Lee County, North Carolina

I had a short but nice visit to Lee County, North Carolina, back on August 16. I had driven through Lee County before, but this was my first time to stop and visit, and I enjoyed it!

Lee County was formed in 1907 from parts of three surrounding counties (Harnett, Chatham, and Moore). It was named for General Robert E. Lee of the Confederate Army. The county seat is Sanford, a city of nearly 30,000 people. One of Sanford's largest local industries in brick making, so it's fitting that Sanford, as the county seat, is home to the lovely brick Lee County Courthouse.



Driving through Sanford, a place called the Temple Theatre caught my eye, so I stopped and took a few pictures of it, too. According to the Wikipedia article about it, the Temple Theatre has been a cultural center during different periods of Sanford's history. I'm glad it's been restored and kept up.

Before I left the area, I decided to look for a geocache, and the hunt took me to Deep River Park, and the Camelback Bridge, which spans the Deep River and crosses the border between Lee and Chatham Counties. It was a lovely stop, a very peaceful place. (I also found the geocache, which made it even more fun!)

The rest of my Lee County, North Carolina, photos are here.

Harnett County, North Carolina

Although I've been to (and through) Harnett County before, I enjoyed going back to record a tour for this blog. It took me a little over an hour to get there, and I enjoyed getting to know my way around the county better.

Barbecue Presbyterian Church

My first goal on this adventure was to find the community known  as Barbecue, since I love North Carolina barbecue! Barbecue is one of several unincorporated communities in Barbecue Township, and is the home of Barbecue Presbyterian Church. I really enjoyed taking pictures of this church and the attached cemetery, where some of the tombstones were too old and weathered to read. Still, the cemetery as a whole is well kept. The nearby historical marker titled Barbecue Church made me smile as I took a picture. Unfortunately, I didn't see any barbecue restaurants in the area for lunch.

Raven Rock State Park

Next, I drove to Lillington, where I found the Harnett County Public Library, the Harnett County Courthouse, and Raven Rock State Park. Lillington is the county seat, and is named after John Alexander Lillington, a Revolutionary War officer who fought in the Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge in what is now Pender County. I especially enjoyed finding Raven Rock State Park, but didn't do any hiking, since my ankle was sore.

John W. Pope, Jr. Convocation Center

Next, I went to Buies Creek, home of Campbell University. I was surprised by how close Lillington and Buies Creek are to each other! (I'm not sure why I was surprised! They're both pretty small!)) On my way into town, I noticed the building in progress for Campbell University's new School of Osteopathic Medicine. The main campus was pretty deserted, as the school year had already ended, but I enjoyed walking and driving around the campus. I never did find the campus library, though.

Duffies Exotic Bird Ranch

My last adventure was to find Duffie's Exotic Bird Ranch in Dunn. I'm not sure what I was expecting at Duffie's, but it was interesting! I couldn't find anyone to pay for my $5 unguided/self-guided tour, so I just walked around and took a few pictures. Most of the birds were in cages, which isn't surprising, but made it harder to take pictures of them. A few parrots whistled at me as I walked around, and several mimicked my "bye-bye" as I left. That cracked me up! :-)

All of my photos of Harnett County are here.