4. Caswell County -- Yanceyville -- 4/7/06

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caswell_County%2C_North_Carolina

After driving to Roxboro, I decided to head on over to Person's western neighbor, Caswell County. I had driven through Yanceyville once before, going to the University of Virginia, so I thought this was worth a shot. The courthouse was set off from the main road, which was cool, with another Confederate statue. The granite marker behind me remembers WWII vets, divided into "Whites" and "Coloreds."

This is the first of many County Seats that aren't in the county you'd think they'd be in. Yup, there's a Yancey County in NC, but Yanceyville's in Caswell. Mt. Mitchell's in Yancey County...and not in Mitchell County. We'll enjoy these idiosyncrasies as we travel the state.

The original jail is the little building in the trees below my ear.

I thought the courthouse was such a pretty building, and as I walked up to it, I noticed a big permanent newspaper article from a long time ago. Apparently, though the entire courthouse was redone in 2000, the townspeople are very proud of that there fence. The article is about the history of the fence, and whether or not it was there originally, or put there later, and there was a manuscript about an enclosed courthouse lawn sometime in the 1850s or something. And there's another article about the last poker game played in the courthouse. How very interesting. With that, I was off to Carrboro to enjoy the rest of that Friday.