Halifax County
51 places on the trail: 50 highway markers, 1 battlefields and state sites.
Colonial North Carolina, 1585-1774
- E-67'ENFIELD RIOT'Here in 1759 Lord Granville's land agents were compelled to give bond to return illegal fees. This was a forerunner of R...
- E-94CALEDONIAState prison farm since 1892. Antebellum plantation owned by Johnston family. Name predates 1713. Two miles N.E.
- E-84CONOCONNARA CHAPELEstablished as Anglican 1747; James Moir first priest. Became Baptist 1783; inactive since 1933. Present building, 1849,...
- E-71KEHUKEE PRIMITIVE BAPTIST CHURCHFirst church, 1742, was 2 3/4 miles N.E. Second building is 200 feet E. Mother church of Kehukee Association begun 1765.
- E-8MASONIC LODGEChartered 1767. Building was erected in 1769. Joseph Montfort, "Grand Master of America," is buried there. 500 yds. E.
- E-50TRINITY CHURCHEpiscopal. Established about 1732. This building, the third, was erected in 1854, in part with brick from an older churc...
- E-69WHITAKER'S CHAPELOriginally Anglican, 1740; later Methodist. In 1828 first annual conference of Methodist Protestant Church met here. Thi...
Revolution and founding, 1775-1789
- E-12CORNWALLISThe British Army under Gen. Cornwallis marching to Virginia defeated the local Militia at the town of Halifax, in May, 1...
- E-73EDEN CHURCHMethodist. An active congregation by 1789. Present building, 1890-1900, is third on site.
- E-3INDEPENDENCEThe "Halifax Resolves," first formal sanction of American Independence, adopted in this town, April 12, 1776.
- E-57JAMES HOGUNBrigadier general in the Revolutionary War, member of Provincial Congresses. Died, 1781, as British prisoner of war. Hom...
- E-98NORTH CAROLINA CONSTITUTIONThe first constitution of the independent state was adopted in Halifax on December 18, 1776.
- E-48WHITMEL HILLColonel in Revolution. Member of Continental Congress, 1778-1781; of Provincial Congresses; and of state legislature. Gr...
- E-9WILLIE JONES 1741-1801Key Anti-Federalist and an advocate for states’ rights in Revolutionary era N.C. His home, “The Grove,” was 2/10 mi. W.
The young state, 1790-1860
- E-80ANDREW JOYNER 1786-1856Lt. Col. in War of 1812; state senator, 1835-52; pres. Roanoke Navigation Co. & Weldon & Portsmouth R.R. Grave is 2 blks...
- E-104BARTHOLOMEW F. MOORENoted lawyer. Attorney general of N.C., 1848-51. Compiled Revised Code in 1854. Opposed secession. Born 7/10 mile west.
- E-68EAGLE TAVERNBuilt in 1790s. Banquet for Lafayette held on February 27, 1825 when tavern was on original site 900 ft. northeast.
- E-32FIRST RAILROADThe first railroad in the State was completed in 1833 from Petersburg, Va., to Blakely, on the Roanoke River, a short di...
- E-79HENRY B. BRADFORD 1761-1833Early Methodist Protestant minister; educator; and soldier in the Revolution. Founded Bradford's Church on this site cir...
- E-39HUTCHINS G. BURTON ca. 1774-1836Governor, 1824-1827; Attorney General of N.C.; Congressman. His home was 400 yds. W.
- E-16JOHN BRANCHGovernor of N.C., 1817-20, and of the Florida Territory, Secretary of the Navy, U.S. Senator. Home was four blocks, grav...
- E-99JOHN H. EATON 1790-1856Secretary of War under Andrew Jackson; U.S. Senator from Tenn.; Fla. governor; U.S. minister to Spain. Born here.
- E-22RALEIGH AND GASTON RAILROADChartered 1835, completed 1840. Gaston, its terminal town, now extinct, was 3 mi. N.E.
- E-34ROANOKE CANALCanal and locks completed around river rapids, 1834. Highway crosses canal route here. A lock is 200 feet south.
- E-35ROANOKE CANALCanal and locks around river rapids completed 1834 by Roanoke Navigation Company. Highway crosses route of canal at this...
- E-92SIDNEY WELLER 1791-1854Agricultural reformer & nurseryman. Introduced "American System" of grape culture. His Medoc Vineyard was 1 mi. E.
- E-25WASHINGTON'S SOUTHERN TOURPresident Washington was a visitor in the town of Halifax, on April 16-17, 1791.
- E-4WILLIAM R. DAVIE 1756-1820A militia officer during the Revolution; governor, 1798-99; envoy to France; “father” of University of N.C. Lived in thi...
- E-23WILMINGTON AND WELDON RAILROADLongest railroad in the world when completed in 1840. Length 161 1/2 mi. Terminus was nearby.
Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861-1877
- E-51'COLONIAL CHURCHYARD'Graves of Confederate general Junius Daniel, editor Abraham Hodge, U.S. District Judge John Sitgreaves, are 1 bl. N.E.
- E-105BENJAMIN S. TURNER 1825-1894U.S. Congressman, 1871-1873, representing Ala.; merchant and farmer in Selma, Ala. Born into slavery one mile south.
- E-11RAM ALBEMARLENoted Confederate ironclad, was built near this spot, 1863-64. Aided in recapture of Plymouth, April, 1864.
- EEE-1RAM ALBEMARLEThe Confederate ironclad Albemarle was outfitted in Halifax with machinery and guns before sailing down river into actio...
- E-75WILLIAM H. WILLSMethodist Protestant minister. President of the General Conference, 1866. Head of Halifax Male Academy & Elba Female Sem...
The New South, 1878-1929
- E-49CLAUDE KITCHIN 1869-1923Congressman, 1901-23, Democratic majority leader, 1915-19. Opposed war declaration; later supported Wilson's war policie...
- E-81FIRST KRAFT PULP IN UNITED STATESWas made here by the sulphate process using southern pine in 1909, by the Roanoke Rapids Paper Manufacturing Company.
- E-47GALLBERRYBuilt about 1885. Home of three congressmen, W. H. Kitchin and his sons Wm. W. (governor, 1909-1913) and Claude.
- E-103JAMES E. O'HARA 1844-1905Black political leader. Member, U.S. House of Representatives, 1883-1887. Practiced law in Enfield. Lived 1/10 mi. S.
- E-46W. W. KITCHIN 1866-1924Governor, 1909-1913; congressman, 1897-1908; & attorney. His grave is 240 yards south.
- E-43WALTER CLARK 1846-1924Champion of liberalism. Member, State Supreme Court, 1889-1924; Chief Justice, 1902-24. Editor, State Records of N.C. Ho...
Modern North Carolina, 1930 on
- E-120ELLA BAKER 1903-1986Civil rights leader. She organized the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, April 1960, at Shaw University. Her ch...
- E-108FRANK ARMSTRONG 1898-1969Lt. Gen., U.S. Air Force. Led first U.S. bombing raids on Germany, 1943. Inspired Twelve O'Clock High, novel & film. Boy...
- E-127KEYS v. CAROLINA COACH COMPANYLandmark Interstate Commerce Commission case, 1955, helped end racial segregation in interstate transportation. Original...
- E-126LOUIS AUSTIN 1898-1971African American editor. Published Durham-based Carolina Times, 1927-71. An advocate of social justice and civil rights....
- E-106PLUMMER BERNARD YOUNGJournalist. Publisher of Norfolk Journal & Guide, 1910-1962, leading black-owned newspaper in the South. Birthplace near...
- E-53ROANOKE RIVEREarly channel of trade, its valley long an area of plantations. Frequent floods until 1952, since controlled by Kerr Dam...
- E-54ROANOKE RIVEREarly channel of trade, its valley long an area of plantations. Frequent floods until 1952, since controlled by Kerr Dam...
- E-56ROANOKE RIVEREarly channel of trade, its valley long an area of plantations. Frequent floods until 1952, since controlled by Kerr Dam...
- E-113TILLERY RESETTLEMENTEst. 1935; New Deal farm project. 350 black families from N.C., S.C., Fla., Ark., Va. purchased homesteads. Restored hou...