By Emily Ford
eford@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY — OctoberTour will feature a house never before seen on the historic home tour, as well as new self-guided tours of two cemeteries.
“It’s always exciting when we can offer something that hasn’t been on tour before,” said Christine Wilson, OctoberTour project manager for Historic Salisbury Foundation. “It piques the interest of locals but also helps to bring visitors to Salisbury, especially if it’s a beautiful example of an historic home.”
The Arthur Reynolds House is just that. An exact copy of the stately Delaware Building from the 1907 Jamestown Exposition, the home at 129 S. Ellis St. belongs to the family of the late Anne Boyd.
The Jamestown Exposition was organized to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, Va. In 1916, Arthur Eugene Reynolds, a Salisbury businessman, had a duplicate of the Delaware Building built for his new home. The two buildings have the same wood shingle exterior, cove molding, Palladian windows and twin stucco chimneys.
The Arthur Reynolds House and nine other historic sites dating from 1770 to 1928 will appear on the 36th annual OctoberTour, Oct. 6 through 9, a fundraiser for Historic Salisbury Foundation. The tour will feature a mixture of private homes, commercial properties, cemeteries and a church.
The Old English and Freedman’s cemeteries will offer self-guided tours highlighting more than a dozen significant monuments, Wilson said.
While the public cemeteries are always open, local historians Betty Dan Spencer and Kaye Hirst are preparing information and a map for OctoberTour visitors who want to explore the gravesites in the 200 block of North Church Street more closely.
The Old English Cemetery was created by Salisbury’s charter from the Colonial Assembly in 1770, with the earliest documented burial dating back to 1775. The Freedman’s Cemetery was an early burial site of African Americans with a memorial dedicated in 2006.
After OctoberTour, Historic Salisbury Foundation will pass the self-guided tour information and map to the city, which owns the cemeteries. OctoberTour, centered in the West Square Historic District near downtown, is one of the oldest and largest fall house tours in the South. Over 35 years, the tour has featured about 135 historic structures, mostly private homes.
Food vendors and entertainment will be located at the Bank Street Café on West Bank Street and on the Josephus W. Hall House lawn during tour hours on Oct. 8 and 9.
David Post, executive director for Historic Salisbury Foundation and chairman of this year’s OctoberTour, said he expects more than 2,000 people to visit Salisbury for the event. More than half the visitors will come from outside Rowan County, he said.
“We invite them to share our 200-year-old neighborhoods and homes on tree-lined streets, our history, our music and art, our symphony and theater, our uniquely delicious barbecue, and most of all, our friendly people,” Post said in a press release.
Historic Salisbury Foundation, founded in 1972, is a private, non-profit organization whose mission is to preserve, protect and enhance the special historic character of Salisbury and Rowan County through education, neighborhood revitalization, advocacy and preservation of historic landmarks.
Tickets are available at 23 locations in Salisbury and Rowan County, on the web and on the day of the tour. Learn more and buy tickets for OctoberTour events by visiting www.HistoricSalisbury.org .
Salisbury, founded in 1753, is the oldest town in western North Carolina, has 10 historic districts listed in the National Register of Historic Places and has a comprehensive historic preservation program.
Contact reporter Emily Ford at 704-797-4264.
OctoberTour 
• Arthur Reynolds House, c. 1916 
Family of Anne C. Boyd
129 S. Ellis St.
• Rufus G. Hunt House, c. 1928
Carol and Don Sayers
201 S. Ellis St.
• Charles Torrence House, c. 1839
Dr. Frank Labagnara & David Garling 
428 W. Bank St.
• Thomas T. Maxwell House, c.1852
Maria and Jack Thomson
300 W. Horah St.
• Grimes Mill, c. 1896
Historic Salisbury Foundation
600 N. Church St.
• St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, c. 1828
The Rev. Wayne Houghland, Rector
131 W. Council St.
• Old English Cemetery, c. 1770 and Freedman’s Cemetery, c. 1839
City of Salisbury
200 N. Church St.
• Bernhardt House, c. 1882
Historic Salisbury Foundation
305 E. Innes St.
• Cyrus West House, c. 1839
Historic Salisbury Foundation
203 S. Main St.
• Dr. Josephus W. Hall House, c. 1820
Historic Salisbury Foundation
226 S. Jackson St.
Related events 
• Historic Salisbury Foundation will host The Harvest Moon, an evening of friendship and fellowship, in honor of OctoberTour sponsors and homeowners, at the home of Bill and Shari Graham Oct. 6.
• OctoberTour will host its annual luncheon at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church Oct. 7. Cynthia Cole Jenkins, executive director for Historic Salisbury Foundation who has taken a leave of absence and a nationally known historic preservationist, will discuss “Historic Preservation in Salisbury: Looking Back, Looking Forward.”
• For visitors from out of town, Historic Salisbury Foundation, Salisbury-Rowan Symphony Society and three area hotels have partnered to offer discounted ticket prices when combined with overnight stays at the Holiday Inn, Comfort Suites or Hampton Inn. 
These special hotel packages include tickets to both OctoberTour and a night at the symphony.  
• The North Carolina Symphony will present “Great Legends,” including Mussorgsky’s “Night on Bald Mountain,” Grieg’s “Suite from Peer Gynt” and Schubert’s Symphony No. 9, “The Great,” Oct. 8 in Keppel Auditorium at Catawba College. William Henry Curry, resident conductor, will lead the orchestra.
• Oct. 9 entertainment on the Hall House lawn will include Morgan Ridge Vineyard and a concert by the Bell Tower Ringers and Resurrection Brass Quartet of First Presbyterian Church. 
An artist reception by Plein Air Carolina will feature paintings completed during the OctoberTour Oil Painters of America Paint Out. 
These afternoon events will run until 7 p.m., allowing Tour-goers time to unwind and relax in the heart of Salisbury. 
• Other community events will also take place during OctoberTour weekend. Piedmont Players opens its season each year during OctoberTour and will present “Dreamgirls” at the Meroney Theater.
The Kiwanis Club will host its annual Pancake Festival Oct. 7 and 8 at the Hurley Family YMCA. Proceeds are dedicated to the Kiwanis mission of “Serving Children Around the World.”
• The 5K race has been canceled.