26-04-2025
Multiple historic buildings to be featured on 2025 Heritage Homes Tour in New Bern
NEW BERN, N.C. (WNCT) — Established in 1710, New Bern is one of the oldest towns in North Carolina.
It also served as the state's first capitol and is home to the first Governor's House, Tryon Palace.
'I was in Miss Sadie Dixon's fifth-grade class, in fact, that's the room that's open for the homes tour,' New Bern Historical Society Curator Jim Hodges said.
For more than 100 years in New Bern, the building at 517 Hancock Street served as a grade school.
'It is a beautiful, old building,' Hodges said. 'This was built in 1884, amazingly at that time, it cost $8,821.'
Philadelphia-based architect Samuel Sloan designed the building with eight large classrooms and 40 large windows.
'They called it the NB Graded School but because of the bell in the cupula, they called it the bell building,' Hodges said.
Students stopped attending classes at the building back in the 1970s, leaving it empty for several years until a couple bought the building and transformed it into high-end apartments.
This is just one of the historic buildings on the homes tour this year. 'New Bern is an extremely historic town with a lot of overlapping entities invested in telling New Bern stories,' Anthony Giardino with the New Bern Historical Society said.
A total of 11 homes and five churches are opening the doors to let people inside, offering a glimpse into the history of New Bern and what it takes to preserve these pieces of the past.
'The Stanley building has gone through a lot of transformation,' Hodges said. 'During Union occupation, that was used by Union forces, a lot of the buildings, this was a medical hub during the occupation.'
Unlike most military commanders of his time, General Ambrose Burnside didn't destroy New Bern when he left.
'That's why we still have such a wonderful representation, 18th- and 19th-century houses,' Hodges said.
'It's all about sharing those stories, the people, the events and learning what's taken place in these important places,' Giardino said.
The tour is May 2-3 and it is self-guided and tickets are available here.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
