04/29/2026
On April 25, we had our county's first event of 250 commemorations at the Davenport Homestead near Creswell.
We timed this event to follow the event at Halifax, NC two weeks before. Why?
The town crier introduced someone with a message from the past... the Halifax of April 1776. He read the last paragraph of the Halifax Resolves, signed on April 12.
“Resolved that the delegates for this colony in the Continental Congress be empowered to concur with the delegates of the other Colonies in declaring independency,
and forming foreign alliances, reserving to this Colony the sole and exclusive rights of forming a Constitution and laws for this Colony, and of appointing delegates from time to time (under the direction of the general representation thereof), to meet the delegates of the other Colonies for such purposes as shall be hereafter pointed out.”
We are proud that this Congress in North Carolina was the first to go on record to support independency! By July 4, 1776, after extensive debates in the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, we had the Declaration of Independence!
If you visit the rural and remote area around the Davenport Homestead, which is a fine example of a 1780s-90s yeoman farmer's dwelling, you will see the area has a few more dwellings today, but it hasn't changed that much.
The neighborhoods surrounding the Davenport Homestead, peopled by families, many of them descended from those who experienced the American Revolution, remind us of rural roots.
Scattered brick homes and wood frame homes, built in the last 50 to 75 years, occupy the land owned by some families for many generations.
Here and there, much older dwellings remind us of simpler times.
Around the curve from the homestead, Mount Tabor Baptist Church remains an anchor for the area. Within its walls, the echoes of many voices tell us of the families that found community in this church.
Next to it is the cemetery. Gravestones offer proof of the many generations that were once part of everyday life.
Think about your county. There are places like this everywhere.
Clues, offered in elegant, but stark simplicity, can tell us much about the area, if we are willing to look and listen.
For just a few hours, when the Davenport house was alive with visitors on April 25, we were allowed a peek into the past.
There is much to learn from the "old ways." A house without electricity, insulation, running water or plumbing. Survival that depended on continuous work to raise crops and livestock, or goods to trade for them.
On Saturday, those who toured the old house or visited the various living history stations, saw it was possible to survive, though few of us would want to be forced to do so without the many modern conveniences we have today.
What made it possible for us to live modern lives?
That first step: the American Revolution. It was the beginning of developing a new country.
It wasn't perfect. It didn't give everyone independence at the time. But it was the foundation that made more things possible.
The pursuit of freedom reached into future centuries.
It has been a long journey.
Sometimes a rocky one. We are all the stronger because of the challenges faced first by men, black and white, who left their humble cabins and marched to war. They could not know what they set in motion.
This event was made possible by a grant from NC 250, and NC Department of Natural & Cultural Resources.
We had many partners and volunteers that made the day a great success!
Many thanks to all!
