Confederates, NASCAR and Shopping in Hillsborough, North Carolina
 
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Confederates, NASCAR and Shopping in Hillsborough, North Carolina
 
We traveled out to a very cool and historic town this past weekend called Hillsborough, North Carolina. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The town boasts of having the last house (Visitors Center) which served as Gen. Joseph E. Johnston’s headquarters when he surrendered the largest of the Confederate armies to Gen. William T. Sherman, leading to the Civil War’s end. After a really great walking tour that took us to the museum, the historic 1800 Burwell School, and a fantastic neighborhood of houses ranging from the late 1700s to the present, we went out to this interesting piece of "history" that is a little more in tune with modern culture. We visited the Occoneechee Speedway Trail. I noticed a sign warning of Copperhead snakes at the trail head, and although I don’t doubted the need to warn of the presence of the venomous creatures, I am sure it helps keep people from digging around in the rubble. A short hike into the woods revealed an awesome and unique use of an old racetrack which has been converted into a natural hiking area. I am not a huge race fan, but I enjoyed this hike immensely. The interesting sites of deteriorating metal roofing and man made building foundations, that were blended with the abundance of pine trees and of course pine needles, was very interesting. From the website http://www.northcarolinatravels.com/hillsborough/index.htm Occoneechee Speedway was one of the first two NASCAR tracks to open and is the only track remaining from that inaugural, 1949 season. The site is now heavily forested the grandstands which once held thousands of fans and the mile–long oval track is still visible. It was at Occoneechee Speedway where such legends as Fireball Roberts, Richard Petty, Ned Jarrett and Junior Johnson once spent their Sundays. This site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and you can now walk the 44 acre site with 3 miles of trails. It is located at 320 Elizabeth Brady Road in Hillsborough, NC
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