| William Rea Museum |
The William Rea Museum is reportedly the oldest brick commercial structure in North Carolina.
It was built near the beginning of the 19th century possibly by William Rea, a Boston merchant and
shipper, who traded extensively between Murfreesboro and the New England states.In later years the Ferguson Agriculture Implement Co., which built the first peanut picker, occupied the building. The restored building is a museum which features a Gatling Gun and a room containing woodwork salvaged from the Gatling Plantation in Maney's Neck where the gun's inventor, Richard Jordan Gatling, was born in 1818. Indian artifacts from the Meherrin River sites as well as agriculture and carpentry implements are displayed. The history of early education, religion, and the river trade are also portrayed. |
