Origin of Hickory Ridge Living History Museum
For 40 years Hickory Ridge Living History Museum has educated people of all ages about life in the North Carolina Backcountry during the American Revolution. This Section of the exhibit will dive into the rich history of Hickory Ridge from its conception to the modern era!
When Horn in the West started back in 1952, SAHA made it their mission to educate the public about life in North Carolina during the 18th Century. Daniel Boone Park which is home to both the museum and Horn in the West sits between two large hills, Strawberry Hill, and Hickory Ridge. Strawberry Hill became an Arboretum, so the museum was placed on Hickory Ridge. The hill got its name from the large amount of Hickory Trees that once covered the hill. For the majority of the park’s early days Hickory Ridge was used as a picnic area. In 1958 the first cabin was moved to the site which was the 1775 Tatum Cabin donated by L.T. Tatum.
The Original Plan was for the cabins to line the parking lot where visitors could walk through them on their way to see Horn in the West. SAHA also wanted to use them to create educational field trips for local schools. This “frontier village” would give visitors a view into the regions past. The first cabin to be placed in this orientation was the 1875 Coffey Cabin which was sold to the museum by a man from Valley Crucis, North Carolina and served as the gift shop for Horn in the West. However, as time progressed SAHA realized the potential of the village and moved the cabins to Hickory Ridge.
For almost thirty years the site was home to only three building, the Coffey Cabin, the Tatum Cabin, and the School House until it was burned down in 1967. However, it was replaced by a new structure that became the weaving cabin and eventually the Tavern. In 1980 SAHA decided to incorporate the cabins into a full living history museum. They named the museum the Hickory Ridge Homestead after the hill it sat on. Originally the museum consisted of the Tatum Cabin and the Weaving Cabin with Coffey being moved in 1987 after funds were raised by Coffey Family descendants.
The museum added a new cabin in 1995 when Appalachian State donated the old WPA cabin that was sitting on the site of the new Holmes Convocation Center. With these four buildings the village was beginning to take shape. Historical Interpreters were brought into man the buildings and teach the public about life in the 18th Century. In 2001 another structure was added. A full cabin was donated but due to the rot in one of its walls the museum only set up three walls and sed it as a blacksmith shop. This project was organized by the Education Director Corey Stewart. Other projects included reroofing the Tatum Cabin in 2004 and a new roof being put on Coffey in 2010.
For a long time, the museum was free to tour with volunteer interpreters there to guide guests through the museum with donations being accepted. Eventually sometime after 2016 in a way to maintain the buildings and keep the museum Hickory Ridge starting charging admission to tour the building. Hickory Ridge has also hosted a slew of reenactments over the years, one in which gave it its smoke house until its destruction in 2011. These reenactments ranged from a reenactment of Stoneman’s Raid through Boone in the Civil War to craft fairs and Revolutionary War living history events as well as the annual Fourth of July Celebration where they burn King George III in effigy.
Today the museum continues to give tours of the cabins. As well as providing opportunities for school field trips. In 2019 Hickory Ridge held its first large-scale reenactment called Trail to Victory: The Kings Mountain Campaign as well as a one-day commemoration of the Battle of Kings Mountain. 2019 also saw the beginning of Hickory Ridge’s Homeschool Days which give homes schools the opportunity every third Friday of the month for a unique 18th Century themed school tour. 2020 so far has been an uncertain year with the outbreak of Covid-19 Virus and the museum has not opened yet for the safety of its interpreters and the public however in August 2020 Hickory Ridge will host its first battle reenactment that uses the museum as a fictional settlement called The Battle of Hickory Ridge.