- [Rick] The town of Halifax is the seat for Halifax County.

There are only about 230 people living here, but back in the day, when the town was founded in 1758, this place was hopping.

- Historic Halifax was a trade center.

It was right here on the Roanoke River and the Roanoke River at this point in time, the 18th century, was used as the means to take goods from one place to another, but during the 19th century, you begin to see the rise of the railroads and unfortunately, the railroads did not pass through Halifax.

- [Rick] That was bad news for the future prosperity of the town in this part of the state, but it's also been a blessing for historians.

- So, the town is literally preserved, a snapshot of history from 1776 and that's very rare in our culture to find that kind of preservation.

Also, there were people in the town that knew how important the history was and really worked to preserve the buildings.

It's very exciting.

- What attracted me to this community was the preponderance of buildings.

Everywhere you walk here, you find history.

It's all over.

I've got an 1838 jail.

You just don't find that these days, a complete jail.

It's sitting beside of a late 19th century clerk's office and printing press, a working printing press.

That's fantastic.

- [Rick] And these are just some of the many buildings you can tour at Historic Halifax today.

The site is one of 27 locations preserved and operated within our state by North Carolina Historic Sites.

The presentation at Halifax has recently seen some improvements that will raise its profile immediately.

- Now, what we're doing is we're doing more onsite interpretation.

We're looking toward advancing our programming to rather than doing two and three, four programs a year.

We're doing at least 10.

We're filling up our schedule with as many interpretive opportunities possible for both the public and for us.

- Yeah, we're very excited about the changes and the new things happening at Historic Halifax.

If you came to Historic Halifax 10 or 15 years ago, you must come back.

The site is coming back to life.

The interpreters are now in costume and you'll see living history.

A printing press will be running or a blacksmith will be working at the site.

It's a wonderful opportunity to bring your kids and literally step back in time to 1776.

[guns fire] - That was the year, of course, we became a nation with the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain, but even before that happened on the 4th of July, there was the signing of a document called the Halifax Resolves, dated April 12th, 1776.

That's when North Carolina's representatives became the first members of the colony to formally call for separation from Great Britain.

The tiny town of Halifax was such a big deal at the time that George Washington himself came to visit, a stay-over the town folks still talk about.

- So, the story is that George Washington came to Halifax during the revolution and he said to the people of Halifax, "Wait here.

Don't do anything until I come back."

- [Rick] And pretty much, they've obeyed.

George never came back, but every year, the Halifax Resolves is observed here with a throwback to 1776.

Studying history is one thing.

Immersing yourself in it and walking the same paths where these events took place more than two centuries ago, that's the difference you can feel at Historic Halifax.

I'm Rick Sullivan for "North Carolina Weekend".

[cheerful music] - The Halifax State Historic Site is at 25 Saint David Street in Halifax and it's open Tuesday through Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Like Allstate historic sites, admission is free.

For more information, give them a call at 252-583-7191 or go online to historicsites.nc.gov.