SALISBURY — The Historic Salisbury Foundation took the OctoberTour off the beaten path for the 49th annual edition, featuring “newer” historic houses in the area around Hurley Park instead of the familiar West Square neighborhood.

“Some of these houses might not be thought of as historic, but history is a continuum. It always continues forward, and this indicates that our history is continuing forward,” said HSF Founder Edward Clement, who has been involved with every version of OctoberTour.

The houses that were open to the public were on Confederate Avenue, Club Drive and Annandale Avenue, with the vendors and live music being offered in the festival space in Hurley Park. Clement said that this was the first time any of the homes had been opened to the public.

“We knew that we wanted to highlight an area of Salisbury that people don’t typically think of as historic because it’s not a historic district, but these homes are definitely historic. People will sometimes think that a house has to be 100-plus years old to be historic, but the true definition is only 50 years and all of these homes are from the 1930s to 1950s. So, they are indeed historic and they offer a unique architecture that we don’t typically see in the houses that we often get on tour. This has really given us a chance to showcase a part of Salisbury that people don’t often think of as historic,” said HSF Executive Director Kimberly Stieg.

The houses included on the Hurley Park portion of the tour were:

• The Dobkin House, constructed in 1938 and located in the 500 block of Club House Drive.
• The Taylor House, constructed in 1956 and located in the 600 block of Hobson Road.
• The Isenhour House, constructed in 1942 and located in the 200 block of Confederate Avenue.
• The Mattox-Crawford House, constructed in 1934 and located in the 200 block of Confederate Avenue.
• The Beaver-Sims House, constructed in 1950 and located in the 500 block of Club House Drive.

“It is a big deal for these homeowners to allow the public to come in and go through their homes. They spend a lot of time getting it just right and we couldn’t do it without them, obviously, so we appreciate it. It’s a gift to HSF and the community,” said Stieg.

The event also included virtual tours of the Shimpoch-Shaver House in Gold Hill and the Hall House on OctoberTour.com, as well as tours of the Historic Neely School and the China Grove Roller Mill in China Grove.

In past years, the event has always been centered around a festival on West Bank Street, located in the West Square Historic District, outside of 2017 when the event was in Spencer and 2020 when COVID forced the foundation to host a virtual OctoberTour,

“This is the first time that we’ve ever taken the festival out of Bank Street, it’s always been there. Since this is the first time, we thought that the park would be a beautiful backdrop for it and for the perimeter, all of the homes are all around the park, so it worked out perfectly,” said Stieg.

Rachel Fink, revolving fund project and office manager for HSF, said that for the 50th annual event in 2025, the festival will be moved back to the West Square, with the Hambley-Wallace House being opened up for tours as well.

“This has been different, we are all adjusting to having everything over here, but it just gave a chance to have this completely-away tour so that we can step right back into a giant 50th in the heart of the West Square,” said Fink.

Stieg said that despite the organization’s name, the HSF also includes preserving and protecting historic sites in Rowan County, not just Salisbury. This year, China Grove officials worked with the foundation to have two of their historic sites included, the China Grove Roller Mill and Historic Neely School, as well as coordinating with local businesses to offer discounts and other special offerings.The mill, constructed in 1903, is currently owned by the Rowan Museum and open for tours, which show off the original milling machinery still present in the building.

The Neely School is believed to be the oldest one-room schoolhouse in Rowan County built for Black students, who at the time of construction in 1910 did not have access to public schooling. Julius Neely built the school hundreds of feet into the woods on his property in order to hide it from those who opposed the education of Black children. The school was restored by 2015 by Neely’s descendants.

The OctoberTour is the largest fundraiser for the HSF, with typical revenues for the foundation hovering around $150,000. Fink said that between sponsorships and ticket sales, this year’s event was expected to bring in the same amount. The next event for the foundation will be “Halls of Poe,” with readings of Edgar Allen Poe held at the Hall House. More information about the foundation and upcoming events can be found at historicsalisbury.org.