HPC meeting summary 01252023 - Laserfiche WebLink

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by Beverly Scarlett and Vera Ceceski of Stagville to talk about researching African American genealogy. c. Benjamin Duke's gentleman's farm in Orange County: new discoveries: Staff. Made a PowerPoint presentation about the very interesting history of the 1890s house that still stands on Old NC 10 near University Station, covering most of the land now occupied by the Brumley Nature Preserve operated by Triangle Land Conservancy. After doing research with book author Laura Phillips, they determined that this house must have had an unusual story as it is not like anything else in the county. Staff followed some leads that led to the Duke family archives at Duke University, there he found a large collection of photos and papers that documented the history of a large 720 acre Duke farm and the construction of the house—that Duke carried out in partnership with local resident John Hogan. Members viewed the photos and survey plats that documented this fascinating story. The papers include letters between Duke and John Hogan relating to land purchases, crops, livestock, construction of barns and even a hand-drawn floor plan of the Hogan house, drawn by Duke. Photos depict the immense complex of barns built by Duke along with a wonderful range of views of the pastoral rural landscape, old roads including the historic Raleigh Road, and various buildings. Members enjoyed viewing the photos and plats, as many have been to the Brumley preserve and seen the somewhat puzzling remains of the old Duke farm complex. d. Proposed Soil Gathering Ceremony on the Little River: A local group led by James Williams, representing the Orange Co Community Remembrance Coalition, wishes to hold a small ceremony at the County-owned Little River Park, to gather some soil (a few shovels of soil) as a symbolic remembrance of the lynching of a man named Wright Woods that occurred near somewhere in the general vicinity of this park back in 1869— the first of a series of at least five documented lynchings that took place in Orange Co. This group has been endorsed by Rep. Renee Price and I believe all the other county commissioners for their work to bring light to the stories of the lynchings and their victims. You can read more about their work at their web site: https://occrcoalition.org . This effort is a part of a nationwide project by the Equal Justice Initiative to commemorate the thousands of documented lynchings that took place across the south. Their informative web site includes a section on this project: https://eii.org/projects/community- remem brance-protect/ e. Membership/election of officers: Staff is still working hard to identify eligible candidates who might be willing to serve. It would be great to work on locating younger members if possible. Discussion followed. Staff will ask the county PR folks to post a new notice that the HPC is seeking applicants. Moore offered to reach out to a few potential candidates that she knows. ITEM #6: UPDATES AND INFORMATION ITEMS a. Blackwood Farmhouse Restoration Project: Work continues to progress on the exterior restoration. Contractor Jeff Bergman has completed the window restoration, and continues to do great work on restoring the weatherboards and other wood elements. He should be finished by April. There is still a great deal of work going on to complete the other major park improvements, including a new entrance driveway, a new large picnic shelter, a vault toilet, and an amphitheater. The goal is to have a soft opening for the general public sometime in early spring and a grand opening in April. b. Ridge Road School National Register Nomination progress report: Our consultant for the project, Heather Fearnbach, completed the Study List application on schedule and submitted it to the SHPO at the end of December. We should receive word of its approval after the upcoming meeting of the SHPO's National Register Advisory Committee in early February. She has already started work on the first draft of the actual National Register 2