Work continues on museum in Courtland

Published 1:07 pm Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Robert Pope, left, shows an early maple turned bed to Joe Stutts, a board member for the Southampton Historical Society. Pope will donate the bed for the RebeccaVaughan House, which is being restored at the Museum of Southampton History. SUBMITTED

COURTLAND—Work continues on the Museum of Southampton History adjacent to the Southampton Farm and Forestry Museum and Heritage Village in Courtland.

The museum will be devoted to the history of the county and include exhibits of Native American life through the colonial settlement, independence, the Civil War and agricultural revolution to the present.

The museum will feature the Rebecca Vaughan house, which played a role during the Nat Turner Rebellion of 1831.

Contracts are being negotiated for the restoration of that building. Guidance has been obtained from John Quarstein, who appears in “Here and Then” on WHRO educational television, and the Traub Architectural Firm of Raleigh, who are experts in historical preservation.

Displays in the museum will range from early lifestyles to football championships, and include Franklin, a part of the county until the early 1960s. Each town in the county will be highlighted.

The Southampton Historical Society is seeking artifacts and pictures. Residents are asked to donate items.

Anyone wishing to contribute is asked to contact Gail Camp at 757-377-8074, or svcamp3@yahoo.com); Joanne Fox at 434-658-4212, or jcf@gmail.com); or Lynda Updike at 654-6785, or updikes@earthlink.com.