies' efforts.

The Joseph Hewes House, 1765

Edenton is filled to the brim with historical homes and buildings built from the 18th to the 20th centuries but I will focus today on those of the 1700s. I am including photographs I shot this week of just a few of those wonderful structures, all of which are private residences with the exception of the Chowan County Courthouse and the Barker and Cupola Houses.

For more information see: http://www.visitedenton.com/

Chowan County Courthouse, 1767

The Bennett House, 1780

The Skinner-Paxton House, 1798

The Charlton House, 1765

The Author's Home, Buttercup Cottage, 1900


Have a good week, dear Reader. Thanks for stopping by...Y'all come back now! 

Kate

(All photographs in today's post taken by Kathryn Louise Wood.)