May Gordon Kellenberger sits between the governor and his wife 

 at the opening-day banquet of Tryon Palace. 



son had lived. A set was also discovered 

 in the British Public Record Office in 

 London. Once the plans were found, 

 Carraway and Fiske sent a flurry of 

 articles to local and national news 

 services, garnering national attention 

 for the project. 



In 1941, after several exasperating 

 years of trying to drum up funds and 

 interest, a New Bern native living in 

 Greensboro announced her intention to 

 completely fund the reconstruction. 

 Maude Moore Latham set up trust 

 funds for the project totaling $250,000, 

 while her daughter, May Gordon 

 Kellenberger, ensured that the remain- 

 der of her mother's estate went to the 

 project after her death. But the two 

 had one condition: The state of North 

 Carolina had to buy and maintain 

 Tryon Palace when it was finished. 



The bid was accepted, and in 1945 

 the state legislature formed the Tryon 

 Palace Commission, led first by 

 Latham, then Kellenberger. 



The first step was relocating the 

 homes, buildings and roads. Then 

 archaeologists began to excavate, 

 searching through shards of glass, 

 marble, paint and plaster for clues on 

 the makeup of the original palace. The 

 Boston firm of Perry, Shaw, Hepburn, 

 Kehoe and Dean, which managed the 

 rebuilding of Colonial Williamsburg 

 in Virginia, was selected for the 

 reconstruction. 



Researchers used historical 

 accounts of the palace, Hawks' notes, 

 letters, period descriptions of buildings 

 and gardens, lists of Tryon's personal 

 belongings, and the auction receipts 

 from Martin's abandoned effects to 

 piece together a full portrait of the 

 palace as it stood in the 1 8th century. 



Members of the Tryon Palace 

 Commission traveled to England with 

 this information for shopping sprees, 

 searching for furniture and art that filled 

 their descriptions. Items that belonged 

 to inhabitants of the palace or that fit 

 the time period were bought, donated, 

 loaned and collected. The palace, which 

 now contains a valuable collection of 

 1 8th-century furniture and art, was 

 outfitted to the tiniest detail: books, 



pipes, pens, clothing, water jugs, 

 copper pots, tureens and laundry 

 buckets. 



Overall, the palace reconstruction 

 cost just under $3 million. Latham 

 donated a total of $1.1 million, and the 

 N.C. legislature appropriated 

 $227,000 for buying real estate. The 

 remainder was supported by public 

 donations. The palace opened to the 

 public on April 9, 1959, and is still run 



RESEARCHERS USED HISTORICAL 

 ACCOUNTS OF THE PALACE, HAWKS' 

 NOTES, LETTERS, PERIOD 

 DESCRIPTIONS OF BUILDINGS 

 AND GARDENS, LISTS OF TRYON'S 

 PERSONAL BELONGINGS, AND 

 THE AUCTION RECEIPTS FROM 

 MARTIN'S ABANDONED EFFECTS 



TO PIECE TOGETHER A FULL 

 PORTRAIT OF THE PALACE AS IT 

 STOOD IN THE 18TH CENTURY. 



by the Tryon Palace Commission. Its 

 upkeep is funded by the state, the 

 Latham Trust, donations and monies 

 received from the Kellenberger 

 Historical Foundation and member- 

 ships in the Tryon Palace Council of 

 Friends. 



But today the palace, with its 

 marble mantels, cast-iron gates and 

 well-maintained Latham and 



Kellenberger gardens, is more than 

 just a beautiful building. It's a 

 living history lesson. One of the 

 commission's goals is to see that its 

 rooms tell tales of colonial culture and 

 the early years of the United States. 



Tryon Palace Historic Sites and 

 Gardens consist of the palace, the John 

 Wright Stanly house, the Dixon- 

 Stevenson house, the old New Bern 

 Academy museum, two gift shops, 

 auditorium, visitor center and the other 

 historic homes located in the neighbor- 

 hood. The commission is currently 

 restoring the Robert Hay house, built 

 in the early 1800s. It also produces 

 workshops, newsletters, garden 

 lectures, concerts and symposiums. 



"Our mission is preservation and 

 education, to teach North Carolina 

 history as it pertains to the site," Hicks 

 says. "I think we as a society have a 

 lot to learn by understanding how the 

 people of the past conceived their 

 world and developed their world view. 

 It helps us develop an understanding of 

 others — whether that other is a past 

 society or a different group today. 

 Historical museums have a real role to 

 play in cross-cultural relations." 



Tryon Palace is doing its best to 

 fulfill that role. Though the building 

 was once scorned as a selfish expense 

 and forgotten as a pile of ruins, today 

 it is a showcase of early American art 

 and culture — admired for its aesthetic 

 charms and its history lessons. □ 



COASTWATCH 1 1 



