Historic "Rock House" is a gem of a place

Hezekiah Alexander House

In rapidly growing Charlotte, North Carolina, it is more common to see a plaque designating where an historic site once stood than to have the opportunity to view the building itself. That is why the Hezekiah Alexander’ rock house on Shamrock Road is such a gem. Built in the backcountry in 1774 where most of the other structures were made of logs, the rock house is the oldest surviving edifice in Mecklenburg Count and is a designated local and national historic landmark.

 

Originally the home of Revolutionary War era patriot, Hezekiah Alexander and his wife and ten children, the “Rock House” was initially restored by local Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) in the late 1940s. Fully restored in the mid 1970s, it was opened to the public as a historic house museum and living history site. Although not original, the furnishings selected from historical documentation are an impressive collection of Southern 18^th and early 19^th century antiques. 

 

The Charlotte Museum of History (CMH), built in 1976, was originally an interpretative center for the historic site. It grew to become Charlotte’s first history museum, and moved to a new 36,000 sq ft. building completed in 1999. Concerned that the new museum and Alexander House would become disconnected, Museum staff Kris Carmichael and Mariruth Leftwich came up with the idea to design and create The award-winning interactive exhibit “Solving the Rock House Mysteries” to unify the visitor experience.

 

Hezekiah Alexander Homesite tours are offered three times a day (mornings are reserved for school and group tours to cover colonial lifestyle and back country life of the Alexander’s and their slaves while the afternoon tours are more flexible, focusing on the interests of the visitors, from genealogy to architecture, and furnishings to agriculture. Trained docents, dressed in period clothing, add their own “flavor” to  non-scripted tours responsive to the visitors’ interests.

 

Beginning at the rear of the Museum, visitors enter a park-like setting where living history events and encampments are often held. A natural stone path leads through a Native American Indian garden, crosses a stone bridge over a spring-fed creek and up a steep hill to the home site.

The entry hall, interpreted as Alexander’s office for receiving customers as the country magistrate, is simply furnished, containing only a desk, a grandfather clock, and a bench by the window. Off to one side is the master bedroom. The dining room, equipped with a large table by the hearth, built in cupboards, and a buffet is well-suited for suited for the large family with ten children. Stairs wind up to three bedrooms, one for the three daughters with a bed and spinning wheel and two rooms for the seven sons, provide ample interactive opportunities that lend to the tour’s effectiveness. There is a rope bed that the public can sit upon and folk toys to handle. Down in the cellar, school groups can also try their hand at writing with quill pens.

 

The tour continues in the log kitchen built in 1983 and completely outfitted with reproductions for cooking demonstrations and instructions for building fires with flint and steel. On the way to the spring house, the path leads through the 18^th century style herb garden. Although refurbished and maintained by the Charlotte Herb Guild, it needs placards to explain the culinary or medicinal purposes for the various plants.

 

All in all, the historic site tour and the exhibit are a masterful blend of fact, research and folklore that illustrates the people and events of the Revolutionary War era and beyond. An oft-used educational tool for schools to learn history, it is a remarkable experience as you “walk in the shoes” of 18^th century humanity.

 

For more information: info@charlottemuseum.org or http://www.charlottemuseum.org