Pittsboro, NC: A Piedmont Day Trip

by Julie Tetel Andresen | November 23, 2018 |

If you’re in Central North Carolina, aka the Piedmont, this Thanksgiving you might consider visiting the charming, post-Revolutionary town of Pittsboro. It’s a little less than twenty miles south of Chapel Hill on US 501. I went with friends in October.

As I look out the window today on this holiday weekend, I see the kind of weather that invites a day trip. So Pittsboro came to mind.

Pittsboro: History

In the center of an eighteenth-century town in North Carolina is usually the county court house. Pittsboro is no different, with the Chatham County Courthouse anchoring one end of the main street.

The statue is dedicated to the CSA 1861-1865.

For my international readers the initials CSA on the statue stand for the Confederate States of America. The CSA was made up of Southern slave-holding states that fought and lost the Civil War (1861-1865). Because the statue dates from 1907, during an era when state and local laws enforced racial segregation, this monument to a losing cause needs to go. I’m not saying it should be destroyed. Rather it belongs in a museum, not in the center of town.

The problem of Confederate monuments is persistent.

Pittsboro: Shopping

Enough with the civics lessons. Back to the pleasure of strolling down the main street.

We spent a lot of time in the bookshop.

The spines of the books painted on the side wall are all North Carolina authors.

Most people in town were at S&T’s Soda Shoppe a few doors down.

It’s always packed:

I love pressed-tin ceilings and mini-tiled floors.

Ice cream is a must.

The main activity in Pittsboro is poking around. We spent time in a variety of vintage stores:

Pittsboro has its share of eclectic. French Connections does its job:

Pittsboro: Eating

We ambled on down to the converted textile mill:

All over North Carolina old textile mills serve modern usages.

where we chose our restaurant for lunch:

The Pickle Jar Cafe is inside of a country market. You can buy your eggs with the lay date written on the carton:

I hear the local butter from up the road in Hillsborough is good:

Speaking of dairy products, if you get on the NC Cheese Trail, you can stop in Pittsboro. It lies between #4 City Celebrity Dairy in Siler City and #7 Goat Lady Dairy in Climax: