The warm glow of candlelight and festive greenery will welcome visitors to “O Blessed Season!” at House in the Horseshoe State Historic Site. The Alston House will be decorated for Christmas and opened to the public Saturday, Dec. 7.
Guests will learn how Christmas was celebrated in Colonial America and how many modern holiday traditions had not yet been introduced. Tours of the candlelit house will be 5-7 p.m. Tickets are $2 each and available at the door or at Eventbrite (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/o-blessed-season-a-colonial-christmas-tickets-53918292063?aff=ebdshpfprimarybucket).
Visitors can enjoy warm cider and cookies by a campfire and sing their favorite Christmas carols. Children and adults are invited to make and take a Christmas ornament in the museum.
In 1781 the Alston house was the site of a militia skirmish between the owner, Whig Col. Philip Alston, and Loyalist Col. David Fanning. The house still bears some of the scars from this engagement. From 1798 to 1814 the House in the Horseshoe, under the name Retreat, was home to another Patriot leader and four-term North Carolina governor, Benjamin Williams.
Located at 288 Alston House Rd., Sanford, House in the Horseshoe is 16 miles west of Sanford off NC 42 and 10 miles north of Carthage on the Carbonton-Carthage Road. The house was built in 1772 by Philp Alston who proved a fiery leader for the Whig cause during the American Revolution.
For additional information call (910) 947-2051. House in the Horseshoe is part of the Division of State Historic Sites within the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.