SALISBURY — Many locals are familiar with Historic Salisbury Foundation’s annual OctoberTour and the large numbers of visitors it brings to Salisbury on the second weekend of October each year.
From the variety of historic homes and food vendors on Bank Street to the Civil War encampment and entertainment on the grounds of the Hall House, there’s something for everyone.
This October, Historic Salisbury Foundation will offer new ideas, a new special tour and feature a new historic neighborhood.
As autumn approaches, porches around the area are filled with locally-grown OctoberTour mums, pansies and violas, many of them ordered from the foundation in anticipation of OctoberTour.
All the pre-ordered plants will be available for pickup between 9 a.m. and noon Saturday at the Salisbury Station, 215 Depot St.
OctoberTour festivities will kick off with a 1920’s-themed Bootlegger’s Ball at the Salisbury Station on Thursday, Oct. 9, at 6:30 p.m.
“Tickets to the Bootlegger’s Ball are the best value for OctoberTour weekend,” says Brian Davis, HSF executive director. “Not only do guests to the Bootlegger’s Ball enjoy a great party on Thursday, but their badge also gets them into all eleven houses on OctoberTour, as well as the Patron’s Porch, for food and drinks during the tour.”
The fun continues Friday, Oct. 10, as artist Phyllis Steimel will be the guest speaker at the OctoberTour Luncheon at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church Parish Hall. Steimel is an accomplished artist in oils, watercolors and pastels, and her paintings can be found in numerous private and corporate collections.
Steimel is a founding member of Plein Air Carolina and will be discussing her work and what goes into capturing artistic impressions while painting “in the open air.”
The 39th annual OctoberTour will take place Saturday, Oct. 11 (10 a.m.-5:30 p.m.) and Sunday, Oct. 12, noon-5:30 p.m., and will feature 11 historic houses constructed between 1820 and 1930.
This year’s tour will take visitors from the Hall House, down South Fulton Street and into the Fulton Heights Neighborhood. This is the first time Fulton Heights will be featured on the tour and is sure to promise a variety of architectural styles and interiors.
In an effort to make the tour more flexible, once guests are inside each house, they will be able to move about the houses according to their own schedules and interests.
From 5-7 p.m. Oct. 11, Morgan Ridge Winery and New Sarum Brewing Company will be selling their products while plein air artists display and sell their works created that day. This is a free event and will take place on the grounds of the Hall House.
HSF will premiere a new event on Friday and Saturday evenings this October with a “Life and Death Tour of the 1820 Hall House.” Guests will take a candlelight tour of the house while exploring the life and death of those associated with the property over the past 194 years since it was built.
Tours will be given at 6:30 and 8:00 p.m. and are limited to 20 people per tour. Reservations are recommended by calling 704-636-0103. The Hall House is located at 226 S. Jackson St.
More information may be found and tickets to these events may be purchased online at www.octobertour.com. OctoberTour is the largest annual fundraiser for Historic Salisbury Foundation, a local non-profit organization whose mission is to preserve, protect and enhance the character of Salisbury and Rowan County through education, neighborhood revitalization, advocacy and the preservation of historic landmarks.