A CHOIR OF HILLSBOROUGH VOICES small-town literati It is hard to isolate any one feature that attracts so many creative souls to this small town nestled along the banks of the Eno River. Perhaps it is the town’s fractious historical roots (18th-century Hillsboroughans had no truck with tax-happy King George and didn’t miss a chance to prove it), or the tow-ering courthouse clock that chimes almost on the hour, or the blocks of handsome brick buildings, or the soft ripple of that mighty (well, flowing) river, or the chorus of voices that fill Churton Street on warm nights when diners and revelers line the sidewalks. Hard to say. This much is clear: The town has recently experienced a migration of writers, painters, photographers, musicians and other artists. They have transformed the once-sleepy Colonial-era town into a 21st-century artists’ colony. Just walk into CupAJoe on a Saturday morning, and you might see noted photographer Elizabeth Matheson talking with writer Frances Mayes, she of “Under the Tuscan Sun” fame, as novelist Allan Gurganus, author of “Last Confederate Widow Michael Malone, Elizabeth Woodman and Frances Mayes at CupAJoe. Tells All” and well-known landscape painter John Beerman wave hello. On the sidewalk across the street from Purple Crow Books, a pop-up bluegrass band and cloggers entertain a crowd 74 may 2014 WBM Latta Eggs and Maple View Dairy, raising food to feed families, supply restaurants and for export. It is not surprising that the town is anchored by a cooperative, Weaver Street Market, also on Churton, as one enters the historic district from the south. Beside Radius, where we eat an amazing couple of pizzas, behind an innocuous placard is YepRoc Records, the Hillsborough-based folk and rock haven that represents 122 artists, releasing 326 albums since 1997. This is a town that wakes slowly, except for the attorney firms sprinkled among all this and the courthouses and law enforcement facilities in the center of town. I find what’s absent — that is often prevalent in other near-college towns — is the pickup bar scene. Here modestly dressed people go out to converse, dine and linger. Also conspicuously absent are people Dual Supply Co.’s Wesley Woods, behind the counter, has owned the store since 1974. Scott Pasley of Churton Street Realty stops by for a chat. By Elizabeth Woodman • Photography by Alli{on Potter
Wrightsville Beach Magazine May 2014
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