May 3rd, First Sunday Hike

We will meet for our May First Sunday Hike off of Highway 70A, east of Hillsborough before 2PM for a 2PM departure.  This hike will have no prepared surfaces, some mild to steep grades requiring good, cleated shoes.  Total distance will only be a bit over a mile.  Along the way we will see horse trails, 18th century roadbed, rifle pits, fords and springboxes and who knows what else.

If the developer is lucky, this property will be under development in a matter of weeks and most of the artifacts now visible will disappear under the blade.  We hold out hope that the developer will engage archaeologists to dismantle that which is about to be destroyed and extract the information ahead of construction. 

We will be back at the parking area by 4PM. 

Approach the site from the East (Durham and Raleigh) on Highway 7O and fork left when you come to Highway 70A.   From Hillsborough get on Highway 70A off of Highway 86 just south of the Eno River.  From the west take I-85 to the HIllsborough Exit/Highway 86/Churton Street, and go north to Highway 70A.  Turn right on to 70 A,, dirve past the intersection with New Highway 86, and in a couple of hundred feet you'll see our signs pointing to parking.  Using a GPS or looking for map directions on line, seek the intersection of Highway 70A and Highway 86.  You'll see our signs to the east of that intersection.

May 9th Grand Opening of Kings Highway Park Near Hillsborough

At 10 AM on May 9th the Town of Hillsborough will hold a Grand Opening of the Kings Highway Park at the bend of the Eno River, west of Hillsborough along Old Highway 10/Ben Johnston Road.  The park is on both sides of the road there.  Set GPSs for 1060 Ben Johnston Road, Hillsborough and you should get close to the action.  The park is between the Railroad and the Eno River, nestled in the river bend.

Som of you will recall that the TPA has been building this park as a gift to Hillsborough for, gosh, maybe eight years now.  We started with Orange High students, then Cedar Ridge High students, and then we switched to Boy Scouts.  The park has about a mile of hiking trail, a couple of vista points with benches, a picnic area and a parking area (that will be insufficient on the day of the opening). 

For those unfamiliar with the work, we built this park to offer some protection to a major 18th and 19th century highway interchange.  The Great Road to Salisbury (King's Highway) forked in the park and the fork to the south goes to Wilmington while the main road continued west.  The railroad came through and disturbed some of the Great Road but also left behind a very nice portion of "at grade" railroad bed which, one day, we'll turn into another hiking trail.

This park has thus far cost the town of hillsborough a couple of yards of asphalt, and a half dozen landscape timbers.

Come out and help us celebrate.  Tom will lead a hike or two through the park and point out some of the neat features to be found there.  From downtown Hillsborough drive west on King St to a stop light.  Turn left, follow the road past West Hillsborough's commercial district, pass under the railroad and follow the road for a mile west to the park.

Vietri Yard Sale, April 29th-May 2nd

Yesterday, "Buck", the dog that sleeps in the tPA office and nuzzles visitors, modeled in a photo-shoot (had to learn the lingo).  He posed with some lovely Italian crockery.  Maybe it was earthenware shown with terrier that drew him into the gig.  Maybe they just wanted to juxtapose elegance against something other.  At the event we learned that the folks who used his visage are having a sale next week and will share proceeds with the TPA if you'll just go buy something from them.

Vietri, a Hillsborough based importer of Italian ceramics and earthenware is having their annual warehouse sale and they will share receipts with TPA if at least ten people buy something and identify themselves as TPA supporters during check-out.  Go to the Vietri website to find details about and directions to the event or download a pdf containing instructions.

Please, attend, buy and help feed the kitty here at the Trading Path Association office.  You know we need all the help we can get.

Orange County Photo Contest 

The Orange County NC History Museum is hosting a phot contest and entries are open until the end of this month.  The contest is all about old buildings.  For rules and such visit the museum website.