BY NICOLE BOWMAN-LAYTON

The 2025 edition of the Pilgrimage Tour of Homes will include historic signs, a celebration of a local Edenton landmark and a dance party in the heart of the town.

The Edenton Woman’s Club began the bi-annual tour in 1949. This year, the tour will be held April 11-12. The proceeds are distributed by grants awarded to organizations in Edenton and Chowan County. These grants promote history through education and programming, in addition to continuing historic preservation of buildings and artifacts of the county’s rich Colonial history.

After a long career with the federal government, Annette Wright, and her husband Capt. Joseph Martin Pickett Wright Jr. (US Navy Ret.) retired to Edenton in 2003.

She soon became involved as a volunteer at Vidant Chowan Hospital (now ECU Health Chowan Hospital). After 10 years of hospital volunteering, Annette began a new chapter in her life as a volunteer with the Edenton Historical Commission. She started as a trolley guide, which she did for nine years. She also became the volunteer and docent coordinator. She received the Volunteer of the Year award in 2015, 2019 and 2020.

In 2020, Wright received the NSDAR Community Service Achievement Award, awarded by the Edenton Tea Party NSDAR chapter. In 2022, she was the first recipient of the annual Penelope Barker Lifetime Achievement Award.

She was interested in the 51 women who signed the Edenton Resolves and did extensive research until her death.

Wright loved to dress in costumes and owned several. During Pilgrimage, one of her dresses will be on display, along with some of her research, at the Penelope Barker house.

Pilgrimage Properties

Below is a list of the homes and buildings that are scheduled to be part of Pilgrimage. The list was provided by the Edenton Woman’s Club on March 13, 2025. If there are any updates, we will put them here.

PRIVATE HOMES

• Homestead, 1773
• Bennet Dixon House, Elizabeth Van Moore, 1780
• Edward Piland House, 1785
• Beverly Hall, 1810
• Skinner Paxton House, 1820
• Wessington, 1850
• Rebecca Sansbury House, 1889
• D.T. Ward Sr. House, c. 1900
• Speight House, 1900
• E.S. Norman House, 1917
• William Holmes House, c. 1920

OTHER

• Granville Queen Inn, c. 1907
• Metrah Makely House, (Captain Quarters), 1907

HISTORIC SITE HOUSES

These properties are owned by the North Carolina State Historic Site. Some sites may have tours or other activities going on, so visit the Historic Site Welcome Center on North Broad Street for information.

• Mr. Ogilby’s Tavern, 1718 (Edenton’s Oldest House) (Outside viewing only)
• The James Iredell House, 1773
• Hayes Farm, 1814-1817

HISTORIC SITES

These properties are operated by local organizations and the Edenton Historical Commission. Tours may be available at some of the properties by visiting the Penelope Barker House or the site itself.

• Cupola House, 1758-1759 – (gardens only. The house is closed as they install the original wood paneling on the downstairs floor)
• Historic Chowan County Courthouse, 1767
• Penelope Barker House, 1782
• Jail Keeper’s Home & Old Jail, 1825 (outside viewing only)
• Chowan County Jail, 1825 (outside viewing only)
• Roanoke River Lighthouse, 1886
• Cotton Mill Museum of History, 1909 (Saturday only 11 a.m.-3 p.m.)

CHURCHES

The churches on this list are active churches. Kadesh has an active congregation but the East Gale Street building on is currently being restored. Please be aware that there may be some services held on Saturday, April 12.

• Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church & Cemetery, 1736-1774
• Saint Ann Catholic Church, 1858
• Saint George’s Orthodox Church & School, c. 1885 & 1902
• Kadesh A.M.E. Zion Church, 1897 (Outside viewing only)

Related Events

April 11

• Fish Fry Lunch — 11 a.m.-2 p.m., downtown Edenton Waterfront, rainy day location 116 W. Albemarle St., Edenton. Hosted by the Fannie A. Parker Woman’s Club, the plate includes trout, green beans, coleslaw and hushpuppies. The cost is a $10 donation. For information and tickets, call Geraldine Hill, 252-331-9577 or Stella Brothers, 252-333-6410.
• Fish Fry Dinner — 4:30-6 p.m. at St. Ann Catholic Church Parish Hall, 207 N. Broad St., Edenton. Hosted by Knights of Columbus, this meal includes catfish, hand-cut French fries, coleslaw and hush puppies. Cost is $15.
• Boogie on Broad — 5-10 p.m. in downtown Edenton, on the first block of South Broad Street. Featuring free live music, food trucks, and beer and wine for sale.

April 11-12

• 100 years of the Taylor Theater — 208 S. Broad St. Celebrate this downtown Edenton icon’s 100th anniversary by enjoying a free soft drink and popcorn with purchase of a movie ticket. Available to Pilgrimage visitors. The building’s storefront, an artistically designed colonial effect of terra cotta with Tennessee marble base has been a fixture on Broad Street for 100 years. It was built in 1925 as an opera house with 850-seats, with 250 in the balcony alone, which due to segregation was for colored people at that time. A fun fact … the current owner was the theater manager in 2005 when she married her husband in the theater. Today she owns and operates the business.
• Music in the Courthouse — 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at the 1767 Chowan County Courthouse, 117 E. King St., Edenton. Nora Crouch owns and operates Rose Gate Studio in Hertford, where she teaches music and art to children and adults. For over 40 years, she has been teaching and performing in a variety of venues. “Fairesong” is her musical personna for performances with her favorite instruments, the hammered dulcimer and Celtic harp.

Editor’s note: All of these events and more, appear on our events calendar.