The nice thing about living in a small town is that when you don’t know what you’re doing, someone else does.

Immanuel Kant

Here is my promised “Tour of Tarboro” post. There are so many great photographs, however, that I may have to share this as a series.

First, though, context. Tuesday Rebekah and I enjoyed a wonderful lunch at “On the Square” with Edward and Susan Roberson. Edward is a lifelong Tarboro resident with a lot of love for the community and its history. His father served 14 years as mayor – so he has a deep well of experience and knowledge.

After lunch the Robersons drove us around for a couple of hours, sharing the history, pointing out landmarks, and talking about some of the families who helped create the rich tapestry of life that is uniquely Tarboro.

Edward explained how hard this community has worked to stay alive and vibrant – not only after the loss of so many executive level jobs when the telephone company moved to Wake Forest, but in the aftermath of devastating floods.

History from 1760

Tarboro, which dates as a settlement from the early 1700’s, was officially chartered and laid out in 1760. The Town Common – an expansive park running six full city blocks – originally surrounded the historic center on all four sides.

The abundance of beautiful older homes here is both an opportunity and a challenge. When resources move away it becomes difficult to maintain and renovate and conserve. And for every restoration there are two or three more potentially spectacular properties begging to be brought back to life.

There is Hope:

But there is hope. So much good work has and is being done – including restoring the house where Rebekah and I are living. Everyone I talk with is optimistic about the future here. In fact – and this is how I phrased it when I shared these images with Rebekah – for this town, belief seems to be a built-in frame of reference.

Here in the historic center where we live, almost every residence has a plaque pointing back in history to the people who built it.

Walking Tour:

Edward and Susan drove us around Tuesday. So Wednesday I put my camera around my neck and tried to walk back over much of the ground we had covered in the car. I walked a couple of hours in the morning, then a couple of hours in the afternoon.

And now, going over the photographs, I’m trying to decide how best to present them.

For today I’m just including a handful of sample images. Then I will offer two more posts, one for my morning exploration, then one to cover the afternoon.

Who knows, maybe someone will read this and be inspired to renovate one more of these beautiful homes. Every time another family invests its love and its belief and its resources in the town, Tarboro becomes a better place for everyone else too.

Enjoy this appetizer of photographs. The main course is still to come! – DEREK