Tryon Palace

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Tryon Palace was the home of the colonial governers of North Carolina. It is located in the city of New Bern. Today it is a State Historic Site. The palace gardens are also well renowned

1 History
- 1.1 Early History
- 1.2 Restoration and Today
2 Palace Structures
3 References
4 Further Reading
5 External Links

[edit] History

[edit] Early History

According to the palace's official tourism site, the history of the palace goes back to between 1767 and 1770. Governor William Tryon choose architect John Hawks when he came to the colony in 1764. In May 1775, when the Revolution began, Josiah Martin, governor after Tryon, fled the palace. Four men lived in the palace as governors of the new state - Richard Caswell, Abner Nash, Alexander Martin, Richard Dobbs Spaight. After Raleigh was founded as the capitol in 1794, the palace was used for many different puposes, including a school, boarding house, and a Masonic lodge. A cellar fire started in 1798, consuming the palace proper. Only the Kitchen and Stable Offices saved. The Kitchen Offices were razed at the beginning of the 1800s. The Stable Offices still stands.

[edit] Restoration and Today

In the 1930s, a movement began to preserve Colonial New Bern. The movement was bolstered by the discovery of the original palace plans. Mrs. James Edwin Latham, a New Bern native, asked the State to assist the Restoration efforts in 1944. She opened a trust fund committed purely to restoring the palace. The General Assembly organized the Tryon Palace Commission in 1945. This consisted of 25 people appointed by the governor, with the task of rebuilding the palace by the original plans. The state agreed to be responsible for the palace once it opened to the public. Mrs. Latham did not live to see the rebuilding of the palace. After her passing in 1951, her daughter Mae Gordon Kellenberger, oversaw the efforts. The first obstacles to overcome were moving as many as 50 or more buildings, rerouting NC Highway 70, and building a new bridge over the Trent River. These structures covered the foundations of the original building. Archaeological work also had to be done before construction could begin. Once it did, craftspeople from all over the United States were recruited. There were also visits to the United Kingdom to procure period-accurate furniture. Finally, the public was able to visit for the first time in April 1959.

[edit] Palace Structures

There are several structures besides the main building itself. The Stable Offices are actually the only original structure still standing. The Kitchen Offices are separate from the palace, as was usual st the time. In the 1780s, a wealthy New Bernian named John Wright Stanley. After the 1798 fire, the grounds were divided into lots and sold. In the early 1830s, a house was built for George W. Dixon, a wealthy merchant tailor, who was also a former mayor of New Bern. The Hay House, built at the start of the 1800s, was purchased in 1816 by Robert Hay, a Scottish immigrant and wagon-maker. The New Bern Academy was the first school in North Carolina established by legal mandate, in 1766. Like the palace, the original academy building was destroyed by fire, this one in 1795. The current structure was built between 1806 and 1809.