After living in the city for four years, decided that July 4th was a good of a time as any to visit the Charlotte History Museum, especially because it was free to celebrate the holiday there. The museum is not in the best part of town, however is fine during the day as it is a bit secluded. The Museum itself is a beautiful large open building that had exhibits featuring vintage toys, the history of Mecklenburg County and Center City, various settlements, etc. There is also a fountain in the front, many flowers and a large bell that sits on the back of the grounds.

However, the spotlight is actually the Hezekiah Alexander house from 1774 that sits on the grounds of the property. The beautiful old stone house features many original pieces of furniture and gives you a glimpse of live in that period. We got to see a tour of the main house, kitchen and spring house and was very educational. They also had guides dressed in period clothing to get you in the spirit.

The grounds of the property is beautiful, could probably spend a little while just wandering around. Also very much enjoyed the gift shop that had many unique gifts and some from local potteries. Found out that my husband shares his birthday with the date the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence was signed (however 200 years prior) so bought a few trinkets. All in all a very historic and fun way to spend July 4th.

This is definitely worth a visit, but only if you can go on a tour. The tour gives a lot of information that you can't really find otherwise, and it is well done. Be warned that the "house tour" is a tour of more than just the house and it takes quite a while. But without it you miss out on a lot.

Great museum. Great exhibits showing the history of the area, I particularly liked the exhibit on the religious groups. The rock house is great, be sure to visit the museum during one of the 2 guided tours so that you can go inside the buildings. A must see! The story is much more interesting than the actual building themselves and the tour guy (I believe his name is Doug May) is quite up on everyting and has a wonderful delivery and a great story teller.