Hello everyone, I had an absolutely fantastic, once in a lifetime experience at Patrick Henry's Red…read moreHill. The property is beautiful, relaxing and well-maintained. I highly recommend checking out this place. The admission is very affordable and the experience is worth the cost. I really enjoyed learning about the property from Patrick Henry's descendant. He was very kind and well-informed about the life of Patrick Henry. The first part of the experience includes a short film about Patrick Henry's life and family. Patrick Henry's descendant explained everything about Patrick Henry and was passionate about history. My family and I were very fortunate to have the whole property to ourselves. The property has breathtaking views and is very peaceful. I enjoyed walking the grounds and seeing the different historical buildings. The whole experience was truly memorable and enjoyable. I will definitely visit again when I travel to Virginia from Florida. I went to purchase a book in the gift shop about Patrick Henry and his descendant gave me a free copy. I really appreciated that and enjoy learning more about the founding fathers.

It's off the beaten path but a neat look back to Colonial times. A great patriotic look at one of…read morethe more outspoken voices of the American Revolution. Also has a nice display to honor the slaves and freedmen who made their homes there. It was a nice history lesion and afternoon spent in the beauty of the Virginia countryside

This is such a cool little museum and place to see if you are wanting to do something unique in…read moreDurham that's rich in the city's history. Museum: 5/5 The museum has a ton of cool displays that show the early days of the tobacco industry and Duke family. Right outside of the museum is a large area with a trail that takes you by the Dukes original house, tobacco plants and the tobacco field. You are free to wonder the grounds. However, I recommend paying for the guided tour. With that you get to go inside the structures and hear all about the history of the property and early tobacco industry. In addition you get to learn a lot about the events that shaped the city. Price: 5/5 The museum and grounds is FREE! The guided tour is only $4. Coming from CA, it doesn't get much better than this! Customer Service: 5/5 The guide was great! Very friendly and very knowledgeable in the content. Parking: 5/5 Huge parking lot right in front. Parking was great.

I think it best to take the guided tour, you get a great history of the Duke family's transition…read morefrom farming to production - leading to an efficient industry. Highlights include entering the 2nd factory and the Duke family home. (And I can't get "Duke, duke, duke... Duke of Earl, duke, duke out of my head). You even get to whack tobacco. While the tobacco industry goes back earlier, it is just about the time after the Civil War ends that it really gets interesting, as soldiers coming home chew (or is that "chaw"), smoke, or sniff tobacco. Washington Duke capitalized on it. And now... there's a university and gardens named after the family - with a top notch basketball program, of course! The tour is about an hour. There are other building to see from the outside. Can ask as many questions as you like!

Interesting spot to walk around and learn about some Civil War history. You can walk inside some of…read morethe structures and the house on the property. The staff were all very friendly - they were setting up for a field trip the morning we visited. Next time, I'd like to go on a guided tour to learn more about the site. We also took a walk through the trails in the woods, that only took us about 15 minutes. The trails were easy but they do have a lot of roots, so you need to be careful not to trip! Some parts of the trail were a little overgrown, but still passable.

Really interesting historical site, kind and knowledgeable staff. The trails are also lovely for…read moresome added walking opportunities.

Ayr Mount is in Hillsborough, NC. The property is on the National Register of Historic Places. The…read moreproperty grounds are open daily and house tours are available on certain days and times, just follow the signs to the parking area and either to the Poet's Walk (one mile trail) or the House. Ayr Mount was built in 1815 and made of brick (you can see fingerprints in some of the bricks from the workers). He named it for his birthplace in Ayr, Scotland. William Kirkland was a merchant and built his house along the Native American Trading Path. Kirkland had fourteen children and the property stayed in the family for four generations. If I remember correctly he had 57 grandchildren. Richard Jenrette bought the house in 1985 then donated it to the Classical American Home Preservation Trust and we can view the property. The house features tall ceilings; and intricate details; a lot of the furniture are family pieces. I highly recommend touring this house if in the Hillsborough Area.

Very pleasant 1 mile walk in nature with benches near the river and a pond. The historic house was…read moreclosed but the grounds were beautiful and well maintained. I didn't notice a public restroom. Parking lot available and free.

Another marker here at the intersection of Buckhorn Quarter Road and US 58 near Courtland Virginia,…read moreI think everyone's heard of the famous Dred Scott decision. And so here the history comes a bit more alive. The marker reads, "Dred Scott, a slave, lived as a child northeast of here on the Peter Blow plantation early in the 1800s. The Blows moved to Missouri and in 1830 sold Scott to an army officer who was stationed in various free territories. Scott sued for his and his family's freedom in 1846 because he lived where slavery was illegal. In 1857, however, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Congress could not outlaw slavery and that Scott was property, not a citizen. The Dred Scott decision outraged abolitionists and further divided the nation. Blow's sons purchased Scott's freedom in 1857; he died in 1858." After reading the other markers about Indians, I am reminded that the US has definitely done some depressing and shameful stuff. [Review 11884 overall, 1666 of 2019.]

I live in Massachusetts and visited a friend in Charlotte a few weeks ago. He'd wanted to visit…read moreStagville Plantation for a tour, so we took the drive. The woman who guided the tour was wonderful. I wish I knew her name - if she gave it, I didn't hear it. She started off by telling us that she would talk a little bit about the property and the buildings, but would focus mostly on the slaves who were held there, and what their daily lives were like. At no point did she seem like she had memorized a script. She spoke intelligently and knowledgeably, and really gave us a feel for what Stagville's enslaved people endured. She welcomed questions, and was very clear about what she knew, what she didn't know, and what she surmised. There were 2 people on the tour who, if I had been the guide, I would have wanted to slap. However, our guide handled their questions with tact... Our guide spoke about children being born into slavery on the plantation, and she said that the moment a baby drew their first breath, they were a slave. She said they were put to work at age 7, working from sunrise to sundown. Then she asked any children aged 7 or older to raise their hands, which they did. The guide said, "You would have been put to work at the age of 7," and one boy, around age 8 or 9, replied, "But I'm not black." (Yes, I wanted to slap him.) The guide replied, "No you're not. But I'm telling you about this so you can use your imagination to see what life might have been like." The second person I wanted to slap was a woman, probably in her 40s or 50s, who asked, "Were the slaves treated well?" (Do you see why I wanted to slap her? Does she not understand what slavery was?) The guide replied that she should be able to tell from the information being given on the tour, but that we would get back to that question later. Near the end of the tour, the guide asked the woman, 'What was your question again?" and the woman replied, again, "Were the slaves treated well?" The guide asked other people taking the tour for their opinions, and everyone was pretty clear with their responses. The guide handled it like a champ. All in all, this was a very informative, well planned tour about a horrible time in our history. I would highly recommend it.

This entrance is only for the visitor center guests, bathroom and few pictorials to look at. The…read moresite is huge, comprised of several land spaces that require driving to and from. Highly recommend going in at 1pm where there is a tour. If you go alone without a guide all you see is the buildings and just grass... Wish we knew ahead of time a bit more of this laidback type historic area where we met only one person in charge and she's already occupied with 2 other ppl explaining its history behind a desk.

A lovely town. The people are friendly, the parks are beautiful and the restaurants are delicious…read more Be sure to visit the river walk and have some coffee at cup of joe .

Hidden historical gem with fascinating history. Girls' school that taught science, math etc during…read morecivil war time. Quite progressive! Also place that Mary Todd Lincoln's close friend and dress maker lived. A great find in our visit to Chapel Hill NC!

This historic site is very unique, because it's history is so well documented. The student's…read moreletters are full of details that make you understand their time there. My wife and I will definitely go back when there is a presentation. The staff was very knowledgeable and made the tour interesting.

Not much to say, it's a small historical exhibit and also information center. It's cute and a…read morequick and easy thing to see if you're nearby. Parking in Hillsborough is pretty easy so it's a great place to take a stroll and while doing so this is a great little thing to stop in and see.

Functioning as the Hillsborough visitors' center, this historic house preserves many original…read moredetails and lots of charm. In addition to the information center, the back of the house also offers a small meeting room and art gallery. The exterior features a small but lovely garden with a sunken terrace accented by seating and a sundial, with crepe myrtle trees and abundant flowers in the warmer months. The few outbuildings also contain a public restroom, and the large, grassy lot is a popular place for taking photos. If you're looking for a glimpse of Hillsborough's past while exploring its present, stop in!