Chatham Historical Museum

The Chatham Historical Museum came into being with the renovation of the Chatham County Courthouse in 1990, when the county commissioners approved the use of a small room in the southwest corner of the first floor by the Chatham County Historical Association, Inc., a private non-profit corporation. Cabinets that had once been part of the tax office were reworked for exhibit cases and storage by Dean Dreyer, and a discarded desk and chair were refinished for office use. Framed memorabilia hang in a conference room next to the museum, which is open on Wednesdays from 12:00pm until 3:00 and first Sunday's of each month from 1:00pm until 4:00pm, except holidays.

Although display and storage space is limited, a growing collection of Chatham County artifacts is housed in the museum. Among items in the permanent collection are handmade bricks from the former store and post office at St. Lawrence, an iron mortar and pestle used by Dr. Hanner, a letter written by Governor Charles Manly, a set of letters written by members of the Hadley family during the Civil War and another set sent from Indiana in the 1840s, a bowler hat owned by Judge Walter Siler, tapes from concerts given for the Pittsboro Arts Council, bound volumes of several early years of the Chatham Record, and an original copy of the Ramsey 1870 map of Chatham County.

Books from the John London collection are housed in the museum and available for research during museum hours. Most of the photographs used in The Architectural Heritage of Chatham County, North Carolina are available for viewing as glossy prints. While the 26-volume set of State and Colonial Records is also available for research, the index volumes are in the Pittsboro Memorial Library, two blocks away, where most of the research tools for genealogical investigation are kept. Cemetery and gravesite data are available on the museum computer, and correspondence related to Chatham families can be accessed through a cross-indexed file of inquiries. All publications of the Chatham County Historical Association are available for sale.

The current exhibit includes artifacts from the now-closed silk mill in Pittsboro, including a sample book of labels from famous manufacturers that were made at Chatham Mills.

Photography by Duane Hall

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