Walking around downtown Edenton is a bit like walking through an expansive, outdoor museum. These homes and buildings are old – many are older than most in the state. Many of them are full of historical and cultural significance, not only for Edenton but also for the state of North Carolina. You can learn more details about each site from the Edenton Historical Commission’s placards around different locations in town, on tours and exhibits offered by the Historic Edenton State Historic Site and with our Edenton Attractions page. But to better inform your next stroll through town or for fast facts to share with visitors, here are the stories behind a few of Edenton’s historic sites.
Chances are you’re probably already familiar with this one. The Barker House is primarily known as the Penelope Barker House Welcome Center – a first stop for many visitors to the town. Penelope Barker and her husband, Thomas Barker, built the home in 1782, and originally located it two blocks north on Broad Street.
Penelope was a bit of a celebrity in her day. She’s known for leading the Edenton Tea Party, the first form of political protest among Britain’s colonial women against the Crown. In 1830 Augustus More bought the Barker House and added extensive renovations three times, until it included the three floors, eight fireplaces and the Georgian-style second front parlor visitors see today. Today it serves as the Edenton Historical Commission’s headquarters, which manages events such as the Christmas Candlelight Tour and efforts to preserve and promote local history and culture.
Did you know that North Carolina’s second oldest church building is right in the heart of downtown Edenton? The church itself was built in 1736, but the parish itself holds the oldest charter in the state, thanks to the first Vestry Act of 1701. The churchyard has been the resting place for more than 700 community members since 1722, including three state governors, Henderson Walker, Thomas Pollock and Charles Eden. Their gravesites are known as the Governors Graves, and you’ll see them as the tombstones under the churchyard’s towering magnolias.
Ah, the Cupola House. It seems almost symbolic of historic Edenton, with its signature massive lantern cupola and renowned gardens. Then big-shot Francis Corbin, one of the last famous Lords Proprietors who acquired large tracts of land in south Virginia from King Charles II in the 17th century, built the home. The home’s Jacobean design has been renowned as one of the few in the South while also puzzling historians with its inconsistent but nevertheless compelling design. The gorgeous Colonial Revival gardens on the property were originally designed by Donald Parker, who also worked as the architect for Colonial Williamsburg.
The house fell into extensive disrepair and the gardens vanished in the early 20th century. Thankfully, Edenton residents have a reputation for appreciating and saving history and beauty when they see it – in 1918 they rallied to save the property, forming the Cupola House Association in the process.
For one of the smaller lighthouses in the state, the Roanoke River Lighthouse has a fairly involved past. It was one of the initial screw-pile lighthouses in the mid-Atlantic area, but it differed from others with its two-story structure (instead of just one) and an additional tower that houses the lantern for the lighthouse’s lamp. It operated until it was decommissioned in 1941, and it was later moved by Emmett Wiggins, using an old Landing Craft Infantry assault ship, across Edenton Bay to the mouth of Filberts Creek, west of town.
In 2003 Hurricane Isabel hit … hard. It nearly destroyed the lighthouse, but – once again – Edenton residents recognized another landmark worth saving. The Edenton Historical Commission purchased the lighthouse from Wiggins’ heirs in 2007 and moved it to Colonial Park at Edenton Harbor. But the story doesn’t end there. In 2010 a permit allowed the Town of Edenton to reposition the lighthouse over the water, where it currently rests today.
Obviously, this doesn’t even begin to cover all of Edenton’s incredible and significant historic homes and sites. The best way to learn about them all is by getting out and exploring around town. If you’re interested in guided tours or admission tickets to any of these locations, you can learn about times and offerings on the Historic Edenton State Historic Site and Edenton Historical Commission’s homepages.
About the Author Hannah Lee Leidy
Hannah Lee is a fiction and creative nonfiction writer living on the Outer Banks. She graduated from Kenyon College in Ohio with a degree in English Literature and Creative Writing. Traveling is her passion, but nowhere ever feels as much like home as the Outer Banks. When not planning her next trip or adventure, Hannah Lee loves aimless drives down the Beach Road, spending copious amounts of time in coffee shops and reading every short story collection she gets her hands on. 