Oct 28 Edwards-Franklin House

 

As it is today, thanks to the Surry County Historical Society and their 1973 restoration work.

As it was in 1973 after being vacant since 1969.

In 1799 Gideon Edwards built this house on a knoll near the Fisher River in the Low Gap area of Surry County. The property was referred to as "Skull Camp" at that time. Gideon farmed the 1300 acre tract. When he died in 1820 the house became the property of Meshack Franklin and his wife Milly (Gideon's daughter). Meshack's bother Jesse, the 8th governor of North Carolina, lived nearby. 

In 1847 the house was bought by Sinclare McMickle. During the McMickle/Blevin family ownership, the property was downsized by a series of land sales. The last Blevin to live in the house left in 1969. Vacant for a few years, the house was acquired by the Surry County Historical Society in 1972. An ambitious renovation ensued.  It was added to the National Register of Historic Places at that time as well. 

In 1820 when Meshack Franklin acquired the house, he wanted to update it in the Federalist style. Staircases, panels, mantles and doors were painted in popular decorative styles of that time. Note, the door has been painted in a decorative way.  

Why are there 2 front doors? One seems to be centered, so I wonder if the other was a later add on. And what could it have been for? It's interesting to note that McMickle operated a post office in the house. It was called Edwardsville. Maybe the door was added so one door could be the family entrance and the other for the public conducting business with the postal enterprise. 

Close up of door

During the renovation, the porch banisters were pegged to the support columns.  

Double shouldered chimneys grace both sides of the house. Both chimneys have "1799" etched into them. 

Cellar door with wood lockbox and wood pull above. 

Flemish bond

The house is open a few days during the year. Today was not one of those days, so we just walked around to admire it. A couple of Chinese chestnut trees have dropped their load of burrs on the lawn. 

There is no sign of the kitchen. It would have been a separate building. There were rocks in the middle of the field across the street which could have been associated with the home. We did not see the cemetery but one is somewhere on the property. 

Oct 23 Medoc Mountain

 

Here, near the fall line, a 325' hill can be called a mountain. The fall line is where the harder rocks of the piedmont give way to the softer rocks of the coastal plain. Way back during the Paleozoic Age, 350 million years ago, volcanic activity formed a mountain range here. The surrounding countryside all eroded away into what is now massive open fields and almost completely flat terrain. Medoc Mountain is part of a granite structure that didn't completely erode away. 

I thought the name Medoc had a Native American origin but it is named for a French grape area in the Bordeaux region. There has to be a story behind that. Sidney Weller owned the land during the first half of the 19th century. He developed the land into vineyards which supplied grapes for his wine making business - Weller's Halifax. By 1840 it was the leading American wine producer. Weller is credited with establishing the country's grape wine viticulture. He named the mountain for the French wine making area. In 1854 he sold the business to the Garrett brothers Charles and FM. Later by 1900, a descendent Paul Garrett produced the country's most popular wine, Virginia Dare. Eventually, the vineyards were replaced with other agriculture.

In 1970, local conservationists began an effort to establish a park on the property. Much of the land was to be logged by Union Camp. The locals were able to delay timbering and by 1973 the land had been purchased and the state created the state park. It just celebrated its 50th anniversary. 

I viewed two dams in the park, both on the same tributary of Fishing Creek. This concrete one, has a rectangular opening with a metal frame to hold rising boards. 

The second dam is just upcreek. It is stone and earthen. It appears there is a possible mill race next to this one.

This surprised me. Mountain laurel, lots of it. So much that this trail has a long Mountain laurel tunnel.

At the top of the hill there was an early Boy Scout Camp dating to 1920. BSA was formed in 1910. I saw no remnants of any structures here. The summit is a long ridge which an old road follows for some distance. The Vinson family has a cemetery here. I was not able to learn anything about that family. These stones dated from late 1800s to early 1900s. The park built a wood fence around the cemetery. A roll of old cemetery fence is seen nearby.

Bridge over Fishing Creek

A large salamander, the Neuse River Waterdog is found here. It is a large salamander which only is found in the Neuse, Tar/Pamlico river basins. There are other similar salamanders known as mudpuppies, mud dogs etc. They all live in water, breathing through gills, never developing lungs like terrestrial salamanders. 

This kids' adventure and educational trail is located right by the Visitors center. It is both quirky and educational. A ranger told me that staff from several other state parks has come to view it. So, we may see more of these at other parks. 

Zoom in to see the accompaniments.

Oct 22 Wilson's Whirligigs

Vollis Simpson, the creator, calls them windmills but everyone else says they are whirligigs. Simpson built his first whirligig while stationed in Saipan, Mariana Islands during World War II, but this was no ornamental whirligig; it served a practical purpose: powering a washing machine. Back at home in Lucama, NC, Simpson began creating whirligigs to power his home heating system. Years later, Simpson came to appreciate whirligigs for their less practical qualities. Using scraps from his machine repair shop, Simpson began fashioning whirligigs just to see how they would move in the wind. Eventually he began to call them windmills, and filled his NC farm home with his whimsical creations. His place was known locally as "Acid Park". At night, headlights reflected off the many moving parts of his whirligigs mimicking an acid trip, or so they say.  His unique whirligigs caught national attention. Simpson was commissioned to create four whirligig pieces for the Atlanta 1996 Olympics.

There was barely a wisp of a breeze and only one whirligig was doing its thing during my visit. The park opened in 2017 in downtown Wilson NC. Simpson had died in 2013 at 94 years. The park had been in the works prior to his passing and Simpson was involved in refurbishing the pieces that were to be displayed. 

 

If only the wind was blowing

He has been described as an "outsider" folk artist. One might say he created a new form of art. In 2013, the North Carolina legislature named his whirligigs as "the folk art of North Carolina". 

There is even an urban legend (perhaps in this case - a rural legend) about Acid Park. A young man took Simpson's daughter to the High School prom. They took some LSD and were so bedazzled when their headlights reflected off the whirligigs, the car crashed killing Simpson's daughter. The young man died on Simpson's doorstep after telling Simpson what happened. Simpson then began building whirligigs as a tribute to his daughter. Again, that is a tall tale.  

Looking closely at these structures will reveal all sorts of pieces of metal incorporated into a spinning contraption. Old street signs, license plates, farm equipment, polished metal, and any scrap metal make up his building materials. And, he liberally used reflectors in almost every piece. Some appear to be virtually covered in reflectors. So, for my return visit, I'd try to see this place on a windy night. 

I love what Simpson has to say about common sense - "You come across a lot of these people that know so damn much, sometimes you find out they're dumber than I am..."

 

Oct 22 Cliffs of the Neuse

 

Located in the coastal plain, Cliffs of the Neuse is a small NC State Park at under 900 acres. I began my visit at the Visitor Center. The building has some interesting displays which touch on the human history of the park as well as the geology. Tuscarora and Saponi Indians have occupied the area and used it for ceremonial hunts. The sand cliff rises as much as 90' up from the river and runs about 600 yards along the river.

Mountain galax is found on the Galax Trail. I doubt you can find it many other spots in the coastal plain. Here, the galax meets Spanish moss.  I heard the Bird trail is a good birding location but I did not hike it. And, although I did not measure it, the 350 Yard Trail is probably about that long. 

The banks show erosion almost everywhere I hiked along the riverbank. It's lucky to have Cypress trees like this one. Not only are they attractive but the root and knee system work to prevent riverbank erosion.

My hike started in a Loblolly forest along an old wagon road. That led me right to the tallest point in the park on the 350 Yard Trail. Then it was a walk above the river with occasional views of it. That trail brough me to river level and a Cypress forest. This bottom area was covered in a very slick mud. I could see where other hikers had slipped in the mud. Then it was a forest walk back to the Visitor Center passing Swim Lake (another not so creatively named place). The forest was quite dense here, not suitable for off trail exploration.

In 1945 a local Goldsboro businessman Lionel Weil donated the original 291 acres for the state park. Other landowners followed his lead with donated land. A few parcels were purchased as well to bring the park up to almost 900 acres. Weil was a multi-faceted fellow. He, seemingly, was involved in everything, businesses, charities, civic organizations, farming and land conservation. He even authored a book - Our Native Trees and invented a devise to transplant Longleaf pines. 

Over time, the river carved the cliffs. The one above is quite steep and looks unstable in spots. Layers of sand, clay, seashells, shale and gravel make up the cliff, like a muted rainbow. The park has taken measures to protect the cliffs for safety and to preserve the cliffs. Climbing, repelling and digging for fossils would result in a very quick erosion of the cliffs. 

Just outside the park's boundary heading downriver, is the site of Whitehall, NC, now Seven Springs. In mid-December 1862, Union solders attempted to destroy the Confederacy's ironclad Neuse which was under construction. They also wanted to destroy some key railroad infrastructure. The Confederates, crossed the bridge at Whitehall and burned it. At night the Union soldiers rolled barrels of tar to the riverbanks and lit them on fire so they could see the Confederate positions. The following day they attempted to deceive the Confederates into thinking they were going to try to cross the river but instead send most of their soldiers to destroy a railroad trestle near Goldsboro. The Confederates were not fooled and most of the Union soldiers retreated to New Bern. A small force stayed behind to help the wounded and bury the dead. A Confederate patrol found an open trench with 100 dead Union soldiers in it. The Union's Maj Gen John Foster who led the attack was severely criticized in northern newspapers for this and failing to achieve his objections. Yet the Union promoted Foster. 

Oct 15 A Nice Randolph County Hike

 

Like a monument, this chimney soars high but is almost completely hidden from sight. It is located within 100 yards of some farm buildings and a open well. There are several wolf trees surrounding it defining the home's yard. The bricks are solid, hand formed and secured with mortar. Another pile of darker bricks may have been the the front entrance. A rectangular water filled hole likely was a cellar.

Obviously, this was a two story home. Fireplaces warmed 2 downstairs rooms and two upstairs rooms. The lower fireplace here looks like it may have been an oven. 

A large grand fireplace was probably the main room of the home.

Smaller upstairs fireplace

This is a fancy corncrib

The barn has survived due to the roof being almost fully intact. It is slowly succumbing to weather and nature.

The skinny purlins indicate to me the roof had always been metal. The ladder accesses a hayloft. The right side of the barn has several animal stalls. 

Possible grain storage bins

Mortise and tenon joints are solidly held in place with pegs throughout the structure. The wood beams show circular saw blade cuts.

Strawberry bush. However, I prefer the more whimsical "Hearts A'busting". Deer love the leaves. Often all you see is the sleek green woody stem. Don't try to sample it, for us humans it is poisonous. So poisonous it plays its way into the Grimm's fairy tale - Sleeping Beauty. The strong woody stem of the European counterpart - Euonymus europaeus (our version is Euonymus americanus), was used to make spindles. You'll recall that an evil fairy caused the young princess to prick her finger on a spindle. Instead of killing her, a good fairy was able to save her from death by changing that to 100 years of sleep. 

This creative bridge looks like a troll hangout. Several 55 gallon drums filled with concrete act as buttresses for the timber bridge. We found several large timbers down creek. 

Our tour of the property included following a creek for about a mile. It was a lovely rock filled creek with many snakeskin liverwort covered rocks. Liverworts are nonvascular plants. Without a vascular system to transport moisture and nutrients throughout the plant, liverworts tend to be small and grow in moist areas along creeks. 

The property had a long dry ridge of large rock outcrops. 

One member of our party had to depart early and encountered this dam. She texted a photo, so the rest of us altered our course to check it out.

This dam appears to have impounded several acres of flood plain along an unnamed tributary of the Uwharrie River. It is completely built of dry stacked stones probably from the creekbed. The dam has been breached where the creekbed is, on creek right. Lots of stones are just downcreek as a result of the breach. There is a small stone portion on far creek right that survived. That portion has a small conduit opening with no water flow. The dam does not appear to have spillway abutment walls like the check dams of Caraway Creek. 

About 130 feet in length, 5-6 feet wide with a level top and varying height, 8 feet at its highest point. It is located in a narrow area with rather steep hills on either side. 

Just downstream is a flash board riser laying on its side which appears to have been recently made (within 10 years). It likely was secured in the breached area for raising and lowering the pond level.