North Carolina
Old country store on the Haw River keeps NC traditions alive
There was a time when old-fashioned general stores carried the memories and stores of rural North Carolina — locals sitting in rocking chairs on the front porch, somebody picking a guitar while the older folks swap stories and kids run in and out buying penny candy and bubblegum.
Today, many of those old country stores can be found decaying along rural North Carolina roadsides. With antique paint curling on fading storefronts, their drooping wooden porches are only fit for ghosts – and no one can hear their stories.
But tucked away down the winding rural roads of NC, there’s a place not far from the Triangle where the old traditions continue – where you can sit in a rocking chair and listen to local music on the front porch on a balmy summer evening. Or, in the fall, you can bundle up with cider on a crisp afternoon and listen to authentic storytellers keep our state’s country lore alive.
Almost a century old, stepping into Bynum’s general store is like stepping back in time. It’s one of the few remaining original stores from the historic mill village, which sits on the bank of the Haw River.
On a summer evening, you might see people dancing barefoot in the grass while a musician strums the guitar, or families running down to play near the river. There’s a food truck on-site, and several locals sitting on the front porch in rocking chairs.
Many of the dozen or so original stores in the unincorporated community of Bynum have closed their doors over the decades. In fact, Bynum itself has faded from the maps, losing its zip code, post office, movie theater and central cotton mill over the decades after a bypass funneled traffic away from the town.
However, the vibrant community refuses to let their way of life – or their history – just fade away.
Bynum Front Porch: Step back in time in Chatham County
Fueled by volunteers and community members, these old store keeps the Old North State’s legacy of storytelling, music and community alive.
“I was born within a stone’s throw of the store,” said Ted Williams, a native of Bynum.
Williams’ parents built the general store, now known as Bynum Front Porch, in the mid-1930s. Before that, both his parents worked at the cotton mill, which was central to Bynum’s existence. Families lived in traditional mill houses, and kept entertained by visiting the five or six stores in downtown. There was also a movie theater and a school.
“It was a vibrant community,” says Williams. “There was a lot of traffic through here at the time.”
As a kid, Williams recalls sitting on the porch, where people gathered to tell stores, swap jokes and laugh and talk with each other.
“I remember sitting down here and just listening to the grown folks talk,” he said. “It was really special.”
In those days, the town had around 60 or 70 kids, according to his memory, and the bus had two stops:
“One at this store and the other at a store down the street,” he said.
The highway went right through Bynum, bringing plenty of visitors and money to the town. However, when a bypass was built around the little mill town in the 1950s, the town began to struggle. It was the beginning of the end.
Soon, locals began going to nearby towns to shop. Eventually, stores began closing down and even the post office decided there weren’t enough residents to stay in town. Bynum lost its zip code and became incorporated.
The mill stopped running in the 1980s, and a fire destroyed it a few decades later.
But despite the setbacks, the people of Bymum refused to let their little town’s history just fade away. Bynum was a vibrant community — and would fight to stay that way.
Keeping Bynum’s history alive
Many waterways across North Carolina are dotted with overgrown stone foundations of mills and surrounding villages that washed away, burned down or were otherwise lost to time. Some communities became ghost towns; others were swallowed by the development of rapidly-growing cities nearby. In the mountains, the ghost of an old mill town provides a glimpse of what can happen when history is lost. Not far away, the community of Merry Oaks – whose general store is abandoned, but for sale – is under pressure by large nearby developments.
Instead of letting the tide of history wash Bynum away, Ron Hatley, chair of the board for Bynum Front Porch, wants to ensure Bynum’s history is preserved.
“It’s a constant struggle,” he said.
There are efforts in place to preserve the old water tower, as well Bynum Bridge – an abandoned bridge closed to vehicle traffic that currently serves as a popular walking path for locals, as well as a ‘freedom of expression’ canvas for painters. Colorful and vibrant, the bridge provides sweeping views of the Haw River. Every Halloween, hundreds of people come from around the region to see the bridge lined with glowing, carved pumpkins.
“One of the things we’re doing is an SOS, Save our Store. The Bynum Front Porch building is over a creek, and it’s 90 years old,” he said. “We’re trying to raise money to shore up the foundation. Back then, they just laid down some rocks and built right on top!”
Just as it always has, Bynum Front Porch serves as the beating heart of the community. It may no longer sell groceries, but it you can still trade a story or two and keep those old NC memories alive.
“It’s stayed open as a community center,” said Hatley. “Summer music, storytelling, yoga, morning coffee, scout troop meetings, gatherings for local organizations and leaders.”
Every Friday in summer, Bynum Front Porch hosts a summer music series in the grassy lawn beside the store. Then, starting in September, guests can come sit and listen to a storyteller at the old country store – just like kids listening to the older folks swap tales on the front porch.
The back story of how the 249-year-old sketch was discovered could be as interesting as the piece itself.
The rectangular drawing of a revolutionary war
brigade out of North Carolina was created in Pennsylvania.
Looking at it now, the sketch looks significant
sitting behind museum glass. But just three years ago, it was considered a
novel antique store find, hanging on a collector’s wall.
Historian Matthew Skic said he was in collector, Judith Hernstadt’s New York home when she happened to show him a sketch she’d picked up at an antique store in the 1970s.
“I look on the wall, she points it out, and my jaw is on the floor with what I was seeing, and this small sketch on paper. The ink and the paper struck me as this looks like it’s from the 18th century, from the 1700s. I was looking at the scene, seeing soldiers, a wagon, horses, and it looked like a military scene, and an army on the move,” Skic said.
Skic oversees collections at the Museum of the
American Revolution and immediately noticed the figure in a fringed hunting
shirt, commonly worn by soldiers in George Washington’s Army. He got permission to remove the framed sketch from the wall and saw a faint inscription.
“It said, ‘An exact representation of a wagon belonging to
the North Carolina brigade of Continental troops, which passed through Phila,’ and then the mat had cut off the rest of the inscription,” he recalled.
What he had discovered was one of only a dozen known eye-witness accounts of George Washington’s Army. An eye-witness account is considered something captured in the moment, not commissioned or created after an event.
“We didn’t have a camera. There’s no record of what, what they looked like, action scenes,” said Ansley Herring Wegner, who runs the state’s historical
research and publications.
She spoke to the rarity of finding an eye-witness account of Washington’s troops.
“Well, George Washington had just recently said, ‘Do not
allow camp followers on the carts, because it really slows everything down. It gums up the works.’ Well, North Carolina, ‘You can’t tell us what to do,’ so they’re there on the cart, and there’s wounded soldiers on the back,” Herring Wegner said.
Immediately after the discovery, Skic went to work. He found headlines from August 1777 when
the brigade marched through Philadelphia and traced the route they took. Then, he
researched skilled artists in town at the time and landed on Pierre Eugene du
Simitiere.
“So I studied his handwriting among his papers at the
Library Company in Philadelphia, and [found it] matches his handwriting,” he said.
Whether many Americans know it or not, we are familiar with du Simitiere’s work. It was his idea in an application to design the U.S. Seal that gave us our national motto.
“His design was ultimately rejected, but one of the
elements of his design for that seal, which he submitted in 1776 was the motto, e pluribus unum, which we still use today. That’s the motto of the United
States; Out of many, one.
The sketch was on display at the Capitol for
one day. However, the conditions were not favorable for a long-term stay. Visitors can see it when it goes to the North Carolina Museum of Art from
May 20 to Aug. 1.
The original owner, Judith Hernstadt, has donated the sketch to the Museum of the American Revolution. The presentation of the sketch at the Capitol building is part of North Carolina’s celebration of America’s 250th. Learn more about the sketch at the state’s website for the country’s milestone.
North Carolina
North Carolina couple accused of causing vulture invasion sued by furious town: ‘Not good neighbors’
A North Carolina couple accused of luring hordes of vultures to their home and unleashing chaos on neighbors for years is being hauled to court by fed-up town officials desperate to end the feathered frenzy.
The Town of Hillsborough slapped residents Kenneth and Linda Ostrand with a civil petition, seeking a court order to shut down their relentless bird-feeding habit, blamed for allegedly drawing dozens of winged scavengers to their home and terrorizing their small town for the past two years.
“They’re a little spooky to be frank,” concerned neighbor Holden Richards told WTVD.
“Everybody thinks they’re ugly and stuff but they’re not good neighbors. They have sharp talons, so they’re not great animals to have perching on your house. I watched them pick tiles off my neighbor’s roof and I found tiles from my roof in my front yard, so I have a feeling that’s exactly where they came from.”
The bird-brained couple is accused of leaving out food scraps for vultures, allegedly reeling in the feathered predators that have swarmed and roosted near their house, leaving foul-smelling droppings on neighbors’ homes and vehicles and causing widespread property damage deemed a risk to public safety.
The complaint, filed in March, also claims the twisted pair named the birds of prey – with eerie photos submitted to the court showing dozens of vultures circling their Queens Street home, the outlet reported.
“I’m pretty sure that every one of my neighbors has probably called,” Richards said, pointing to a flood of complaints made to town officials since May 2024.
The Ostrands reportedly filed a motion to dismiss the town’s case last month, denying the accusations.
Linda Ostrand, a longtime wildlife rescuer, told WTVD she is being unfairly targeted by her community and claimed the circling creatures were already an issue before she moved into the neighborhood.
“It’s sort of, it’s ridiculous, is what it is,” Linda said, noting the town changed an ordinance after the initial wave of complaints to ban wildlife feeding beyond standard feeders.
“If people didn’t have vultures around here you would hear them screaming bloody murder about the town not cleaning up the animals that have been hit by cars, because that’s what they do, they are nature’s garbage disposal,” she continued.
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, tell the vultures that this is a no-feed zone. I just don’t know.”
No court date has reportedly been scheduled for the couple’s fight with the town.
North Carolina
Businesses worry of potential impacts as Marion tightens water restrictions amid drought
MARION, N.C. (WLOS) — The City of Marion is tightening water restrictions as drought conditions persist across western North Carolina, prompting local businesses to prepare for possible impacts on daily operations.
The drought monitor released on Thursday, May 14, shows that extreme drought now covers 90% of western North Carolina.
ASHEVILLE IS MORE THAN 7 INCHES BELOW AVERAGE RAINFALL THIS YEAR, DATA SHOWS
As the region continues moving into a hotter and drier pattern, the City of Marion officials announced Stage Two water shortage restrictions less than a month after issuing a Stage One Water Advisory.
Businesses in Marion said the quick escalation is raising concerns about what could come next if drought conditions persist.
“They put us in stage one at the end of April and already it’s not through, it’s not the end of May and they’re already putting us in stage two,” said Barbara Brown, owner of Bruce’s.
Under the Stage Two restrictions, watering lawns, gardens and golf courses will be prohibited. Washing cars, filling residential swimming pools and serving water in restaurants except upon request will not be allowed.
Brown said her restaurant is already taking steps to conserve water.
“We check the bathrooms often to make sure people have turned the water off because we have found from time to time, people leave them running,” she added.
She said she worries stronger restrictions could eventually force businesses to make bigger operational changes.
“I’m concerned that eventually we might have to go to paper plates, paper cups, silverware,” Brown said.
Other businesses are also considering adjustments.
Kat Garner, a tattoo artist at Blue Ridge Tattoo, said water shortages could affect how the shop operates day to day.
LEADERS URGE WATER CONSERVATION AS DROUGHT DEEPENS ACROSS WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
“We would definitely be reduced to using distilled water for everything, which would become harder if everyone’s buying it out, so that would definitely make things a little bit more difficult,” Garner said.
The Stage Two water restrictions are set to begin Friday, May 15, at 8 a.m. and will last until further notice.
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