December 12, 2009

Dear Friends,

The year has passed with little news in the hood. No money à no action! We are exploring an available grant for restoring the Rosenwald School just off Weeping Mary Road. The grant will cover its restoration, but we will have to generate funds to move it – our best location would be on St. Frances property. After a move, we could convert this 1925 school to a history center. Adding a bathroom to the back quarter of the school would allow the school and St. Frances to become open to the public. We are investigating now the costs of moving it.

We lost another family member, Burges "Book" Urquhart, III in November. Our ‘old guard’ deaths over the last years saddens us, and makes us even more mindful of our current responsibilities to assume the care of our heritage they so richly nourished.

Of exciting interest to us all is the publication of Tom Newbern and Jim Melchor’s book, WH Cabinetmaker - A Southern Mystery Solved-see http://newbern-melchor.com/ - with stunning pictures of The Pugh-Mizell-Urquhart (Burges Urquhart, IV home) and the William A. Pugh home (Griffin-Pugh home). The authors have performed exhaustive research identifying the mystery "WH" cabinet maker, and ties the same builder to these two Woodville homes and Hope Plantation, and the beautifully restored Woodbourne in Roxobel. This book is phenomenal and can be purchased at Hope.

We still have the same ~$3000 annual expenses for maintaining St. Frances and the Bazemore house: insurance/electricity/yard care – and are solely dependent on your contributions to meet these expenses until the Bazemore house finds a buyer. Please consider helping us this year. Every dollar means so much.

It would be immensely helpful if anyone living nearby would contribute by assuming the mowing/trimming services from April-September, hugely reducing these expenses by half, to $1500/year!

Best wishes to all for a joyous Christmas, and a rewarding New Year,

Molly

HISTORIC WOODVILLE
3104 Hillmer Drive Raleigh, North Carolina 27609
Phone: 919.833.4009 E-Mail murquharmears@gmail.com

Visit our website at Historic Woodville

* All donations/grants are tax deductible and 100% funded to our various projects – directors receive no compensation

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