Colony House / Visitor Center
Introduction
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Colony House
Colony House
Backstory and Context
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Audio description of the Colony House / Visitor Center by Assistant Site Manager Christa Hobbet.
Text-to-speech Audio
This original two-story structure was built around 1840 and was referred to by the Collins family as the Colony House. It served as the boarding school for Josiah III and Mary’s six sons. Although their home was 25 yards away, the boys moved into this building full time around age 8 along with their tutor and the resident Episcopal minister for the Lake Chapel. Boarding school was the primary means of formal education for the children of the wealthy elite of North Carolina. Usually that meant children were sent to boarding schools further north, in places like New York. Living here in the Colony House with the boys were their many pets, including 25 Plott Hounds and two monkeys. The monkeys were a gift from a family friend, sent to them from India. Josiah and Mary’s sons were being prepared to continue their education at the university level.
Sources
Self-Guided Tour Brochure, Somerset Place State Historic Site.
Somerset Place State Historic Site
Somerset Place State Historic Site