As one of the smaller counties in North Carolina, we were comfortable able to tour through the area in a day. If you have enough time, you may want to pair this county with Granville County or Franklin County.
A little history on the area… the Occonachee Native Americans were the first inhabitants of what would eventually become Vance County in 1881. John Lederer is known as the first white explorer of the region along with his Native American guide in 1670.
Originally part of colony of Virginia, King Charles of England redrew the colony lines in 1665. What is now Vance County became part of the Province of Carolina and then the Province of North Carolina in 1725. In 1826, the first armed forces academy, the Bingham School, was built by Captain D. H. Bingham in Williamsborough, North Carolina. It served for a short time as a training school for military officers.
In 1871, a hotel called the “Glass House” was opened near the community of Kittrell. It was so named because of the glass porches surrounding the hotel. It was a popular resort for hunters and later tuberculosis patients until it burned down in 1895.
As the area that is now Vance County prospered in the mid to late 1880s, efforts took place to create a county named “Gilliam” and then later as “Dortch”. However, Vance County was eventually formed, by the white Democratic-dominated legislature in 1881 following the Reconstruction Era, from parts of Franklin, Granville, and Warren counties. In fact, 73% of the land area of Vance County was taken from Granville County. Vance County is named after Zebulon Baird Vance, who served as Governor of North Carolina (1862–65 & 1877–79) and then United States Senator (1879–94).
Williamsboro
Established by Nathaniel Williams and his wife Elizabeth Washington, he town of Williamsborough cropped up along the east-west and north-south stagecoach lines. Williamsborough served as a temporary capital of North Carolina between the summer of 1781 and February 1782, after the capture of Governor Thomas Burke during the American Revolution. Williamsborough was original called “Lick” because it was a watering hole for cattle and then “Nutbush” because of the nearby creek of the same name.
However, when the Raleigh and Gaston Railroad was built in 1840, it bypassed Williamsborough. This, along with the end of slavery after the U.S. Civil War and the demise of plantation life, led to the decline of the town.
Historic sites in or near Williamsboro include the Belvidere historic plantation, built in 1850; Bingham School, the first armed forces academy; Burnside Plantation House, originally built in 1800; the Pool Rock Plantation, built in 1757; and St. John’s Episcopal Church built in 1757 — and is the oldest frame church in the state.
Townsville
Formerly known as Lynesville before 1851, Townesvillle was established in approximately 1821 in Granville County. The town name was changed to Townsville in 1892 without the ‘e’. Historic sites in Townsville include Machpelah, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007, a historic home and farm built in about 1880.
Middleburg
Middleburg is located roughly halfway between New York and Atlanta, which possibly explains the town’s etymology. Tiny Broadwick, pioneer parachutist and inventor of the ripcord, was born and lived here.
Henderson
Henderson is the county seat of Vance County. The city was named in honor of former North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Leonard Henderson, who lived nearby and was a friend of early settler Lewis Reavis. Prior to the creation of Vance County in 1881, Henderson was located in far eastern Granville County.
Henderson is located on the S-Line, the former main line of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad now owned by CSX Transportation. The city was last served by passenger rail in 1986, at which time Amtrak’s long-distance Silver Star was re-routed through Rocky Mount and part of the S-Line was abandoned. Restoration of the line is planned as part of the Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor project.
Giant Concrete Legs
While in Henderson, be sure to stop at the Giant Concrete Legs (near the intersection of King Street and Chester Lane in south Henderson), a roadside public art sculpture created by Ricky Pearce. It’s definitely an oddity, with each of the 40-foot legs spread open in a suggestive manner. The legs were made with a process called earth casting. The sculpture’s shape is actually dug from the ground, which creates an earthen mold. Concrete is then poured into the shape, then dug from the ground once cured. Pearce’s muse for these legs was none other than Marilyn Monroe. Across the street, you’ll find a giant pair of high-heeled shoes and the High Heels Gate as an entrance to a mobile home park. To the left of the gate, you’ll also find another pair of shoes. Pearce has created other pieces throughout the continental United States.
Famed people from the area include the following:
- Charlotte Hawkins Brown, educator and founder of the Palmer Institute
- Ben E. King, soul and pop singer, best known as the singer and co-composer of “Stand by Me”
- Shirley Owens, singer, member of the Shirelles
- Charlie Rose, television talk show host and journalist, born and raised in Henderson
Raleigh Outdoor Theatre
In Henderson, The Raleigh Outdoor Theatre (3336 Raleigh Rd) is still in operation.
Kittrell
Kittrell, chartered in 1885, may have been originally called Kittrell’s Depot. Kittrell’s Depot was a railroad depot named for George Kittrell and his wife, Elizabeth Boswell Kittrell, who donated the land for a Raleigh and Gaston Railroad station.
The smallest horse in the world lived here. Thumbelina was a dwarf miniature horse and the smallest horse on record. She stood 43 centimeters tall (about 18 inches) and weighed 26 kilograms, and received the title of world’s smallest from Guinness World Records. Thumbelina was born in St. Louis, Missouri on May 1, 2001 and died in 2018.
Kittrell was also home to two famous luxury health hotels during North Carolina’s ‘”Golden Age” of spas, healing springs, and health resorts: the Davis Hotel and Kittrell Springs Hotel.
Next Journey: Union County!
Portable NC 