Bellamy Mansion Museum of History and Design Arts

Built as the city residence of prominent planter John D. Bellamy, the Bellamy Mansion is a premier architectural and historical treasure in North Carolina. The quarter acre site features formal gardens with native plants and a rare example of an urban slave building -- both part of the hour-long tour. The mansion itself was completed in 1861, but the Bellamys were soon displaced from their new home due to fear of raging yellow fever and the threat of invasion by Union forces. The mansion was later commandeered as a Union headquarters. The Bellamys returned to their home in the fall of 1865. In 1993, Preservation NC opened the restored site as a museum.