Welcome
A Quaker Homesite
The Plantation Complex & The Other South
At the Mendenhall Plantation, the centerpiece of Old Jamestown on Main St., about 5,000 visitors each year enter "The Other South" of 19th century dissenters, see how they lived, and learn of their anti-slavery and pacifist views, their respect for education, honesty, plain living, and self-reliance.
We often see misconceptions defused during these tours. The complex, with its 1811 house and fine old bank barn, cluster of outbuildings, and a tanning table where Richard Mendenhall carried on his tanner's trade, is on the National Register of Historic Places. Another jewel on the property is a restored wagon. This wagon was actually used to transport slaves during the underground railroad movement.
In 1985, the Historic Jamestown Society, Inc. moved the Madison Lindsay House, or Old Medical School, to the grounds, saving it from demolition. It now has been restored.
The Mendenhall Plantation consists of a large Quaker house (picture shown above) built circa 1811 and a cluster of buildings. They include
1) Springhouse (Gift Shop)
2) Museum
3) Pennsylvania Bank Barn
4) Madison Lindsay House
5) Old Mendenhall School House that is in the beginning stages of being restored.
The grounds including a meadow with walking trails at the back of the house cover about 3 acres.
Two restored historical buildings, not part of the Mendenhall complex, are located across the street from the entrance to the Mendenhall Plantation in the High Point City Lake Park. One building is where Richard Mendenhall had a leather good store. The other building built by the Mendenhalls was a Quaker Meeting Room used for worshiping.
Come and visit us!!!
Click on the "Tours" on the left margin of this page for the times of operations. For more details on the buildings and the wagon, click in the left margin on this page.
The Mendenhall Plantation is located at 603 West Main Street in Jamestown, North Carolina.
Jamestown's professional genealogist and historian, Mary Browning, writes a newspaper column for the Greensboro NC News & Record. These columns cover the history of the communities in Guilford County. News & Record has given the Historic Society of Jamestown permission to include on this web site those columns of interest to Jamestown. Reprints must have the permission of the News & Record and of the author. Select "Mary Browning" on the left margin of this page to read her newspaper articles.
Our Village Fair is held on one Saturday in July of every year. This year it will be on July 19, 2008. We have entertainment for all ages at this free admission event. Select "Village Fair" on the left margin of this page for more information and pictures from previous Village Fairs. Come and have fun!
One of our recent ongoing project is the Oakdale Cotton Mill Project. The Oakdale Cotton Mill Project was begun in 2006. Its goal is to collect and record the life histories of employees of the Oakdale Cotton Mill, which has been in operation in Jamestown since 1865. It is the oldest continuously operating cotton Mill in Guilford Co. and perhaps in North Carolina. Select "Mill Project on the left margin of this page for more information and a few old pictures of the Oakdale Cotton Mill.