Accessibility at Historic Sites

Alamance Battleground

The site of the Battle of Alamance, fought between Tryon’s militia and protesting farmers who called themselves Regulators.

Physical Disabilities:

One marked accessible paved parking space. Accommodations can be made as necessary for easy access.
Natural ground with grass. No paved paths. Some slopes. Benches near the restroom provide an area of rest.
The visitor center entrance is level.
Two accessible restrooms.
Visitors may drive or be driven to the Allen House (approx. 80 yards from the visitor center). Staff are available to assist visitors with mobility issues.

Hearing Loss:

Orientation video has volume control but is not captioned.

Vision Loss:

Restroom signs have Braille.
Two plaques outside the visitor center are a map of the site with raised letters and shapes that visitors with vision loss can feel.
Two monuments across the street also have raised letters.

Aycock Birthplace

The birthplace of North Carolina’s education governor.

Physical Disabilities:

Two marked accessible parking spaces: one at the visitor center and one at the picnic shelter.
A concrete path at least 4 feet wide with slopes leads from the parking lot to the visitor center. An uneven dirt path leads to the schoolhouse and the home.
The interior of the visitor center has a ramp and carpeted floors.
The entrance to the visitor center has a ramp. Other buildings have steps.
One accessible restroom for each gender.

Hearing Loss:

A video tour is available, but is not captioned.

Vision Loss:

12 Braille copies of the site’s brochure are available (courtesy of the Governor Morehead School for the Blind).
The site offers tactile tours that allow visitors to touch reproduction items.
Restroom signs have Braille.

Battleship North Carolina

One of the most decorated battleships of World War II that now serves as a memorial to all North Carolina veterans.

Physical Disabilities:

Marked accessible parking spaces are available.
The entrance has a ramp.
Two accessible restrooms.
The main deck of the ship provides the best access for visitors with mobility disabilities. The interior contains steps and ladders.
The Back Porch Tour designed for groups with limited mobility gives them a taste without coming aboard through a 10-minute video, a tour of the Visitor Center and Exhibit Hall and a visit to the Observation Deck. Allow four weeks’ notice.
A new walkway around the ship is fully accessible.

Bennett Place

The place where the Civil War ended. The site of the largest surrender of the Civil War at the Bennett family homestead.

Physical Disabilities:

Four marked accessible parking spaces.
The entrance to the visitor center is level. The Bennett House and kitchen house have steps.
The picnic area has two wheelchair-accessible picnic tables and there is a walkway leading into the picnic area that is wheelchair friendly.

Hearing Loss:

The site’s two videos are not captioned.

Vision Loss:

Signs in the visitor center have large print with good contrast.

Bentonville Battlefield

The site of the largest Civil War conflict in North Carolina.

Physical Disabilities:

One accessible parking area marked by a sign. The rest of the parking area is either gravel or grass.
The visitor center and restrooms are at ground level. The historic structures have steps.
Two accessible restrooms.
The visitor center, restrooms and Tour Stops are wheelchair accessible.
Photo book available for visitors with mobility disabilities to see historic structures.

Hearing Loss:

The audio-visual elements are captioned.
The site requires a request in writing two weeks in advance for a sign language interpreter.

Vision Loss:

Cellphone audio tours are available at 910-535-2008.

Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson

A Civil War fort and the ruins of an early colonial settlement.

Physical Disabilities:

Three marked accessible parking spaces.
Two accessible restrooms.
Entrance to the site is level.
One manual wheelchair is available.
The path through the exhibits in the visitor center has a ramp. The path to the fort has a bench along the way as well as a ramp with handrails, and the boardwalk has a 40-footlong bench. Steel cable around the excavated foundations makes them visible at low heights.

Hearing Loss:

The orientation video in the visitor center is not captioned, but a script is available.

Vision Loss:

The site director will give a private tour to a visitor with vision loss who requests one.

Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum

Site of the former Palmer Memorial Institute, a premier college preparatory and social finishing school for the Black middle class globally, founded by Dr. Charlotte Hawkins Brown.

Note: The site asks groups when scheduling if there are special needs in order to help the site plan accommodations.

Physical Disabilities:

Ten marked accessible parking spaces across the three parking lots on campus.
Two accessible parking spaces located directly next to the ramp to the Visitor’s Center with vehicle access to Canary Cottage, the historic home on campus where tours take place.
The visitor center has a ramp, and the doors are at least 32 inches wide and easy to open.
Canary Cottage has a ramp.
The second floor of Canary is only accessible via stairs but there is a virtual tour that staff can provide for visitors to see the bedrooms.
There are accessible restrooms in the Visitors Center and Kimball Hall, the primary event space on campus.
Kimball Hall has an elevator.
The site has fully paved walkways providing access to the entirety of the grounds.
There are 8 benches across the site and picnic tables in shaded areas throughout that visitors can take breaks at.

Hearing Loss:

Site staff use microphones with speakers when giving tours.
There is no audio/visual component to a site visit.
The walking campus tour provides the material ordinarily offered in a guided tour in written form.

Vision Loss:

Guided tour offers details for visitors with vision loss.

CSS Neuse Civil War Interpretive Center

An interactive museum showcasing the Civil War in eastern North Carolina and the Confederate ironclad ship CSS Neuse.

Physical Disabilities:

Wheelchairs are available
Walker and cane available
Elevator access to the mezzanine level
Accessible seating in the A/V room
Accessible restroom stalls in both bathrooms
Automatic opening front doors
One designated accessible parking space
Ramp access to the exhibit space, the ship’s wheel interactive exhibit, and to the viewing platform

Hearing Loss:

Sign Language Interpretation available upon request. Please make requests two weeks in advance by emailing rachel.kennedy@dncr.nc.gov.
Voice amplifier for docents and staff to wear during guided tours
Transcript available of orientation film in regular and large print
Captions on the orientation film (by request)
Guided touch tours
Every section of the audio tour comes with a written transcript of the audio in English and Spanish

Vision Loss:

Digital Video Magnifier, Handheld Portable Electronic Reading Aid
3X Large Ultra Bright LED Page Magnifier with 12 Anti-Glare Dimmable LEDs
Large print is available for the self-guided tour and orientation film in English and Spanish (laminated booklet)
Large print of all the quotes on the exhibit panels in the museum (laminated flip book)
Signage for accessibility resources with contrasting colors
Tactiles throughout the exhibits
Bathroom signage in braille
New LED lighting on the first floor for exhibits
Guided touch tours

Sensory Processing Disorders:

CSS Neuse is a sensory-certified location through the KultureCity Sensory Inclusive Certification Program (KultureCity provides sensory bags)
Sensory Bags: The sensory bags have noise-canceling headphones, fidget tools, sunglasses, and a communication card. These items are carefully selected to assist individuals in managing sensory input and creating a more enjoyable experience.
Signage in English and Spanish on locations in the museum where visitors may want to use their noise-canceling headphones.
CSS Neuse Museum social story available on the KultureCity app
Noise-canceling headphones and dog lap pad
(Cognitive Corner)- autism sensory educational toys, color and learn map tablecloth with washable fabric markers, sensory touchpad, interactive Busy Book, puzzles, cognitive family card game, and interactive STEM toys for brain development.
Diverse and inclusive children’s books about physical, mental, and neurodivergent disabilities.
Fidget toys
Guided touch tours
Audio tour for children
Colorful handprints for tactile opportunities
Children’s play area

Duke Homestead

The birthplace of the world’s largest tobacco company that would eventually make North Carolina the heart of an international tobacco empire.

Physical Disabilities:

The entrance to the visitor center has a ramp.
Two accessible restrooms.
The visitor center and the house are wheelchair accessible. Historic buildings have steps.
ADA accessible rubberized trail connecting the visitor center and historic area.
With advanced notice, staff can utilize the site's golf cart to shuttle people down to the historic area during tours.
Staff can provide a wheelchair for use in the Visitor Center.
Visitor Center equipped with button panels for doors to automatically open.

Hearing Loss:

A script for the orientation video is available.
Orientation video has closed captioning [CC]
Written materials are available for the historic area.

Vision Loss:

Orientation video does not include audio description.
With advanced notice, staff will provide a special tour with an increased tactile experience of historical reproduction objects, including tobacco processing tools, historic clothing, and more.
All signage for room identification in the Visitor Center includes Braille.

Fort Dobbs

A frontier fort during the French and Indian War and North Carolina's only site from the period.

Physical Disabilities:

Two marked accessible parking spaces.
Accessible sidewalk from parking lot to visitor center and reconstructed fort.
Wheelchair lift available to access second floor of the fort.
Accessible restroom facility on site.
The nature trail is not accessible to visitors with mobility disabilities.

Vision Loss:

Fort Dobbs offers various objects that visitors with vision loss may touch, including a scale model of the fort and reproductions of period clothing and bullets. Tactile tours are offered.

Fort Fisher

A Civil War fort that tells story of the fall of Wilmington during the Civil War and served as a World War II training facility.

Physical Disabilities:

Five marked accessible parking spaces in the museum lot and four at the oceanfront.
One paved path, one concrete path, one boardwalk path and three dirt paths at least 4 feet wide with slopes. The paved and concrete paths have ramps.
The visitor center entrance has a ramp.
One accessible restroom for each gender.
Two regular wheelchairs are available.

Hearing Loss:

A script of the orientation video is available.

Historic Bath

North Carolina’s first town.

Physical Disabilities:

Gravel-surface accessible parking spaces are marked and are located in the parking area closest to the main visitor entrance.
Main visitor entrance is steps, a ramp with a slope no greater than 1:12 is located on the side of the building leading up to the side entrance.
The Van Der Veer House has a ramp with a slope no greater than 1:12. The guided tour homes (Palmer-Marsh and Bonner) have steps.

Hearing Loss:

The 2-minute orientation film is captioned.

Vision Loss:

Visitor signs (restrooms and the orientation room) have Braille.

Historic Edenton

Featuring 18th and 19th century history, North Carolina's second oldest town Edenton was one of the fledgling nation's chief political, cultural, and commercial centers.

Physical Disabilities:

One marked accessible parking space in a gravel lot at the Visitor Center. The Barker House has a paved parking lot.
The Visitor Center has a ramp. St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and the Chowan County Courthouse both have a ramp. The Barker House has 10 steps, the Cupola House has three steps, and the Iredell House has five steps.
One accessible restroom for each gender.
Two wheelchairs are available for loan.
The trolley has a wheelchair lift and space to anchor one wheelchair.

Hearing Loss:

A script is available for the audio-visual program.

Vision Loss:

A Braille copy of the audio-visual program is available.

Historic Halifax

The place where the "Halifax Resolves“ was adopted, the first cry from an entire colony recommending independence from England.

Physical Disabilities:

One marked accessible parking space with curb cuts near the visitor center.
The entrance to the visitor center, the Tap Room tavern, the Jail and the archeological museum each has a ramp. Other buildings have steps.

Hearing Loss:

Demonstrations allowing visitors to see and try the demos themselves can be arranged with advanced notice.
The orientation film is not captioned.

Vision Loss:

Guided tours and demonstrations such as buttermaking that allow participants to feel objects can be arranged with advanced notice.
A Braille version of the film’s script is available.

In 1860, Stagville was part of a vast plantation where the Bennehan and Cameron families enslaved over nine hundred people. Today, Historic Stagville inspires new understanding about the history of slavery through preservation, interpretation, research, genealogy, and descendant engagement. A visit to Stagville reveals intertwined stories of bondage and wealth; injustice and resistance; slavery and freedom.

Note: The site makes every attempt to accommodate any visitor with a disability and is flexible to work with any group to resolve any issue surrounding touring the facilities.

Physical Disabilities:

Two marked accessible parking spaces at the visitor center and two at the Bennehan House. Gravel parking spaces are available adjacent to the Great Barn and Holman House slave dwelling.
Site restrooms are not ADA accessible.
Ramp entrance to the Visitors Center, Bennehan House, and Holman house slave dwelling are available. The Great Barn has a dirt floor. There is no threshold or steps, but the floor is uneven and slightly sloped at the entrance.
All tour stops inside historic buildings are on the first floor. No steps are included in the tour.
With advanced notice, benches or chairs are available inside the Holman House, Bennehan House and Barn to allow visitors to sit during these tour stops.
The guided tour often includes one outdoor stop with a steep, uneven grass path. With advanced notice, the tour route will be modified to include an alternative stop.
Outdoor paths are grass, gravel, or dirt.

Hearing Loss:

A written self-guided tour brochure is available, with outdoor waysides and transcripts of the audio tour stops.

Vision Loss:

The orientation film does not contain audio description.

Horne Creek Farm

A historic site showcasing middle class farm life in the northwestern Piedmont at the turn of the 20th century.

Physical Disabilities:

Two marked accessible parking spaces.
A ramp at the farmhouse’s rear entrance provides access to the first floor.
Two accessible restrooms.
The site is not fully wheelchair-accessible but golf cart transportation is available upon request.

Vision Loss:

A Braille information brochure is available in the visitor center.

House in the Horseshoe

The site of a significant Revolutionary War skirmish and home to one of North Carolina's early governors.

Physical Disabilities:

One marked accessible parking space.
The entrance to the Alston House has steps, but an accessible lift is available. A ramp leads to the museum and restrooms.
Two accessible restrooms.

Hearing Loss:

A written self-guided tour brochure is available.

NC Executive Mansion

The official residence of the Governor of North Carolina and their family since 1891.

Physical disabilities:

A lift is available for visitors using a wheelchair or walker to access the front entrance.
Tour consists of the first floor only
With advance notice, groups with mobility limitations may request to be dropped off inside the gate [subject to approval by Mansion security]
Public restrooms are not available

NC Transportation Museum

A museum focusing on history that moves you, located on the site of the Southern Railway’s former steam locomotive repair facility.

Physical Disabilities:

Eight marked accessible parking spaces at Barber Junction and two by the Roundhouse.
The entrances to Barber Junction and the Mechanic’s Office have a ramp, and the entrance to the Roundhouse is level.
Accessible restrooms in Barber Junction, the Mechanic’s Office and the Roundhouse.
The train ride has a wheelchair lift available with 15 minutes notice and six spaces for wheelchair tie-downs.
Wheelchairs are available.

Hearing Loss:

The orientation film is not captioned.

Vision Loss:

Many signs have large print and good contrast.
The orientation film does not contain audio description.

Polk Historic Site

North Carolina’s only presidential site, focused on our nation's 11 president and the issues that dominated his term.

Physical Disabilities:

Two marked accessible parking spaces.
The visitor center has a ramp. The house and the kitchen have three steps each.
Two accessible restrooms.
Visitors with mobility disabilities may need assistance on the path to the historic buildings.

Hearing Loss:

The film is not captioned.

Vision Loss:

A Braille version of the guided tour is available.

Reed Gold Mine

The site of the first documented discovery of gold in North America that launched the country's first gold rush.

Physical Disabilities:

Two marked accessible parking spaces.
The visitor center and the stamp mill have a ramp.
Two accessible restrooms.
The stamp mill has an elevator.
The underground tour is on a level gravel surface with the exception of a series of steps at the end. Visitors with mobility disabilities may elect to return from the tour using the level entrance.
Two wheelchairs capable of going through the underground are available.

Hearing Loss:

The site has a written tour script for the general tour and the nature tour loop.

Roanoke Island Festival Park

A celebration of the first English settlement in America, including a hands-on historic site with a kid-friendly museum, 16th century replica ship and American Indian town.

Physical Disabilities:

Nine marked accessible parking spaces.
The entrance to the visitor center has a boardwalk ramp with wooden handrails.
Three accessible restrooms.
The ship, Elizabeth II, is not accessible to visitors with mobility disabilities.

Hearing Loss:

The park does not provide sign language interpreters for the Performance series.

Vision Loss:

The park offers numerous hands-on activities.
Large-print signs with good contrast.

Somerset Place

The prototypical antebellum plantation, and of the state's largest before the Civil War with emphasis on African American history.

Physical Disabilities:

One accessible parking space marked by a sign near the visitor center entryway.
The entrance to the visitor center and each historic structure has steps. Portable ramps provide access to the visitor center.
Two accessible restrooms with ramps.
The Collins House has an accessible ramp to provide entry to the first floor only. A pictorial binder of Collins House is available for the remaining (2nd & 3rd) floors tour.
A self-guided site tour accessible via visitor’s smartphone using Clio app.

Vision Loss:

Objects for visitors to touch include sedge brooms, baskets and ironware.

Hearing Loss:

Printed supplemental handouts are available, including a script of the guided walking tour of all buildings.

State Capitol

A National Historic Landmark. prime example of Greek Revival architecture and the home to all of state government for decades.

Physical Disabilities:

Five marked accessible parking spaces available in a visitor lot on the corner of Edenton and Wilmington streets.
The entrance has a ramp.
The first-floor men’s restroom is accessible. Women may request to use the accessible first-floor staff restroom.
The building has an elevator.
All areas except the third floor are accessible to visitors with mobility disabilities.

Hearing Loss:

Tour materials are available in writing.

Vision Loss:

With one week’s advanced notice, the staff will provide a touch tour. The grounds contain bronze objects that provide a tactile experience.

Thomas Wolfe Memorial

The childhood home of one of North Carolina’s most famous writers, and the setting of his best-known novel.

Physical Disabilities:

One accessible parking space in front of the Visitor Center.
The historic house is available via four steps with a handrail up to the main level.
The second story of the house is only available via a full flight of stairs.
The Visitor Center is ground level and fully accessible.
Two handicap-accessible restrooms are available in the Visitor Center.

Hearing Loss:

Printed supplemental handouts are available, including a script of the audio-visual program in the visitor center.

Town Creek Indian Mound

An archaeological site focusing on early Native American culture.

Physical Disabilities:

Three marked accessible parking spaces.
The entrance to the visitor center is level.
The ramp to the mound and townhouse is 25 feet long with an incline of approximately 50 degrees.
One accessible restroom for each gender.
The burial hut and the visitor center/museum are wheelchair-accessible.
Gold cart assisted access to the village is available.

Hearing Loss:

The visitor center has an orientation movie that is captioned.
Self-guided tour leaflets are available for touring the site.

Vision Loss:

Restroom signs have Braille.
Braille orientation maps of the site and village are available.

Tryon Palace

Historic homes and gardens crowned by a grand palace, all at North Carolina’s first state capitol.

Physical Disabilities:

Four marked accessible parking spaces at the North Carolina History Center and two in the Eden Street lot.
Palace main building: ramp for first floor access. Palace Kitchen Office and Stables: ramps. Other houses: steps only. A photo album is available for visitors who cannot tour the second floor.
One accessible restroom for each gender at the Way Station and the Palace Stables.
Wheelchairs are available in the History Center.
The gardens are accessible to all visitors, but some surfaces may be uneven.

Hearing Loss:

Please call ahead to arrange a special, personal tour or request a sign language interpreter.

Vision Loss:

Please call ahead to arrange a special, personal tour.

Vance Birthplace

A representation of 19th century frontier life and the birthplace of one of North Carolina’s most famous governors.

Physical Disabilities:

Two marked accessible parking spaces.
The visitor center has a ramp.
Two accessible restrooms.
The visitor center and picnic shelter are accessible to people with mobility disabilities.
A golf cart is available for people with mobility or other physical disabilities to use as transport to the historic structures or during a guided tour.

Vision Loss:

An audio program narrates the biographies of 27 enslaved people who lived on the property.