City: Charlotte, NC

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (704) 568-1774

Address: 3500 Shamrock Dr.

Description: Charlotte’s oldest surviving structure, this 1774 rock house was the home of Hezekiah and Mary Alexander and their 10 children. Alexander was a blacksmith and planter by trade and assumed a leadership role in the new community called Charlotte. He eventually became a signer of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence.Visitors can tour the homesite, a replicated kitchen, and reconstructed springhouse, learning about 18th-century life from costumed docents. The adjacent Museum of History, which was completely renovated in the late 1990s, takes guests through the area’s beginnings, from the 1700s to today. Changing exhibits focus on local, regional, and state history as well as on special collections.Newer additions to the museum grounds include the American Freedom Bell, a bronze backcountry patriot statue, and many beautiful plants, flowers, and wooded trails. The Freedom Bell, funded in large part by the Belk Foundation of former Charlotte mayor John Belk, is the largest bell at ground level in the world. It is nearly seven feet wide and weighs seven tons.The average visit lasts three to four hours, allowing one to two hours in the museum and an hour or so for the homesite tour. Hours are 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Wed through Sat, and 1 until 5 p.m. Sun. Homesite tours at 1:15 and 3:15 p.m. daily. Admission is $6 adults, $5 seniors and students, $3 children age 6-12. Under 6, free.