One of the unexpected pleasures of my 100 county quest is that it has led me into conversations with all sorts of people who’ve had all sorts of suggestions of places I should see.  Not long ago, it was a chance discussion with a cashier at Williams Sonoma in Durham that led me to downtown Warrenton and a particular antique/gift shop, The Scarlet Rooster.

I’ve probably been to Warren County, NC more than 100 times, traveling on I-85 from Chapel Hill to D.C., speeding past exits for Warrenton and Norlina but never stopping or seeing anything more than the billboards on the interstate.  On August 17th for the first time, I headed to Warren County as a destination rather than a place to simply pass through.

Warren is one of a string of sparsely populated northeastern counties spread out over a rural terrain, all of them facing challenges of poverty and dwindling numbers.  With just three incorporated towns in the county, none with a population over 1,500, it was a pleasant surprise for my youngest daughter, Rebecca, and me to discover a charming Main Street dotted with antique stores in Warren County’s county seat, Warrenton.  Unlike so many small downtowns on a Saturday afternoon, Warrenton was bustling. The Scarlet Rooster, a small store chockful of charm, quality goods, and homemade truffles helped us understand the draw though we wondered where these shoppers were coming from!

A few miles outside of Warrenton, we sought out Soul City, an experimental planned community envisioned by civil rights leader Floyd McKissick in the early 70s as a place where all races would live together and thrive.  Little is left of that dream now although there are still reminders in street signs, a few homes, and a beautifully maintained park that was eerily empty on a Saturday afternoon.  Saddest of all was coming upon a hand-lettered sign, “Soul City Cemetery,” in front of an apparently empty dirt field.

In an entirely different direction, south of Warrenton, we found the former gravesite of Annie Lee, the daughter of Robert E. Lee.  Annie became ill and died when, as a young adult during the Civil War, she was visiting in Warren County.  In the midst of war, her body couldn’t be transported home to Virginia so she was buried far from home in North Carolina.  Her father was finally able to visit her gravesite in 1870 and he himself died just a few months later.  In 1994, the Lee family moved her body to their family burial site in Virginia but her grave marker remains in Warren County.  There is no sign to indicate the site but finding Annie Lee Road gave us a clue that we were close.  It took a little tromping through the woods to find the grave but there it was, hidden from the road in the midst of a southern forest.

A gravesite without a body and a city without citizens – our day in Warren County turned out to be a fascinating one, traveling a landscape peopled by the spirits of those no longer here.  We departed Warren, driving east to the town of Halifax in next door Halifax County.  Downtown Halifax was deserted and its small historic park closed.  Just as we were wondering what we might see of interest in this small, quiet town, we came upon this historic home and marker.  I grew up singing the Carolina fight song that includes the line “it’s fight, fight, fight for Carolina as Davie did in days of old.”  I take an early morning walk each day past the Davie Poplar on UNC’s campus.  For the past 34 years, I’ve lived off Davie Circle.  Happening upon William R. Davie’s home in Halifax County was a perfect way to end our trip.  And, I appreciated the writer of the historical marker who referred to my beloved University of North Carolina most appropriately as “the university.”

August 18, 2012 – Warren and Halifax – Counties #10 and #11