Durham Parks and Recreation: Play More!

By Caitlin Avinger, Recreation Coordinator for Cultural Heritage Programs Picture this - it’s a beautiful North Carolina summer day with blue skies, low humidity and birds chirping! Where do you want to spend it!? How about at West Point on the Eno! After all, people have enjoyed relaxing and playing there for centuries! West Point on the Eno, located at 5101 N Roxboro Street, has served as a gathering place for recreation and relaxation since the 1780s, when the Mill was founded, all the way up to today. During the West Point Mill’s heyday in the 1800s, people would bring their corn or wheat to be processed into flour or cornmeal. While they waited, they would enjoy a nice swim in the mill pond or catch up with friends over a picnic while children played games. In the early to mid-twentieth century, young folks would drive out to West Point for dances, camping trips, and for a scenic getaway from the quickly growing City of Durham. Today, West Point on the Eno has been a park for over...

By Katrina Wood, Program Assistant Durham Parks and Recreation’s Leigh Farm Park, located at 370 Leigh Farm Road, represents lives of the Leigh family as well as the sixteen individuals enslaved by the Leighs. Taken together, their history in the park spans from the 1830s on up to the 1970s. While visitors can learn about them on a park tour, they can also discover more by visiting the Leigh Cemetery. The family cemetery serves as a final resting place for patriarch Richard Stanford Leigh, his first wife Nancy Ann Carlton Leigh, and Stanford’s second wife Leathy, as well as several additional family members. The Leigh Cemetery can be reached by a trail leading from the old Ram’s Gate Road that runs in front of the Visitor’s Center, at the park kiosk. There are 25 marked headstones, yet only 15 are readable. The last burial took place in 1946, and the earliest known burial is for Nancy Ann Carlton Leigh—she died giving birth to twins in July 1861. Want to get involved and learn more? He...

By Katrina Wood, Cultural Heritage Master Program Specialist As one of DPR’s representatives at Leigh Farm Park, I often hear visitors say “I didn’t know this was here.” And you might not either! Leigh Farm Park is one of the department’s two cultural heritage parks, the other being West Point on the Eno. Leigh Farm is located near I-40 and Highway 54, right before you head into Chapel Hill. After driving past an office park and apartment complex the visitor enters the park’s gates and is treated to a view of a different era.  Each building on the Leigh Farm site contributes to the historical background. Though visitors begin at the park’s Visitor’s Center, the 1830s Leigh Farm House anchors the old farm. It features multiple additions that were built over 120 years as the Leigh Family (and their financial success) grew. Richard Stanford and Ann Leigh came from prominent families and continued to be prominent on their own land, a wedding gift from Stanford’s father. Stanford was a ...

By: Katrina Wood, Master Program Specialist Learning to craft materials as a new hobby (or pandemic pastime) awaits you this Spring! Durham Parks and Recreation is offering a two-session workshop on weaving with a Drop Spindle, a wooden instrument with a weighted whorl and typically, a hook or notch. Join a spinner, weaver, knitter, and living history professional who can tell you all about the origins of materials and how different types of wool are used in one’s everyday life.  Hannah Smith will conduct a Drop Spindle workshop on April 10 and 24 via Zoom, and while she’s been knitting since her freshman year in college (and quickly finding that she couldn’t be without her wheel while her friends were attending parties), she does not expect workshop participants to arrive with as many years of experience. In speaking with Hannah, her enthusiasm for weaving with a variety of materials and her ability to share that enthusiasm with participants will appeal to weavers of all skil...

By: Seth Dubowsky, Historic Mill Interpreter So, here we are in 2021. This past year has been a bit of a mess. We’ve been here before, though. Flash back 160 years. The world was facing a cholera pandemic. In the midst of a contentious election Americans were heavily divided, socially and politically. Our ancestors were questioning their history, and who they were as a country. Sounds a little familiar doesn’t it? In spite of all this there are some things that always retain some semblance of normalcy. Be it 1860 or 2021, folks need to go to the store. Whether it’s Walmart, Food Lion, or the West Point Mill, we all have to shop. One of the projects that the Cultural Heritage staff at Durham Parks and Recreation has been working on is indexing several sales ledgers kept by John Cabe McCown. McCown owned and operated the West Point Mill in the mid-1800s. These ledgers run from the late 1850s to the late 1870s, and record transactions at the West Point mill, store, and post office ...

By: Cassandra Bennett and Caitlin Avinger This has been a year, hasn’t it? COVID-19 has changed how we are doing everything, it seems. That is the case for West Point on the Eno’s longest running event, the Holiday Open House. Back in 1979, the Friends of West Point organized the first Holiday Open House, then named “Old Fashion Christmas.” That December, the park was only two and a half years old but staff didn’t hold back in planning an exciting and festive event. Various community groups, musicians, artists, demonstrators, and members of the City Council were all invited to help kickoff the first annual Old Fashion Christmas. Through the years, the event grew and changed, but some things remained constant: mulled cider (see below for recipe), cookies, crafts, milling demonstrations, and at some point, we started frying Hazel’s Hush Puppies (see below for recipe). With all of this festive fun, one thing was still lacking from the Old Fashion Christmas…attractive, old timey decoration...

Durham Parks and Recreation (DPR) recently collaborated with a licensed wildlife rehabilitator to provide a safe home for orphaned opossums. Wildlife Welfare Inc., is a nonprofit 501C organization that trains, mentors, and helps with supplies for dozens of rehabbers throughout the area with the desire to 'give wildlife a second chance'. Two baby opossums, Thomas and Valerie, were released on Tuesday, October 20, 2020, into one of Durham's parks. Volunteers from Wildlife Welfare Inc. assisted the opossums in the transition. Upon their release, the opossums seemed very relaxed, curious, and comfortable in their new home at the park. Opossums are a natural part of the urban landscape, and are common throughout the state, including in North Carolina’s biggest cities. In general, wildlife should not be captured and released away from where they were found unless done so by a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. The catch and release of wildlife can be harmful to the animals, spread ...

By:  Caitlin Avinger, Recreation Coordinator of Heritage Programs Wash your hands! Sound familiar? This is a lesson we learn from an early age. Scrub thoroughly with soap for at least 20 seconds regularly to keep clean and healthy. This lesson feels particularly relevant now in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Soap is generally a ubiquitous part of our day and many of us likely use it without a second thought. Perhaps we have taken soap for granted in the past as it was easily found in every grocery store in almost any variety. This was not the case for much of American history. Wait a minute….why are we talking about soap? Well, before the pandemic reached our community, we were planning an interactive Hands-on-History program all about soap! While we cannot gather together to discover how awesome soap is at this time, we can still share the fun through this blog post! Here’s a little bit about how folks made soap in the past. We’ve also included soap-making tutorials, recipe...

By: Seth Dubowsky, Historic Mill Interpreter Fitz Style Water Wheel at West Point When I first entered the West Point Mill I confess I was more interested in the building than the milling equipment. Although it is a reconstruction, the West Point Mill exhibits some great examples of post and beam carpentry. I talked a bit of history with the Millers, got a tour of the building, and got a rundown on the basic operation of the mill. No one told me about the music… Now hold up just a sec. You are probably thinking that I'm about to promote the latest festival, holiday event, or dance camp that takes place in our Durham parks. These are all great events, and they help to bring music to life in our parks, but that isn't where I'm going with this. Don't scroll down just yet. What no one told me about old mills is that each one has a sound that is unique unto itself. There are toe tapping, rhythmic harmonies that every mill produces, and anyone who has been aro...

By Cassandra Bennett,  Recreation Operations Supervisor Flower and vegetable gardens have accompanied homes for hundreds of years, though their layout and plants have changed with the passage of time. Today, only a few traces of these former gardens remain in Durham Parks and Recreation’s parks. While out on the trail, or a park’s open spaces, you may have spotted the privet, boxwood, wisteria, daffodils, various ivies, periwinkle, and yucca. Though some of these plants are considered invasive today, they are a steadfast reminder of what once were quintessential home gardens of their era. At Leigh Farm Park and West Point on the Eno, we are fortunate to have first-hand, family accounts of these well-tended outdoor living spaces. Both, just off their homes’ porch, were intensely personal reflections of their gardeners’ passions, preferences, and period. The Leigh Garden at Leigh Farm Park  At nineteen, Ida Leigh, the youngest of Stanford’s twenty children, wrote that her g...

On Thursday, August 1, a lightning storm came through Durham and struck the tree next to the McCown-Mangum House at West Point on the Eno causing some large branches to be weakened and fall to the ground. The strike was so powerful that some of the smoke detectors in the house went off. Fortunately there was no damage to the house, but that was not the case for the tree. And why is this tree so important? This 150-180 year old White Oak is not only historically important for its age, but is also a key part of the landscape around the McCown-Mangum House. Hugh Mangum captured this tree in several photographs of the house and the family. Which is why Durham Parks and Recreation is putting in the effort to save the tree! Initial Evaluation During an initial evaluation from The City of Durham's Urban Forestry department on Friday, August 2, it was determined that the tree would be expected to survive, but no one will officially know until an aerial inspection is completed. Even then,...

Located along a 2-mile stretch of the scenic Eno River, West Point on the Eno is a 404-acre natural and historic park which can be accessed at 511 North Roxboro Road, 6 miles north of downtown Durham. With several historic buildings and outdoor features, this is a must-see park in Durham! The park also offers activities year-round for all ages to enjoy. To learn about programs, activities and events available at West Point on the Eno pick up a copy of the Play More Guide at any facility, the administrative offices or view online . There is also a printable, on-the-go brochure with all the information you need to know as you explore the grounds of  the park. While there are so many things to consider, here are our top five things we love about West Point on the Eno...  McCown-Mangum House: A restored 1850's farmhouse, perfect for photos and available to tour and rent. Please note, this facility is currently not accepting reservations. Please continue to check our we...

Did you know there is a garden at West Point on the Eno? And, with the help of volunteers, we donate 100% of our harvest to local food pantry? Well, we do! It is located behind the McCown-Mangum House. In 2018 we harvested over 300 pounds of fresh produce in the West Point Garden. This is remarkable given we only have 620 square feet of raised beds. While 300 pounds of produce may not sound like too much, consider the pictures on the right. The top picture is 12 pounds of okra, tomatoes (beef steak and roma), eggplant and bush beans harvested on August 8, 2018. The bottom picture is 17 pounds of spinach, turnip and beet greens, green onions, lettuce mix, kale, and radishes harvested on May 10, 2018. This is twenty fiv 1.5 bags of produce. As you can see, 17 pounds of leafy greens and 12 pounds of other veggies is a lot! Staff coordinates these food donations through the Durham Farm and Food Network’s Plant-A-Row program. This program connects gardeners—backyard and communi...