Faison Museum

09/11/2026

Town Hall photo labeled 1989. Do you recognize anyone?

09/04/2026

Dr. William Thornton Day, October 20th 1983.

Thank you to everyone who helped me identify the occasion. If you recognize anyone in these pictures or remember this day, leave a comment and please follow the museum page 🙂

07/02/2026

On behalf of the Faison Museum Committee, I’d like to thank everyone who came by last Saturday to the museum open house. We had a wonderful turnout, our guest book was almost full!

A lot of work has gone into the museum over the past few months to highlight this great little town with so much history.

Please feel free to stop by during the week when the library and museum is open to look around. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 2pm-5:45pm and Fridays from 9am-12:45pm.

07/02/2026

250 years ago today, July 2nd 1776, just 2 days before the Declaration of Independence was signed, Henry Faison purchased a 975 acre tract of land on the south side of Goshen Swamp from Henry McCulloch. This land is known today as Faison.

The land was part of a grant from King George II. Henry Faison built his home on the fertile farming land and a community developed around it. The town first appears on an 1833 map as 'Wrightsville Post Office.' The post office was established in 1822 and named after the first postmaster, David Wright.

When the Wilmington Weldon Railroad was completed in 1838, Faison Depot was built. The railroad was the primary reason for the growth and development of the town. In 1888 a train station was built and still stands today as the library and museum (although it’s been moved from its original location to the park in the late 1970s).

Faison was officially chartered on February 10th 1872.

06/24/2026

Painter Mary Lyde Hicks Williams of Faison NC, became famous for her portraits. She painted much-loved members of her community such as the ones featured in this post. Please click each picture to learn more.

‘Plantation Life’ is a series of oil paintings and portraits by Mrs. Williams. These paintings illustrate day-to-day life of African Americans who lived and worked on the Isham R. Faison Plantation (or surrounding area) in the Town of Faison post-Civil War. Many of those painted were born in the days of slavery and stayed to work in Faison after the war. “It’s very important we honor these people,” says Anne Taylor (head of the Faison Museum Committee, longtime Faison resident, and local historian). Many of the surnames of the people represented in the paintings, such as Best, Bowden, Herring, Ashford, Tucker, and Brown, are still prominent in the area and throughout Duplin County. “These are their roots and it’s a way for members of our African American community to learn about their ancestors.”

Included with the paintings are handwritten biographical details provided by Mrs. Williams relatives. These paintings hung in the Faison-Williams house for years until they were donated to the NC Museum of History in Raleigh. Later, the museum offered high-quality reproductions of the paintings to the Faison Museum, where they are displayed today.

An open house at the Faison Museum will be held Saturday, June 27th 2026 from 1-3pm to showcase these paintings and other museum items.

Click each picture to learn more and stop by the museum during open house or when the library is open (Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 2-6pm and Fridays from 9am-1pm)

If you are a relative of any of these people in the paintings please let me know so I can document it for the museum.

06/12/2026

06/06/2026

Mary Lyde Hicks Williams running for office in 1936. What’s remarkable about this is that women had only gained the right to vote just 16 years earlier, yet she wasn’t just voting, she was runninf for elected office.

She served for many years as a member of the State Democratic Executive Committee and she was a representative to the Democratic National Convention which met in Philadelphia in 1936.

06/05/2026

The News and Observer article for Sunday December 23rd 1956. Titled “Christmas For Them A Happy, Happy Time.” The article talks about Christmastime in Mrs. Mary Lyde Hicks Williams’ home (former home of her Grand-Uncle Isham Faison), both past and present as well as her own childhood memories of Christmas. Also featured in the article is Mrs. Annie Witherington.

To see the full article and much more please visit the Faison Museum.

06/03/2026

Mary Lyde Hicks Williams, artist, was born in Faison North Carolina on April 27th 1866. She was the daughter of Captain Lewis and Rachel McIver Hicks. On February 13th 1889, she married Marshal McDiarmid Williams (1867–1939) of Cumberland County. They moved to Faison and lived in the antebellum home of her granduncle, Isham Faison, which she later inherited. They had four sons: Lieutenant Commander Lewis Hicks (1890–1931), U.S. Navy; Isham Roland (1891–1959), attorney; Major Marshal McDiarmid (1893–1935), U.S. Army; and Virginius Faison (1895–1977), attorney.

Mary attended school in Faison and graduated from St. Mary's Junior College in Raleigh. She studied art and portrait painting in Washington, D.C. and New York. During her lifetime, she painted more than 500 portraits. Several are on display at the Duplin County Courthouse and at the Emily Hill Library/Faison Museum.

In addition to her art, Mrs. Williams helped organize the Faison-Hicks Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and from 1912 to 1914 was president of the North Carolina division. For several years she served on the board of the state hospital in Raleigh, and she filled several terms on the State Democratic executive committee.

Mrs. Williams died January 12th 1959 and is buried in the Faison Town Cemetery.