Penelope Barker House Welcome Center

06/02/2026

Preservation Update!

Andrew Ownbey meets with master plasterer Patrick Webb to discuss plaster repairs and restoration in the Cupola House.

Patrick and his colleagues will be here for the next couple of weeks to oversee the plaster portion of the woodwork project.

The team includes master plasterers Patrick Webb and Tim Hardy, assistants Miles Kimmel and David Morton, and intern Robert Mason from the American College of the Building Arts in Charleston.

Stay tuned…

Please join us in welcoming them to Edenton!

05/28/2026

It's just a little over a week away! If you haven't made arrangements to be a part of this year's PCRA Garden Party, then now is the time! Visit www.perquimansrestoration.org to register today!

05/24/2026

Congratulations to our Vice-President Dr. Benjamin Speller who was presented with the Excellence in Historic Preservation Award by the Edenton Tea Party Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution at their awards luncheon on May 20th for his dedication to historic preservation in Bertie County and the surrounding areas, as well as preservation of records that enable people of Color to find their family history. His lifetime dedication to the historical preservation of artifacts and records was also recognized at the luncheon.

05/23/2026

Just in time for memorial day, they’re back! The special limited edition Janie Wood scarves are back. We’ve already sold over a dozen so don’t delay. The shop at the Penelope Barker house is open Saturday and Memorial Day. 🇺🇸

05/18/2026

05/18/2026

Edenton's historic 1767 Chowan County Courthouse had quite the crowd on Tuesday. North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein, Lt. Gov. Rachel Hunt, Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, State Auditor Steve Boliek, State Treasurer Brad Briner and fellow state leaders were all in town for the monthly Council of State meeting, with Stein also taking time to reinforce the state's investment in rural communities.

"We are the oldest part of the state, the most historic part of the state, this is where everything began," said Dawson Tyler, founder of Down East Preservation in Edenton when asked about what it means to see state officials in the town on Tuesday.

During America's 250th anniversary, state leaders are taking trips to historic areas that helped shape our country. On Tuesday, that was in Edenton.

05/16/2026

“I love interacting with visitors, because it is just amazing to me how far people travel to visit Edenton. And that, to me, is the most fun… being around the shop in the Penelope Barker House and greeting and talking with the visitors.

I would say that most of our visitors are from North Carolina, from all over the state. But we also see a lot of people from the Tidewater area, Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake. They’ll drive down for the day. We’ll have people from all over the country who are heading to the Outer Banks, and they make a stop here on the way. And I’m always pleasantly surprised when Colonial Williamsburg people show up. We’re not that far away, and there’s a lot of crossover throughout our local and regional history.

It’s funny how when you live in an area, and I have been guilty of this, you tend to think, oh, well, I’ll go there someday. It’s just down the street or it’s 5 minutes away. I’ll visit. And time passes, and you never get around to this part of your community that you’d actually really enjoy. You don’t know what you’re missing. People are often surprised at how many cool things we have in the shop. We have stocked some great new items, and we’ve brought back some things that we used to have that our customers have really been missing. A lot of great hostess gifts, and wonderful Edenton-themed merchandise.

Our motto is to preserve, restore, and educate. And so, those three columns are the centerpiece of what we’re all about at the Barker House and the Edenton Historical Commission. If you haven’t stopped by to see us yet, now is the time!”

-Trish Rand, Director of Customer Engagement, Penelope Barker House Welcome Center, Edenton Historical Commission

05/12/2026

05/09/2026

The Barker House Gift Shop:  The perfect spot for last minute Mother’s Day gifts!   Lots of new goodies.  We are accepting payment for the limited edition, second and final shipment order of the Janie Wood scarf (that sold out in one weekend) and will ship to you for $5.   Order yours (in person or by phone only) before they sell out again and are gone for good. ❤️

05/08/2026

The Edenton Historical Commission is pleased to welcome to the Penelope Barker House Welcome Center a new portrait of Edenton’s Signer of the Declaration of Independence, Joseph Hewes.  The portrait is a recent gift of Mr. and Mrs. William W. Ivey of Asheboro.  Bill Ivey is an attorney and renowned collector of early North Carolina antiquities, and the author of several books and articles on early North Carolina long rifles.

Because of Hewes’s Quaker background, the portrait was apparently commissioned by Guilford College and hung in its library until it was deaccessioned in the 1920s and acquired by a local Greensboro family.  The Iveys were only the third owner of this rare copy of the only surviving image of Hewes taken during his lifetime, a portrait miniature by the Philadelphia artist, Charles Wilson Peale.

After decades of enjoying the portrait over their living room mantel, they are pleased to see Joseph Hewes finally come home to Edenton in time for its 250th anniversary celebration of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. history