The Time Travelers

This is the final installment in a series of posts exploring  The Colonial Inn 's  past and present.   Click here  for the introduction and full list of posts.  Enjoy!      For the last few weeks, The Time Travelers History Club has been sharing what we learned on a tour of the historic Colonial Inn in Hillsborough.  This 180+ year old Inn is currently being revived and transformed into a boutique hotel and event space that perfectly combines historic and modern beauty, comfort, and hospitality.  Are you curious to see what is inside the preserved white walls?  To learn more about what the Colonial Inn will have to offer? Keep reading for a sneak-peek look in this final installment of Exploring Past and Present at The Colonial Inn .

This is Part Three of a series of posts exploring  The Colonial Inn 's  past and present.   Click here  for the introduction and full list of posts.  Enjoy!        If you've driven on King Street in Hillsborough sometime during the past year, you probably noticed a large, white building being transformed from battered to beautiful.  That is the Colonial Inn, a structure over 180 years old.  The building is making a comeback to serve it's original purpose as a hotel, but in a modern style.  Ever wondered what it looks like inside?  Keep scrolling to get a sneak peek look at the result of painstaking restoration!

This is Part Two of a series of posts exploring  The Colonial Inn 's  past and present.   Click here  for the introduction and full list of posts.  Enjoy!     The Colonial Inn has stood on King Street in Hillsborough for 180-260 years (see this previous post about the rich history of the Inn) and now is undergoing careful restoration to become a boutique hotel and community event center.  But did you know that the Inn would not be standing today if it hadn't been for the bravery of one woman during the nineteenth century? 

This is Part One of a series of posts exploring  The Colonial Inn 's  past and present.   Click here for the introduction and full list of posts.  Enjoy! The Colonial Inn in Hillsborough was so much more than a dilapidated building.

    History is coming to life on King Street in Hillsborough, North Carolina; it's face a welcoming white facade.  The large structure has sat abandoned for over fifteen years, but now the grounds are bustling with men and women determined to make it shine again. Members of the Time Travelers standing in between the old and new on The Colonial Inn grounds.     The Time Travelers History Club was honored with a sneak-peek tour of the historic Colonial Inn, possibly well over 200 years old, that is currently undergoing restorations to become a gorgeous boutique hotel and event center.  Though there is still work to be done, the beautiful combination of historic style, modern touches, and elegant atmosphere promise that long-lasting memories will be made there.      Join The Time Travelers as we continue to Explore Past and Present with a series of posts featuring The Colonial Inn.  Learn the Inn's rich history , how the Inn was saved from destruction once before during the Civ

Recently, we decided to explore an outdoor location that racing enthusiasts love:  historic Occoneechee Speedway in Hillsborough, North Carolina. The location was originally a quarter-mile horse track on a plantation.  This one-mile race track was built in 1947 and the track was one of Nascar's first dirt tracks. The first race had twenty-eight cars and was won by Bob Flock. Many   famous people, like Richard Petty, his father Lee Petty, Junior Johnson, the Flock brothers, and others raced there. The last race was won by Richard Petty in 1968.  Expansion plans were made but the birth of the Talladega Speedway killed the income for the track owners. The track soon became abandoned and was left to rot. Eventually Hillsborough  turned the track into a walking track but kept much of the historic integrity, such as the grandstands.   Photo credit AB Two of the original racecars remain on the location. This site still holds significant historic value. An example of this is when the  prod

This year many of the Time Travelers chose to compete in historical competitions.  These competitions provide opportunities for learning in real world ways.  The format is typically that of project-based learning, meaning that students work to create a physical object in a real-world way.  These competitions provide authentic audiences that extend outside of our homes, families, and schools, and allow students the opportunity to showcase their work in a big way. The first, the Tar Heel Junior Historian Competition , is a state-wide contest that allows students to compete with a variety of entries, like photography, art exhibits, magazine articles, documentaries, creative writing, and much more. Our club entered two entries in the History in Action competition, which has been postponed due to the quarantine.  We hope to learn more about the results of this event soon. D competed individually in the Artifact Search contest with the picture below, and he was one of the winn

Looking for something fun to do during the quarantine and learn while you do it?  Participate in Trivia Tuesday! 1792 Beer Co. has partnered with The Time Travelers history club to host a trivia night on the topic Colonial North Carolina History .  Students in the club created sixteen questions about the rich early history of our state and invite you to play along!  Here's how it works:      1) Find the answers to the sixteen trivia questions below and write them down.  Feel free to use the internet!  Our list of online Resources for Research found here and is a great place to start.      2) Take your answers to 1792 Beer Co. to enter to win the special prize package!  Ends May 5th, 2020. Here are the questions: 1. What patriot spy's intelligence led to the Battle of Elizabethtown in 1781? 2. Name North Carolina's three signers of the Declaration of Independence. 3. How did the "Father of the American Revolution in North Carolina&quo

"A BIG FAIR THIS FALL" ( 1 ) "Remember the date and make your plan to spend those days in seeing what old Person County really can do when she tries." ( 2 ) Listen to The Flashback Five Episode 3: The Person County Fair That is the how the Person County Fair Association described the first Person County fair in a Roxboro Courier article advertising the big event.  The Person County Fair, which took place for nine years, drew thousands of people, featured a variety of shows and exhibits, and was featured in newspapers from across the state, including Asheville, Greensboro, and Raleigh. In today's episode , Ms. Bessie reads a letter from a friend Mr. Clifton Jones about the first Person County Fair.  Jones talks about riding into town for the first day of the fair on his family's horse Alma.  The fair was held  in and around Winstead Tobacco Warehouse at 105 Academy Street from Thursday, October 8th to Saturday, October 12, 1914.  The

In this episode , Miss Bessie talks about her 1916 three-door Ford Model T and featherbed.  She talks about it's features and it's many uses including pleasure rides, jobs on the farm, carrying vegetables  to the market, and hauling dry stove wood . She was driving with a friend in an unfamiliar part of Hurdle Mills.  They came upon a creek and could not go back so they attempted to cross it but got very disappointed when the water made the engine die.  Miss Bessie went to her friend's son's house, and he helped with the car and they got the car running.  He came with them to his house where her friend was going to stay, as she was in a bad condition.  He helped her get back across the river and she took him home.  This is the story of Miss Bessie's Model T and the featherbed. Listen to Miss Bessie tell the story in her own words here. That was Miss Bessie's first car, so let us know in the comments section what your first car was.    It may