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<\/a>“We draw on the beauty of the season. Everyone loves Christmas,” says Susan Creighton, who calls herself the perpetual chairperson of the holiday event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Attendance has grown from a mere 65 participants the first year to 2,000 guests last year. It brought in $25,000 in ticket sales for the historic commission’s preservation efforts. That includes the upkeep of the Barker House and the Cupola House \u2014 two architectural jewels on the National Historic Register.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While many of Edenton’s earliest structures are gone, history can’t erase the accomplishments of its founding leaders who helped secure America’s liberty. James Iredell would become an associate justice on the first U.S. Supreme Court. Joseph Hewes, a prosperous shipbuilder and politician, would become a member of the Continental Congress and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Hugh Williamson, surgeon general of the North Carolina militia, would become a signer of the U.S. Constitution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And, of course, there is Penelope Barker, credited with leading the Edenton Tea Party as a gesture of solidarity with those on the political forefront.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the war did come, Edenton stood ready, but was not directly involved in military action. However, its protected port became a lifeline for supplies for Washington’s armies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It’s a town proud of its past, but it’s not a relic,” Creighton points out. “Ours is a living history. Our homes that date back to the 1700s are filled with people \u2014 some as residences and others as public buildings. St. James Episcopal Church is celebrating its 300th anniversary. And many of our downtown businesses occupy buildings that date to the 1800s.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Homes on the Christmas tour through the years have reflected the town’s historical evolution \u2014 from Jacobean, Georgian and Federal to Victorian and renovated mill houses, says Betsy Hunt, historic commission chair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Its location on the beautiful Albemarle gives it a certain serenity,” she says. “Edenton is gracious and modest, with a mix of people and cultures,” Hunt says. “Its diversity and ability to change with time have given the town resilience.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Time and Change<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
But change was not always easy, says Linda Eure, Edenton’s historic site manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The smell of tar and pitch being loaded onto waiting ships along the wharf are long gone. Gone also are the boathouses, warehouses, and bawdy houses that once were part of Edenton’s flourishing commercial port.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A hurricane in 1795 closed the Roanoke Inlet and the town’s easy access to the sea. And, the opening of the Dismal Swamp Canal further drained commerce north to Norfolk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The people of Edenton were reluctant to let go of their maritime tradition, says Eure. “They petitioned Congress to dredge the inlet. When that failed, they appealed to President James Monroe, and even hosted a presidential visit. It was to no avail,” she says. “The inlet remained closed.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The economy turned to the Albemarle for its huge commercial fisheries and inland for cotton and peanut crops. Timber also became an important aspect of the region’s economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Later, when the North Carolina coast was locked tight by blockades during the Civil War, shad and herring fisheries became critical. An article in the Sept. 28, 1861 edition of Harper’s Weekly describes in great detail shad and herring operations on bays and inlets of the Albemarle and Pamlico sounds. “The movable outfit consists of a pair of heavy boats and the seine, with its corks and lines of almost incredible extent.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A major development was yet to come in 1869 with the introduction of the pound net. One account tells of an individual who pulled in one million herring in a single night in 1890 using a pound net.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, tourism is an important part of the Edenton economy, along with agriculture and timber. A study by East Carolina University in the mid-1990s showed town leaders how best to promote tourism to energize the economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Edenton’s water-based resources make it a natural choice for recreational fishing and boating. The recently renovated waterfront offers leisure boat owners the convenience of in-town docking. Edenton Bay is the scene of the annual Edenton Bay Challenge and the Windmill Nationals Sailing Event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition, the Sound Country Celebration each October attracts hundreds of paddlers to the local waters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Edenton’s history is the heart of its tourism. Thousands of visitors are attracted to Colonial Living Days in mid-October, Christmas in Edenton each December, and the Edenton biennial springtime Pilgrimage, a tour of homes and gardens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Living Assets<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Edenton has many stories to tell, some by its people and some by the brick and mortar of three centuries. That they endure for generations is largely a tribute to its citizens who value their living assets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The rescue of the Cupola House in 1918 is recognized as one of the earliest community preservation efforts in North Carolina to save a structure. The house was built in 1758 by Francis Corbin, land agent for the last of the English Lord Proprietors. When its owner fell into financial straits in 1918, she sold the elaborate downstairs woodwork to the Brooklyn Museum, where it remains on display today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That sale prompted local citizens to form the Cupola House Association to raise funds to purchase the property for adaptive use. It was used as the town’s public library for more than 45 years, complete with a period tea room on the first floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unsuccessful in its attempts to purchase the original woodwork back from the Brooklyn Museum, the association in the 1960s raised sufficient funds to have the “lost” woodwork reproduced. Today, the Cupola House is a popular feature of the tour of historic sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The home is furnished in period pieces, and its gardens are maintained by association volunteers in the colonial revival manner. The “blueprint” for the garden was the 1769 detailed maps of Edenton drawn by C.J. Sauthier, a French military engineer and landscape architect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other historic rescues continued through the years. The Penelope Barker Association was formed in 1952 to move the handsome Barker House to its present waterfront location for community use. Three civic organizations led the effort, including the Edenton Women’s Club, the Business and Professional Women’s Club and the Junior Chamber of Commerce. When the debt was paid in 1980, the association presented the deed of ownership to the Edenton Historic Commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many other treasured places were rescued by effectively organized community groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One such effort reminds Eure of the Edenton Tea Party. In 1948, talk of tearing down the Iredell House pushed the members of the Daughters of the American Revolution into action. There was only one solution: go and buy the house. Thirteen women surprised the bank manager when they asked for a $15,000 loan for the purchase. Each signed a personal loan for a share of the debt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The story is that when they told their husbands, ‘the shock among the men was great.’ They paid off the loan with suppers, card parties and pecan sales,” she says. Their determination paid off. Iredell House became a designated historic site in 1951.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It’s another great story of women acting boldly in Edenton,” Eure adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For information about Christmas in Edenton, contact the Edenton Historical Commission at 252-482-7800. For additional information about historic Edenton, contact the State Historic Site center at 252-482-2637. Or, visit Edenton on the Web at www.townofedenton.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n This article was published in the Holiday 2001<\/a> issue of Coastwatch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n