Chatham Historical Museum

09/01/2026

Earthquake rings bell in Chatham Courthouse!

On 31 August 1886, at 9:50pm, some Chatham residents felt the largest earthquake ever recorded on the east coast of the United States. Its center was Charleston, SC, pictured here, where it destroyed homes and other property, leaving as many as 150 dead in that city alone. Registering between 6.6 and 7.3 on the modern Richter scale, the quake cracked chimneys and plaster walls across North Carolina.

The Chatham Record reported on 2 Sept 1886 that at least three shocks were felt in Pittsboro. The first was said to be quite violent, with houses shaking as though they might fall to pieces. The bell in the courthouse cupola rang from the vibrations. Not surprisingly, the event caused great fright.

Click on the images to enlarge.

08/31/2026

Our Next Siler City History Club Meeting will be held on
Thursday, September 3, 2026 ~ 10:30 - 11:30
at the Siler City Center for Active Living
112 Village Lake Dr., Siler City

Everyone is invited to listen and learn or share at these informal meetings intended to help us preserve Siler City’s colorful history. Bring a friend!

Questions? Contact [email protected]

08/31/2026

Another Revolutionary Soldier Gone....

"In July 1776, the Regiment was marched to Williamsburgh where the declaration of independence was read to the troops." These are the words of Lt Joseph Bridges of Chatham Co NC from his pension record. As his obituary later states, he was a soldier "from the commencement to the termination of the Revolution, and was at the capture of Lord Cornwallis, at Little York." Joseph Bridges and Frances Davis Bridges had sons, Nicholas Richard Bridges, William Henry Bridges, and Horace Davis Bridges (a Chatham Co Sheriff) all of whom resided in Chatham Co.

Click on the images to see more.

Thanks to Pamela Foster Hanzaker for sharing this information about her Revolutionary War ancestor. Joseph and Frances Bridges are her 4x great grandparents and Nicholas her 3x.

08/30/2026

FREE NCGS webinar

Civil War records often tell us that a soldier was "captured," but they rarely explain how that moment unfolded or why the surviving documentation looks the way it does. For North Carolina Confederates held in Union prisoner-of-war camps, the path into captivity varied widely, Each of the circumstances left a different paper trail, shaping what we can find in compiled service records, prisoner registers, hospital rolls, and pension applications. Learn how to reconstruct the rest of the story from scattered evidence.

Annette Burke Lyttle, CG,® owns Heritage Detective, LLC, providing professional genealogical services in research, education, and writing. She speaks on a variety of genealogical topics at the international, national, state, and local levels and loves helping people uncover and share their family stories.

Annette is a course coordinator for the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy and the British Institute. She is a published writer whose research interests include Quaker ancestors and ancestral migrations in the US. She is past president of the Association of Professional Genealogists and editor of The Florida Genealogist.

The live webinar is free, but you must register in advance

REGISTER FOR THE WEBINAR
https://www.ncgenealogy.org/event/live-webinar-with-annette-burke-lyttle-sep-2026/

08/30/2026

Sunflower
We've posted this photo of Miss Lizzie Kelly's Harnett County giant sunflower (on the left) several times, asking if anyone in Chatham could match it.

Since then, we got a contender from Silk Hope-- Kristina Spurgin's Chatham County sunflower (photo on right). So far, she holds the Chatham County record for submitted sunflowers.

We'd love to see your photos of Chatham County gardens and gardeners and hear their stories! Please share.

Black and white photo courtesy Harnett County Public Library.

08/29/2026

Mystery Photo

What's going on here?

Who, what, when, where, and what's so funny?

08/28/2026

1947 Siler City High School. Here's a sample of photos from the yearbook. See anyone you know?

The yearbook is in the CCHA/Chatham Libraries collection and the complete digital copy can be viewed here: https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/38985 #

Enjoy!

More about our Chatham Yearbook Collection here:
https://chathamhistory.org/High-School-Yearbooks

Help us build our collection!

08/28/2026

Crowning Miss Siler City 1957 Rotary Bazaar

Can anyone tell us more?

08/27/2026

This photo of the General Store Cafe' in the old Justice Motor Company Building in Pittsboro is from an Indy article from 2006. If anyone out there has more photos of the General Store Cafe, which occupied the Justice Motor building from 1994 until 2012 (before the Pittsboro Roadhouse and later Havoc Brewing), please share those along with your memories of the Cafe!

I miss the Pittsburrito and their guacamole tostada!

08/27/2026

Another free webinar from the NC Genealogical Society. Registration required.

UPCOMING LIVE WEBINAR - Register now to attend Annette Burke Lyttle's upcoming Civil War webinar. September 2, 2026, 7pm-8pm, Eastern.

Webinar Registration URL: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8099641923324026200

About the Webinar:

Civil War records often tell us that a soldier was “captured,” but they rarely explain how that moment unfolded or why the surviving documentation looks the way it does. For North Carolina Confederates held in Union prisoner-of-war camps, the path into captivity varied widely. Each of the circumstances left a different paper trail, shaping what we can find in compiled service records, prisoner registers, hospital rolls, and pension applications.
Learn how to reconstruct the rest of the story from scattered evidence.

Join us at the NCGS 2026 Fall Conference! https://ncgenealogy.org/fall2026

About the Speaker:

Annette Burke Lyttle, CG,® owns Heritage Detective, LLC, providing professional genealogical services in research, education, and writing. She speaks on a variety of genealogical topics at the international, national, state, and local levels and loves helping people uncover and share their family stories.
Annette is a course coordinator for the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy and the British Institute. She is a published writer whose research interests include Quaker ancestors and ancestral migrations in the US. She is past president of the Association of Professional Genealogists and editor of The Florida Genealogist.