Wilmington Concert Band performs, 

 visitors move to private houses, where 

 local pianists play and enthusiastic 

 owners like Carolyn Smith Caldwell 

 wait to share tales from the past. 

 Caldwell, whose 1895 house is decked 

 out for a Scottish Christmas to cel- 

 ebrate her own ancestry, says she stays 

 in touch with one of its early inhabit- 

 ants. Now in her 90s, this woman 

 shares with Caldwell her early memo- 

 ries of the house and how children 

 liked to slide down the banister of the 

 22-foot-long staircase. 



Here's a look at some of the other 

 homes on the candlelight tour: 



• Sampson-Johnson House, 602 

 Walnut St. Dating from the mid- 1800s, 

 this Greek revival-style house was 

 built and owned by James D. Sampson, 



the son and slave of a rich planter in 

 Sampson County. In 1819, his father is 

 said to have taken 18-year-old 

 Sampson to Wilmington, freed him and 

 set him up as a carpenter on the lot 

 where the house now sits. 



Sampson trained slaves as free 

 apprentices in carpentry. In 1872, the 

 property passed into the hands of 

 Fannie A. Johnson, the wife of a 

 turpentine distiller, and about 70 years 

 later to Daniel Carter Roane, a black 

 physician, who used the house as his 

 office. 



• William Holladay House, 117 



S. 4th St. George Williams built this 



Queen Anne-style house in 1889 for 

 his daughter, Maggie, who died before 

 it was completed. Her husband, 

 William W. Holladay, designed the 

 interiors. According to legend, the 

 ghost of Maggie still wanders the 

 house, looking in on children in the 

 bedrooms. 



• Woolvin-Warren House, 512 

 Chestnut St. The Queen Anne-style 

 residence was built in 1895 by James 

 F. Woolvin, apparently for his bride, 

 who died soon after it was completed. 

 It was later sold to Archie Warren, an 

 ice-cream and candy maker whose 

 family lived there until 1980. 



•Jenkins Row House, 228 

 McRae St. This home is one of nine 

 row houses built in 1914 by local 

 businessman Carl Polvogt, who rented 

 them to railroad workers. They are the 

 only row houses left in Wilmington, 

 says owner Bob Jenkins. 



• Yopp-Goodman House, 215 

 N. 6th St. Built about 1850 for 

 William John Yopp, a railroad freight 

 agent, the house is described as a 

 mixture of Italianate and Queen Anne 

 styles. In 1888, it was bought by 

 William and Bernhardt Goodman, 

 brothers who lived there for 84 years. 



• Baldwin House, 3 S. 4th St. 

 This Queen Anne-style house was 

 built in 1895 for Dr. A.M. Baldwin. 



• Northrup-Carr House, 213 S. 

 2nd St. A simple design of the federal 

 period, the house was built in 1829 for 

 Isaac Northrup, a merchant. 



• McEachern House, 214 N. 6th 

 St. The house was built in 1904 for 

 Neill M. McEachern, a commodities 

 distributor, in the neoclassical revival 

 style. 



As they wander the candlelit 

 pathways to historic houses, visitors 

 gain an appreciation for Wilmington's 

 history and its people, past and 

 present, says Cathy Myerow, execu- 

 tive director of the Lower Cape Fear 

 Historical Society. 



"You walk away with a good 

 holiday feeling," she says. "It's just a 

 wonderful way to start the holiday 

 season." □ 



E D E N T O N 



• The Christmas Candle- 

 light Tour of modern and 

 historic homes is offered from 

 4 to 8 p.m., Friday, Dec. 12, 

 and Saturday, Dec. 13. Tickets 

 are $15 and include tours 

 through the Cupola, Iredell and 

 Barker houses from 1 to 5 p.m. 

 both days. For tickets, contact: 

 the Edenton Historical Com- 

 mission at 919/482-7800 or 

 drop by its office at the Barker 

 House (tickets will be sold 

 there the day of the tour), the 

 Historic Edenton Visitor's 

 Center at 919/482-2637, or the 

 Chowan Arts Council at 919/ 

 482-8005. 



BEAUFORT 



• Free open houses at the 

 Beaufort Historic Site and bed- 

 and-breakfast inns run 2 to 4:30 

 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 13. Any- 

 one who would rather not walk 

 to the inns can opt for $3 rides 

 aboard a double-decker bus. 

 For information, call the 

 Beaufort Historical Associa- 

 tion, 100 Block Turner Street, 

 919/728-5225 or 800/575-7483. 



WILMINGTON 



• The Old Wilmington by 

 Candlelight tour runs 4 to 8 

 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 6, and 

 Sunday, Dec. 7. Order advance 

 tickets by calling the Lower 

 Cape Fear Historical Society, 

 126 South Third St., at 910/ 

 762-0492 or 910/763-5869. 



• Poplar Grove Plantation, 

 10200 U.S. 17 North, hosts its 

 free Christmas Open House, 10 

 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Dec. 6, 

 and 12 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 

 7. For information, call 910/ 

 686-9989. m 



COASTWATCH 19 



