The Vance Birthplace State Historic Site (911 Reems Creek Road) presents the Annual Fall Militia Encampment on Saturday, September 26 and Sunday, September 27. Admission is free both days. Here’s the info about the weekend’s events:

Once again, history will come alive on the weekend of September 26.  Vance Birthplace State Historic Site will be hosting the annual Fall Militia Encampment, Saturday, Sept. 26, 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m .and Sunday, Sept. 27, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.  Admission is free.

This event will highlight the early years of our country’s history, when citizens banded together to form local militias to protect their lives and property.  Periodically, the militia’s officers would call a muster (a gathering of the members) for training, such as small arms drills.  The Catawba Militia, a group that portrays an early American citizens’ militia, will be encamped at Vance Birthplace throughout the weekend.  The group will demonstrate common camplife activities, drill routines and tell visitors what it was like to serve in the militia.  Members of the group will also provide some hands-on activities for children.

In addition to the Catawba Militia, the site will be receiving volunteer assistance for the two day event from the members of the site’s newly organized Tar Heel Jr. Historian Club. The club members will be providing assistance with the hands-on activities and with site tours and demonstrations.

Also, for 2009, the event will be highlighted as one of the events included in the Smithsonian magazine’s 5th annual Museum Day. On September 26th, the Fall Militia Encampment will be participating in a national program sponsored by Smithsonian magazine.  Details on the program are available at www.Smithsonian.com/museumday.

Vance Birthplace State Historic Site, the childhood home of Zebulon B. Vance, North Carolina’s Civil War governor, was settled in 1795 by David Vance, a Revolutionary war veteran.  The farm was the family’s home until the early 1830s.  Both David Vance and his son were officers in the Buncombe Militia during the early 1800s.  The site includes a visitor center, a reconstructed log house and six outbuildings.

Vance Birthplace State Historic Site, an agency of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources, is located 12 miles northeast of Asheville on Reems Creek Road.  For more information call (828) 645-6706.

I recently stopped by the Vance Birthplace State Historic Site (911 Reems Creek Road ) and learned they have a Picnic Pavilion which is free for public use. For information or to reserve the shelter, stop by the Vance Birthplace or call them at 645-6706. Here’s some info from the Picnic Shelter Request application:

Equitable Use
Facility reservations are accepted as equitably as possible on a first-come, first-served basis to ensure all lawful groups have access to the picnic area. Department of Cultural Resources and the Vance Birthplace will have priority in scheduling the use of the picnic facilities.

Reservations
The picnic area may be reserved up to three months in advance. Facilities are not intended to be used as a regular meeting place or base of operation. Facilities may not be used for an activity which will result in monetary gain for an individual or private group.

One other note about reserving the picnic shelter – it can only be used during the regular operating hours of the Vance Birthplace, which are currently Tuesday-Saturday, 9 a.m – 5 p.m.

The Asheville Citizen-Times‘ Steve Dixon was on hand Sunday at Vance Birthplace for their Annual Candlelight Christmas Tour.  You can view his photo slideshow here.

Special events scheduled for June 2008 at the Vance Birthplace on 911 Reems Creek Road.  For more information about any event, call  645-6706.

Saturday, June 7, 1-4 p.m.
Quilting Program
Learn all about quilting from local Artisan Nancy Baker. Baker is an experienced quilter with extensive knowledge of quilting traditions in antebellum and post antebellum Western North Carolina.

Saturday, June 14, 1-4 p.m.
Weaving Demonstration
Explore the world of late 18th and early 19th century textile production, with Buncombe County Native Mandy Maude. Mandy will be demonstrating the art of weaving using a 200 year old foot-powered loom from the Watauga Region of the state.

Saturday, June 21, 1-4 p.m.
Lye Soap Making
Join tradition bearer Carolyn Rice, a native of Madison County, to learn the art of Lye Soap Making. This unique demonstration will show folks how to make soap, the old- fashioned way, using a cast iron pot over the open fire. (*In the event of rain the demonstration will be moved to the porch of the main house).

Mountain Music Program
Join Tony Thomas, a legendary old-time/mountain bluegrass musician from Tennessee, for an afternoon of pickin’ and grinin’! Thomas plays a traditional style of music he learned growing up in the coal mining towns of the Cumberland Mountains. In addition to performing, Thomas will give a short history describing the traditional instruments and songs he will be performing.

Vance Birthplace will be hosting Christmas Candlelight Tours from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday, December 9. The tours provide visitors with a look at how Christmas may have been celebrated in the southern Appalachian mountains in the 1800s.

The two-story reconstructed log house, decorated in the style of the 1830’s, will be opened for guided tours. Throughout the house, decorations made of native greenery such as holly, boxwood, pine boughs, galax and rhododendron will be on display.

Vance Birthplace is located at 911 Reems Creek Road. For more information call 645-6706.

If you want to see what life was like in the early 19th century on a mountain farm, visit the Fall Militia Encampment 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, September 22 or 1-3 p.m. Sunday, September 23, at the Vance Birthplace State Historic Site. Admission is free both days.

The Catawba Militia, a group that portrays an early American citizens’ militia, will be encamped at Vance Birthplace throughout the weekend. The group will demonstrate common camp life activities, drill routines and tell visitors what it was like to serve in the militia.

Vance Birthplace State Historic Site is located at 911 Reems Creek Road.  For more information, call 645-6706.