Pittsboro, North Carolina
The town of Pittsboro, county seat of Chatham County, is named after William Pitt
the Younger and was established in 1771. No town is a better example of the changes that are overtaking the state
of North Carolina than this one. A walk down Hillsboro Street is like a visit to Mayberry and there are a number
of historic houses and buildings to see and at least fourteen interesting antique and old-clothing shops. Yet it's
facing major changes and decisions on growth. Pittsboro was the scene of a political struggle that pitted out-of-state
developers against anti-growth locals. County commissioner Gary Phillips, a progressive Democrat, was ousted in
the primary by Republican-turned-Democrat used-car-salesman Bunky Morgan, who was backed by a California real estate
developing company that pumped a small fortune into this local election in the hopes of clearing the way for their
building plans. After beating Phillips in the primary, the Republican candidates obligingly stepped aside to allow
Morgan easy access to the seat on the board. So you can't say that Republicans and "Democrats" can't
work together when it's in their best interests (or somebody's best interest). Anyway in a happy ending to the story (so far) Bunky Morgan got a whoopen in the next election and the town is now taking more careful steps in its development, though you would never know it by looking at the road between Pittsboro nd Chapel Hill.
There are several things that make Pittsboro attractive to developers and the people who will soon fill
these homes. The town is less than an hour from Raleigh and thirty minutes from Chapel Hill
or Durham. Nearby Jordan Lake , a huge man-made body of water built by the Army Corp of Engineers, provides all sorts of
resources for summer activity, including swimming, boating, fishing, waterskiing, hiking on the nature trails and
picnic areas. The Haw River is a couple miles from downtown Pittsboro, where you can fish, kayak and some people
even swim in its waters, which have been gradually getting cleaner. There is a 198-mile system of bicycle trails
that covers lightly-traveled country roads to connect the towns, crossroad communities and points of interest in
Chatham County. But what makes Pittsboro the most attractive to developers is that there is so much to develop.
The town is surrounded by farms, forests, fields and hills, and some envision it as a bedroom community for Raleigh
and Research Triangle Park.
The Chatham County Courthouse was built in 1881, designed by a local lawyer after
the roof blew off an earlier building. It is the fourth courthouse built in the county since 1771. The building
(listed on the National Historic Register) is open on weekdays, and the modest Chatham Historical Museum is open
Wednesdays from noon-3pm. A Confederate monument (erected in 1907) is on the grounds. Old-timers say that as children,
they tossed bottle caps from the balcony of the courthouse, competing to get the caps to stay in the brim of the
soldier's hat. The Pittsboro Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and stretches
beyond the original four-block center of the town. It includes Chatham Mills, the Patrick St. Lawrence House, the
Pittsboro Community House, the County Courthouse and other places erected between the 1780s and 1949.
The center of Pittsboro is probably the Pittsboro General Store, a converted
car dealership on West Street right across from the Chatham County Courthouse. Home of the Haw River Festival as
well as a fine collection of Bynum's Clyde Jones paintings and a full calendar of live music, the store is best
known for its Green Chili Burrito, of which it had sold over 18,000 at last count, rapidly closing in on McDonalds.
To learn the incredible story of the Green Chili Burrito, sold exclusively at the Pittsboro General Store, click
here.
The Pitt Stop is the home of the Hooters Pro Cup Racing Team and has a cafe decorated with racing paraphernalia, including hoods and pieces of racing cars. Visitors can eat and shop while watching NASCAR mechanics or watch races on television. If you like southern racing, stop in for a visit.
Chatham Marketplace is a local co-op grocery store that opened in May 2006 in part of a renovated woven label mill. They are a full service grocery store with an amazing deli and hot bar and insanely beautiful local produce selection, among other things. www.chathammarketplace.coop (and they just won Small Business of the Year from our local chamber of commerce)They have events and music and all kinds of cool stuff, and are a co-op... owned by the community.
Pittsboro is home to the Carnivore Preservation Trust, a 55-acre compound
that houses approximately 140 animals representing 11 species of threatened and endangered carnivores from around
the world, including tigers, spotted leopards, snow leopards, jaguars, ocelots, servals, caracals, binturongs and
more. The large cats were mainly rescues, while most of the small carnivores were previously part of a selective
breeding program designed to preserve and diversify the gene pools of these threatened and endangered species.
CPT houses the largest captive population binturongs (Asian bearcats) in the United States. I took this photo during
a visit to the CPT; it gives you an idea of how close you can get to a real live tiger. For more information see
http://www.cptigers.org.
Up Hwy. 15/501 past the Haw River, in the direction of Chapel Hill, is the small
community of Bynum, home to folk artist Clyde Jones and the Haw River Assembly, a 1,500-member coalition with the
goal of cleaning up the river and educating people to keep it clean. They host the yearly Haw River Festival. The
old one-lane bridge across the river has been closed to cars and is now just for pedestrians. The whole river area
is a beautiful place for walking and the town of Bynum is an adventure, since every house seems to have a Clyde
Jones sculpture on display. To find Clyde's house is not very difficult; you'll know it when you see it. For more
on Clyde, see his exhibit at Captain John's Dry Dock Restaurant.
Farther up 15/501, Fearrington Village is home to the famous black-and-white
cows that look like a cross between a panda and an Oreo cookie. Fearrington is open seven days a week, year round,
and visitors are welcome to stroll through the many gardens at any time. Formal tours, including lunch at The
Fearrington House, are conducted by a horticulturist. Dozens of varieties of unusual, old-fashioned, hardy
and beautiful herbs, trees, vines and flowering perennials are available for sale. The Fearrington Village Center
is a collection of high-quality shops, including a bookstore, plant nursery, home and garden shop and more. The
Village Center also boasts the casual Market Cafe restaurant and the Fearrington House Country Inn-Hotel
and 4-Star Fearrington Restaurant. Fearrington Community is considered one of the best places to retire
in the South.
If you keep heading north toward Chapel Hill, you'll get to Cole Park Plaza, where you can eat, drink and listen to live music at Michael's Pub or have seafood and visit Clyde Jones' fish at Drydock. It wasn't that long ago that Pittsboro and Chatham County were "dry," meaning no alcohol was sold.
South of Pittsboro lies a barren circle in the middle of the forest, home to one of North Carolina's oldest legends. For hundreds of years, nothing has grown in the eerie 40-ft spot known as The Devil's Tramping Grounds. Locals claim that things left in the ring at night are gone by dawn. Explanations of the strange place include Indian folklore, Druid priests, extraterrestrial visits and a bizarre satanic tale. The story is told that the devil himself makes nightly walks here, keeping the ground sterile and charred as he plots his evil plans. Changing very little since it was discovered long ago (except for the garbage), even scientists from the Department of Agriculture can't explain it. Because it's such a popular place, there are a lot of beer cans and other remnants of redneck entertainment; but if there is a devil, he's probably pleased. Click for directions.
Also south of Pittsboro, near Siler City, is the Silk Hope Winery, which
gives wine tours by appointment. You can call (919) 742-4601 or e-mail wallybutler@pinehurst.net. West of Pittsboro
is the Celebrity Dairy and the historic The Inn at Celebrity Dairy from
the 1820s, where you can stay in one of the rooms and take part in the many activities that go along with raising
goats and making cheese.
Pittsboro and Chatham County are home to a large number of pottery studios and galleries as well as a number of painters, weavers, glassblowers, furniture craftsmen and jewelers. Among the more well-known and easy-to-find pottery studios are Cooper-Mays, Stone Crow and Haw River Pottery on 15/501 between Pittsboro and the Haw River. The open studio tour is held the first weekend of December every year and features more than 50 artists. You can get more information on studios, galleries, artists and events at www.chathamarts.org.
Pittsboro isn't going to challenge Wilmington in tourism or Carrboro in "coolness." But it is a nice place to spend the day. And if you're looking for a place to live where everyone still knows their neighbor's name, quiet fishing spots are still quiet fishing spots and the place for live music is the "General Store," then check it out. You can even get an espresso without driving all the way to Chapel Hill. And don't forget to get a Green Chili Burrito at the Pittsboro General Store.