The Mordecai Historic Park is a collection of historic buildings in Raleigh, North Carolina. The main building is the Mordecai House, named after its second owner. That will get its own post. The rest of the buildings are all native to the state if not to the ground on which they currently stand. They all have interesting stories.
We parked on Mimosa Street, which meant we had to walk through the park to get to the visitors center, where we bought tour tickets and enjoyed the display about the Mordecai family and the history surrounding the park.
Inside, a display shows the family tree for the Mordecais and as much as can be pieced together for the slaves that lived on the Mordecai plantation.
Displays also explain pre- and post-Civil War activities there, along with an interesting description of marriages from the female perspective. All arranged marriages are not unhappy ones, apparently.
The exhibit has a few interactive screens that they children loved though they wished there was more content.
The first building on the tour was Andrew Johnson's birthplace. Johnson was the seventeenth president (right after Abraham Lincoln). He was born on December 29, 1808, to parents who worked at a Raleigh inn. Their home was the kitchen for the inn (back in those days, kitchens were separate buildings to keep the cooking heat out of the house and prevent kitchen fires from spreading to the rest of the building, so I guess the Johnsons were stuck with the heat and the potential catastrophe). The first floor of the building was a kitchen, often full of other people. The Johnsons lived upstairs. The building was moved to the park in the 1960s.
We did not get to go upstairs but the docent told us about Johnson's life. He was apprenticed to a tailor but had to leave Raleigh because he was picking fights with a neighbor. He moved to Tennessee where he set up his own tailor shop. He soon got involved in political discussions which lead him into political office, eventually becoming a senator from Tennessee. He went on to be Lincoln's vice president and then president after the assassination.
Our next stop on the tour was St. Mark's Chapel. The chapel was built around 1847 on the Haughton Plantation near Gulf, North Carolina. The plantation was not near town so the owners had a chapel built where they could have services. A family member would read from the Bible and possibly lead a prayer or discussion. The downstairs pews were for the family; the balcony for the plantation slaves. The building was moved in 1978 and is used now for weddings, lectures, musical performances, and group meetings.
Our next visit was to the Law Offices of Badger and Iredell. The building was constructed around 1810 and served as law offices in the 1830s for George Badger and in the 1840s for James Iredell, Jr. Both were active in North Carolina politics. The structure was moved to Mordecai in 1975 and restored in 1983 with furnishings from the Badger-Iredell Foundation.
The Allen Kitchen was built in 1842 for the Allen family in Anson County. It was moved to the approximate location of the Mordecai kitchen in 1968 and is similar to the Johnson kitchen--a building for cooking that won't let the heat or fire harm the main building. The main difference is the absence of an upstairs apartment.
We saw some curious metal tubes on a shelf and the kids tried to guess what they were for. The kitchen served as more than just a kitchen, they also made candles there, in addition to doing the laundry.
The kitchen also features a pie safe. After pies were baked they were put in this special piece of furniture to cool off. The metal panels of the door have small holes to vent the steam and heat but they are small enough to prevent mice and bugs (and also possibly children) from eating the pies too early.
Just behind the kitchen is a garden with both practical items, like herbs and vegetables, and decorative items, like flowers for the table.
In the back of the garden is a small orchard with two kinds of peach trees (Contender and Challenger) and a Royal Anne cherry tree.
There was another cool-looking building on the property that we never toured and forgot to ask about. I leave it to readers' speculations to fill in an interesting story.
A visit to the Mordecai house will be in the next post!
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| The entrance sign |
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| The house that's getting a later post |
We parked on Mimosa Street, which meant we had to walk through the park to get to the visitors center, where we bought tour tickets and enjoyed the display about the Mordecai family and the history surrounding the park.
 |
| Porch of the visitor center with goofy poses |
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| More goofy poses |
Inside, a display shows the family tree for the Mordecais and as much as can be pieced together for the slaves that lived on the Mordecai plantation.
 |
| Family trees |
Displays also explain pre- and post-Civil War activities there, along with an interesting description of marriages from the female perspective. All arranged marriages are not unhappy ones, apparently.
 |
| Civil War info |
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| Mordecai women and their fortunes |
The exhibit has a few interactive screens that they children loved though they wished there was more content.
 |
| Trying to share |
The first building on the tour was Andrew Johnson's birthplace. Johnson was the seventeenth president (right after Abraham Lincoln). He was born on December 29, 1808, to parents who worked at a Raleigh inn. Their home was the kitchen for the inn (back in those days, kitchens were separate buildings to keep the cooking heat out of the house and prevent kitchen fires from spreading to the rest of the building, so I guess the Johnsons were stuck with the heat and the potential catastrophe). The first floor of the building was a kitchen, often full of other people. The Johnsons lived upstairs. The building was moved to the park in the 1960s.
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| Andrew Johnson birthplace |
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| The kitchen fire |
We did not get to go upstairs but the docent told us about Johnson's life. He was apprenticed to a tailor but had to leave Raleigh because he was picking fights with a neighbor. He moved to Tennessee where he set up his own tailor shop. He soon got involved in political discussions which lead him into political office, eventually becoming a senator from Tennessee. He went on to be Lincoln's vice president and then president after the assassination.
Our next stop on the tour was St. Mark's Chapel. The chapel was built around 1847 on the Haughton Plantation near Gulf, North Carolina. The plantation was not near town so the owners had a chapel built where they could have services. A family member would read from the Bible and possibly lead a prayer or discussion. The downstairs pews were for the family; the balcony for the plantation slaves. The building was moved in 1978 and is used now for weddings, lectures, musical performances, and group meetings.
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| St. Mark's Chapel |
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| The pulpit area |
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| Pews and balcony |
Our next visit was to the Law Offices of Badger and Iredell. The building was constructed around 1810 and served as law offices in the 1830s for George Badger and in the 1840s for James Iredell, Jr. Both were active in North Carolina politics. The structure was moved to Mordecai in 1975 and restored in 1983 with furnishings from the Badger-Iredell Foundation.
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| Law office building |
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| Going to see the man |
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| Inside |
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| Portraits of the two attorneys |
The Allen Kitchen was built in 1842 for the Allen family in Anson County. It was moved to the approximate location of the Mordecai kitchen in 1968 and is similar to the Johnson kitchen--a building for cooking that won't let the heat or fire harm the main building. The main difference is the absence of an upstairs apartment.
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| Allen kitchen |
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| Kitchen fireplace |
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| Kitchen furnishings |
We saw some curious metal tubes on a shelf and the kids tried to guess what they were for. The kitchen served as more than just a kitchen, they also made candles there, in addition to doing the laundry.
 |
| Jugs and candle molds |
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| Toddler not helping with the laundry |
The kitchen also features a pie safe. After pies were baked they were put in this special piece of furniture to cool off. The metal panels of the door have small holes to vent the steam and heat but they are small enough to prevent mice and bugs (and also possibly children) from eating the pies too early.
 |
| Pie safe |
Just behind the kitchen is a garden with both practical items, like herbs and vegetables, and decorative items, like flowers for the table.
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| Garden gate with old-fashioned automatic closing door |
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| The garden |
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| Flowers |
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| Even more flowers |
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| Vegetables |
In the back of the garden is a small orchard with two kinds of peach trees (Contender and Challenger) and a Royal Anne cherry tree.
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| Peach trees |
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| Royal Anne cherry tree |
There was another cool-looking building on the property that we never toured and forgot to ask about. I leave it to readers' speculations to fill in an interesting story.
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| Unidentified building |
A visit to the Mordecai house will be in the next post!
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