This marker stands in front of the beautifully maintained 20th century schoolhouse. There is…read moreparking adjacent. The marker reads, "Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the Historic Russell School is the last remaining Rosenwald School in Durham County. The school served as a refuge for Black children to have a formalized education from 1926 to 1945. It is owned by Cain's Chapel Missionary Baptist Church." While the building is secured, you can still walk the grounds. It is not a State of North Carolina marker. [Review 2165 of 2024 - 3822 in North Carolina - 23184 overall]

Easy to spot this marker as I was heading towards the interstate. It is on a small triangle where…read morethree roads meet up, two of which are State Road 86 and State Road 57. It recalls one of North Carolina's heroes and earliest Governors. It reads, "Thomas Burke. Governor, 1781-82. Member of Revolutionary, Provincial, & Continental Congresses. Grave is 1 1/2 miles northeast." Online, there is more information. "Thomas Burke, skilled in the literary as well as the political arts, was taken prisoner by Loyalists shortly after taking office as governor. He was born ca. 1744 in County Galway, Ireland, the son of Ulick Burke and the former Letitia Ould. Burke emigrated to Virginia and took up residence in Norfolk. There he established himself initially as a physician, but later turned to the practice of law." "In 1772 Burke removed to Hillsborough where he acquired a small plantation and resumed the practice of law. Rising quickly to prominence, he represented Orange County in all but the first of the Provincial Congresses where he was an outspoken advocate for independence. In 1777 and briefly in 1778, Burke represented Orange County in the House of Commons. On three occasions he won election to the Continental Congress, where the form of government for the new nation was slowly taking shape. As a delegate to the Continental Congress, Burke emerged as a strong advocate of states' rights and limited central government. He also earned a reputation for his brashness and irascibility, several times becoming the center of controversy." "When the embittered Burke convened the General Assembly in April of 1782, his rather ambiguous offer to retire from public office was accepted almost without remark. Having served only ten months as governor, two of those as a prisoner, he returned to Hillsborough a ruined and deeply disillusioned man. He died less than two years later, on December 2, 1783, and was interred on the grounds of his plantation, "Tyaquin."" [Review 14022 overall, 1344 of 2020, number 2662 in North Carolina.]

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!

This marker is located on US-70 (Business) which is known as Churton Street here. It is south of…read morethe center of Hillsborough towards I-85 and there is a bit of room to pull over to read the marker. Like more North Carolina historical markers, there is little text here but it is the same on both sides. It reads, "Thomas Ruffin, 1787-1870. Jurist and agriculturist. Chief Justice of North Carolina Supreme Court, 1833-1852 and 1858-1859. Grave 3/10 mile east." There is more information online. Ruffin was born in Virginia in 1787, studied at Princeton, and began his legal career in Hillsborough, where he also served in the state legislature and as a Superior Court judge. Ruffin played a key role in stabilizing the State Bank of North Carolina and authored over 1,400 judicial opinions, including landmark cases like Hoke v. Henderson and State v. Mann. Though he supported secession, he viewed it as a revolutionary act rather than a constitutional right, and he opposed the Ku Klux Klan for its violations of constitutional law. Beyond his judicial legacy, Ruffin was a leader in agricultural reform and a devoted Episcopalian, donating land for St. Matthew's Church, where he was buried in 1870. This is marker number G-11 and it was erected in 2011 by the North Carolina Office of Archives and History. [Review 1378 of 2025 - 4487 in North Carolina - 24930 overall]

This marker is located just south of downtown Hillsborough and points out some of the earliest…read moresettlement of the area. The road doesn't widen and there really isn't room to pull over here. The marker reads, "William Churton. Cartographer. Surveyed Granville District. In 1749 extended N.C.-Va. boundary line 90 miles west. Lived nearby." There is more information online. "William Churton was a colonial cartographer and surveyor employed by the offices of the Granville District. Arriving in North Carolina about 1748, he initially was assigned to the Granville Land Office in Edenton. Churton and lawyer Daniel Weldon were appointed commissioners to extend the colonial Virginia-North Carolina boundary line in 1749 in cooperation with Virginia commissioners Joshua Fry and Peter Jefferson (father of Thomas). Together these men established an extension of the colonial boundary ninety miles to the west. The resulting map, created by Fry and Jefferson, was presented to the British government by North Carolina governor Gabriel Johnston. "In 1753 Churton and another Granville agent were appointed trustees for 635 acres of land for the establishment of the town of Salisbury. The following year, Churton was appointed trustee for 663 acres for the establishment of the community that today is known as Hillsborough. Planned under the name of Orange and first established as Corbin Town, the community soon was renamed Childsburgh. By that time, Churton had become public register for Orange County and a town commissioner for Childsburgh. He also represented Orange County in the colonial General Assembly 1755 to 1760 and 1761 to 1762. He was appointed as both a county surveyor and justice of the peace in 1757." [Review 76 of 2025 - 4051 in North Carolina - 23644 overall]

A fun roadside attraction! It's much bigger than I expected…read moreit to be but also don't expect a full-blown village. Lots of structures to look at with significant detail. Take your time and enjoy this special roadside attraction. Don't forget to sign the guest book in the mailbox.

Shangri-La Stone Village is in Prospect Hill, NC. It is near the volunteer fire department, so if…read moreyou can find that, you will see Shangri-La. Admission is free and there was not anywhere to leave a donation but they do have a notebook that you can sign in and share your thoughts. The notebook in the box was from April and there have been many visitors since then. The Village was created with stone from a local quarry. He quarried the stone himself. Henry Warren created this village when he was 72 back in 1968. He was battling cancer at the time. He was a retired tobacco farmer and created 27 buildings that are pretty tall, I'd guess 4-6 feet tall, out of stone. He selected each piece and constructed it all himself. He used white flint rock, quartz, brick, and cement to create this masterpiece. I like that he used other items in his work like door knobs, table legs, ceramic and glass. The art in the designs is remarkable. His workmanship needs to be applauded as his work is still standing after decades. The Village has a mill with water wheel, a school, a church, a theater, a water tower, a farmhouse, a doghouse, an outhouse, a motel, a general store, a jail, a library, a liquor store, and City Hall. He was working on the hospital when he died and his family completed that for him. He finished in 1972 and put up a plaque in the front that says, "Let me live in the house by the side of the road and be a friend to man." Visitors are welcome to tour his creation at any time and for free. Children who came to visit would leave toys to enjoy the village so it was fun to see who was living in the village. Warren died at 84 years old back in 1977 but left behind his work of love for all of us to still enjoy. So if you get a chance, stop by and enjoy his work and take in the whimsy and feel the magic.

This small marker just north of I-40 on MLK Jr Blvd recalls this great woman who fought for the…read morevery road you're probably driving on today. The marker reads, "Harriet M. Berry, 1877-1940. Champion of good roads. Her intensive lobbying led to 1921 law creating modern state highway system. Born 8 mi. N." As is customary with North Carolina's markers, there is more information online that I summarize. Ms. Berry attended the Nash-Kollock School in Hillsborough and the State Normal and Industrial School (presently UNC-Greensboro). Following graduation in 1897, she taught for two years at the Oxford Orphanage. In 1901 Miss Berry began work in Chapel Hill with the North Carolina Geological and Economic Survey, led by Joseph Hyde Pratt. She rose from stenographer to secretary for the Survey to its acting head in 1917 when Pratt entered military service. During those years Miss Berry became active with the Good Roads Association and in 1919 led that organization in lobbying for legislation to create a state highway commission. In 1921 the General Assembly created a strong highway commission, thus setting the foundation for the modern highway system. The News and Observer called her "the best woman politician in the state." Aside from her interest in good roads, she was also an active campaigner for equal suffrage laws. Thank you, Ms. Berry. I appreciate it. [Review 12959 overall, 275 of 2020.]

For the past three years, Husband & I have attended Preservation Chapel Hill's "Voices From The…read moreGrave" at this fascinating cemetery. This is a great way to experience its' history! Deep Dish Theater company puts on this dignified "show". A Tour Guide leads you to several different graves where Actors bring to life in an informative and entertaining way, that person's story. The writing this year was extra good, and the acting as well! So interesting!!! It is conducted at night, so you do have to be a bit careful walking around, but each group has a couple lanterns to help with that. Parking can be a PAIN since it's on campus and last year the night we went had a game going on to complicate that issue. Just allow extra time for dealing with that...we just know we'll have to walk a distance. This year we did notice there is a parking garage next to the cemetery, but can't attest to the availability of it. We walk. TIP: This event has been taking place in October...look for Living Social deals around that time...it is a VERY affordable event, and well-worth the small amount of money it costs.

I have visited this historic cemetery a number of times over the years. It is very old (founded in…read more1798), quite peaceful and attractive, and is located just across South Road from old Woollen Gym. There are many famous folks buried here, including legendary North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith, band leader Kay Kyser, playwright Paul Green, novelists Alice Adams and Max Steele, university president Frank Porter Graham, university president Robert Burton House, university system president William Friday, and CBS newsman Charles Kuralt. I came on this day to pay my respects to Coach Smith, and Coach Guthridge (who's ashes were scattered in the adjacent Memorial Grove portion of the cemetery). It took awhile to find Coach Smith's plot as it still has no headstone or marker of any kind, other than the simple funeral home plaque - a bit surprising since it has been almost 18 months since his passing.