FOUR DAYS OF DISCOVERY AT THE IREDELL HOUSE

While not as well known as the other State Historical Site homes,  the James Iredell Home located at 107 E. Church Street in  Edenton is a treasure trove of artifacts.  James Iredell was one of the first justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, appointed by President George Washington and served from 1790 until his death in 1799.  His home in Edenton is full of memories of those days in Edenton, and served as his residence during the time he served on the Supreme Court. Over time, it had fallen into disrepair and was set to be demolished until the Edenton Tea Party Chapter stepped in and purchased the home.  

Fast forward to today,  all Chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) are encouraged to identify and participate in a community service activity in October to pay tribute to their Founders Day, October11th, the day on which DAR was founded in 1890. Each year, the local Chapter, the Edenton Tea Party Chapter selects a project, led by the Day of Service Chair.  

This year, Anne Rowe has served as our Day of Service Chair.  She and Laura Rogers, Site Manager of the State Historical Sites, determined that a much needed volunteer project would be to organize and document the artifacts at the James Iredell House that had been stored during the recent renovation of the historical site. Each artifact was removed from its box, documented, photographed and then re-wrapped and placed in an archival box,  so that it could be found quickly and preserved until the time it was returned to display.  

Edenton Tea Party's  "Day of Service" turned into four days of service and discovery!  The original Bill of Sales documenting where the Charter members of the Edenton Tea Party Chapter purchased the Iredell House and saved it from demolition were found along with books belonging to James Iredell that were gifted to the Chapter by Charter members. Also found was a jewelry box, belonging to Ingles Fletcher, Charter Member and noted author. Inside the box was a mourning ribbon, typically worn for those mourning the loss of a family member who served as a police officer. Many artifacts belonging to James Iredell and his progeny were also uncovered, from a copy of James Iredell's appointment to the Supreme Court  to a wedding gift of salt cellars to his grandson and his bride, each item was photographed, wrapped and placed into organized archival boxes. 

Chapter Regent Bonnie Henn, notes ""It has been an honor to assist the State Historical Sites Edenton with this project and while organizing their history, we found some of our own. I am grateful for Anne and her committee for taking on this challenge and for Laur

Edenton played host to enthused preservationists on Saturday May 31 as part of Preservation North Carolina’s National Preservation Month Celebration finale.  The group enjoyed tours of the Barker House, the Cupola House, Hayes Farm, Kadesh Church and Frink's Freedom House. 

Edenton Historical Commission Executive Director Robert Leath welcomed the guests and joined them later at Hayes Farm along with Dawson Tyler, Burton Swain and Andrew Ownbey to answer any questions the group may have had. 

North Caroiina Director of State Historical Sites Michelle Lanier joined the tour and was highly impressed with Hayes Farm and the amount of birds signing as she joined Tyler and Dawson for lunch on the back porch steps overlooking the garden at the Hayes. 

After touring the Kadesh Church renovation (see steeple raising video below) the tour continued to the Freedon House and on to Beverly Hall.

The Historic Preservation Foundation of North Carolina, known as Preservation North Carolina was founded in 1939 and is the states only private nonprofit statewide historic preservation organization. It’s mission of saving historic places important to diverse people in North Carolina is an effort praised by many.  

It enjoys a national reputation, having been cited by the National Park Service as “the premier statewide preservation organization of the South, if not the Nation” and the National Trust for Historic Preservation as “the model organization of its kind.”

Through its award-winning Endangered Properties Program, PNC acquires endangered historic properties and then finds purchasers willing and able to rehabilitate them. It has protected 900 historic properties through covenants or easements, representing at least $500,000,000 in private investment.  

Buyers have put these properties into a multitude of new uses, adding millions of dollars to local tax rolls and creating numerous jobs. Several of the larger properties have been adapted into affordable housing. More than 4,000 acres have been placed under PNC’s protective covenants, perpetually restricting their development. Most of the properties saved through the Endangered Properties Program have been in rural areas or small towns, the parts of North Carolina most in need of reinvestment

Preservation North Carolina’s direct work with challenging properties has also raised awareness about the value and promise of historic preservation to local communities. Through the decades, PNC has been a pioneer in finding solutions for troubled downtown buildings, abandoned historic schools, empty industrial factories and mill villages, and smaller (and more affordable) houses in urban working-class neighborhoods. Millions of dollars have been invested in places formerly plagued by disinvestment.

Historic Preservation Month is  a month-long celebration that began as a week in 1973 and has been extended to a full month since 2005. The National Trust for Historic Preservation created the month to raise awareness and promote the importance of preserving our nation's historic places. 

It’s sweeping bucolic lawns slope from the crest of a knoll gracing the shore of Albemarle sound, Hayes Farm, is a 194 acre Farm with an expansive manor stepsacross Edenton’s Queen Anne Creek.  

Historical riches dot the countryside, however, Hayes Farm is an in towngem , the crown jewel of the town’s many historical treasure. Hayes is asignificant part of North Carolina's heritage and its lineage in American history.

In the late 18th centurythe property was settledby Samuel Johnston, who went on to become the fourth governor of North Carolina and a United States Senator.  

The main manor house is considered by architectural scholars to be “one of the South’s most accomplished examples of a five-part Palladian villa,”. It was designated a National Historic Landmark on November 7, 1973 and added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 26, 1974. Currently the property is owned by the State of North Carolina and is maintained and supported by the Elizabeth Van Moore Foundation with assistance from the Edenton Historical Commission and the Town of Edenton. The property has breathtaking views of the Albemarle Sound and also includes 28 structures throughout the property including six enslaved worker’s cottages which remain standing. Preservation is in progress on a number of structures and work activities are supported by local volunteers.   

“Having a place like Hayes that will provide recreational opportunities for the people of Edenton will add so much to life in this small town”. states preservationist Samual Dixon, “The Elizabeth VanMoore Foundation is grateful to those who stewarded Hayes in the past and those individuals who are helping make this project a success today.”

As preservation activities continue, this past September, Elizabeth Van Moore Foundation Board member Chris Bean oversaw the kitchen renewal which is an addition to the main house that John and Lelia Wood constructed in the 1950’s. Down East Preservation and Bean preserved and restored the existing cabinets and add beautiful soapstone countertops. The floors were refinished with wax after removing the old linoleum covering.

“The Elizabeth Van Moore Foundation is so grateful to be restoring Hayes for the nation,” Dixon continues. “Part of our stewardship includes caring for and acquiring those objects that help tell the fascinating story of Hayes and it's part in the birth of this nation.”  

The importance of the preservation movement in Edenton is rooted in the Elizabeth Van Moore Foundation.  Their mission is to maintain and preserve historical sites and buildings in Edenton, NC.  

Dawson Tyler's Baby Blue Packard convertible, parked in front of the Hinton Hotel was the perfect property prop as a crowd of  Edenton's curious graced the lobby of another of the town's memory archives to hear about the hotel's  future. 

Stepping into the future while taking a seat back in time, residents were excited to see the various concept boards placed throughout the space offering a glimpse of what is about to come.  

The Down East Preservation team invited residents and business owners to the presentation.

A work in wonderment for the past years since the county offices vacated the space years ago,  the future of the Hinton looks promising for the town, residents and visitors. 

The impromptu cork popping by Burton Swain at the precise moment Dawson Tyler was highlighting a future Hinton feature, along with monogrammed boxed stick matches, monogrammed cocktail napkins, high styled silver vases overflowing with flowers, and  champagne bubbles doing the same, set the stage for the hotel's future.  The bare bones lobby  was in itself a work of art, filled with people visualizing what once was and what the vision  will become. 

NOTE: For a video of the entire evening, including Tyler’s presentation, Mayor Hackney High’s encouraging words and photos of the event click the link.  For the entire story pick up a copy of the summer issue of the Edenton Social Light.

Cupola House Restoration discoveries keep coming as well as more questions.

“The restoration of a historic house is seemingly never complete. The stewards of these properties may have well researched maintenance plans, but they also must always expect the unexpected.” according to the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art.  

The Institute suggests that restorers of house museums utilize the ongoing restoration process as an opportunity to educate the community, as the home transitions.

That is exactly what the restoration team and the Cupola organization have done over the past year with the massive project, replacing the original downstairs woodwork in the house while offering educational lectures outlining progress along the way.

Think of an above ground archaeological team putting bones back together. That’s what Andrew Ownbey and his team, along with Robert Leath are in the midst of completing. Their exuberance builds with each informational gathering, because they are finding, the Cupola House has good bones.  

This critical and complicated restoration involves reinstalling the original wood paneling, that has been returned from the Brooklyn Museum collection. When removing the newer wood panels from the downstairs rooms, the process divulged more questions than answer.  Ownbey is as much a historian as he is a historic preservation restoration specialist focused on 18th and 19th century structures.

On Tuesday, September 2, the Shepard-Pruden Memorial Library hosted ‘More Revelations of the Cupola House’. Andrew along with Wade Rogers and Don Jordan presented new discoveries and still more questions as they reinterpret the history of the property's use and changes over the past 367 years.  Restoration is all about detective work, looking for the simplest of signs from the building to interpret its history.  Cupola is known for its premier example of Jacobean architecture in the southern United States, built in 1758 by Francis Corbin.

The Cupola House on-going series has a strong following. Over sixty guest attended this past event with eagerness to hear the progress and the discoveries. Following the seminar, members enjoyed a social hour at the Cupola. The full slide show can be found on the Cupola website. www.cupolahouse.org  

It’s been a long time since time rang the chimes of the Seth Thomas clock within the cupola perched above Edenton’s Historic Courthouse  on King St. The on the hour symphony echoed through the green when the wind was right. However, four years ago time stopped, people took note they no longer heard them. On September 18, 2025 at precisely at 5:00 p.m. people gather once again heard the chimes will ring.

History was made and heard throughout town as Joe 

Two hundred years ago, in September 1825, the first clock was installed in the cupola of the historic Chowan County Courthouse which was built in 1767on East King Street and is listed as a National History Landmark.   

Popular as early as the 13th century, European town clocks were elaborate and many of the early clocks where heard but not seen. The clocks did not have faces but they chimed on the hour.  The evolution of clockmakers adding exterior faces allowed the community an opportunity to view as well as hear the time, evolved around 1410 in Europe. Originallythe hands of the clock were fixed and the faces of the clock rotated. By 1490 tower clocks evolved and became much more decorative. The faces were still and the arms had movement.   

Today, the clock which sits in the cupola above the Historic Chowan County Courthouse, was installed in 1891.  The clock and bell went inoperable in 2021.  

“Designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1970, the courthouse is the oldest operating government building in North Carolina and considered to be the most intact colonial courthouse in America,” said Historic Edenton State Historic Site Manager Laura Rogers. “We set course earlier this year to restore the clock.”

Finding the right person to work on this historic gem took some searching.  Pam Wagner, President of Friends of State Historic Sites, recalled Joe D’Apuzzo, a member of St. Ann’s Catholic Church century-old church, repaired the bell in 2023.  The retired elevator contractor took up the challenge to fix the Historic Chowan Courthouse clock.  It took many weeks of climbing the narrow steps leading to the dusty bell-tower through the hot days of summer.   

But that’s time gone by, on September 18,  Friends of State Historical Sites and town residents and officials listened as the clock chimes proudly chimed once again.  

Edenton's hospitality, style and appreciation for the original families that saved the Cupola House was on display this past weekend as descendants of those families came to Edenton. The event was a special gathering of the descendants of citizens that rallied together in 1918 and formed the original organization that saved the Cupola House. The organization eventually became the Cupola House Association, dedicated to its protection.  

“We had over 100 descendants of the 1918 Founders of the Cupola House Association attend and many plan to return in June 2026 for the grand reveal when the Cupola House will be put back together,” said Cupola House Association President Vonna O’Neill

The weekend began with lunch on Friday afternoon in the Cupola House Garden and a welcoming greeting from Edenton Mayor Hackney High. The Mayor thanked the group and expressed the town’s appreciation for their family’s contribution to history.  

The group had a tour of the building warehousing all of the precious original molding returned from the Brooklyn Museum.  

A stop at St Paul’s Church for a special musical moment  played on the organ a founder funded and then on to mark the founder’s graves at St. Paul and Beaver Hill.  

An afternoon cocktail party was followed by dinner at Hayes Farm.  

A Saturday morning breakfast at Greenfield and a presentation on the Cupola House’s current restoration filled the morning. The Albemarle Queen was the scene for Saturday’s lunch followed by a membership reception at the Cupola House. O’Neill and her team organized the events, each held at a historic location and packed them into 36 spectacular hours.  

“The Town of Edenton wholeheartedly supported this multifaceted event and the Cupola House Board of Director's enthusiasm for preservation and restoration was contagious. They have all worked very hard along with the restoration team and local experts to ensure that the Vision for the Cupola House comes to fruition. Many goals have been accomplished in less than one year,” said O’Neill. “We wanted the descendants to see the Cupola House like it was in 1918 so they too, could appreciate what pushed their ancestors to save this treasure. Many had not known that the efforts of the Founders started the preservation movement for all of North Carolina. A participant remarked to me that the Cupola House is a love story…and so it is. All of Edenton was totally embraced this weekend.”