New Bern Historical Society

 

Attmore Oliver House is a great venue for your next event.

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HOURS OF OPERATION
 Saturdays through October, 2007.  1:00 -4:00 p.m..  Cost: Adults -$4; students - free.


With six beautifully furnished rooms and a Civil War Museum, the Attmore-Oliver Civil War House Museum is open to the public for guided tours from April thru October. Original Attmore family furnishings, exquisite silver pieces and authentic Civil War artifacts bring this house museum to life returning you to the days of New Bern’s southern history.


 

History of the Attmore-Oliver Family

 

Built in 1790 by prominent New Bernian Samuel Chapman, the Attmore-Oliver House was enlarged to its present size in 1834.  Furnished with 18th and 19th century antiques, the House is available to the public for rent and can be used for a variety of occasions.  With its wide porches and lovely grounds, the historic home enhances social events such as weddings, parties, receptions, and business meetings.  Ample parking space and kitchen facilities are included with the House.

 

 
The clouds of war gathered around New Bern and three of Hannah’s brothers enlisted in the Confederate Army. Both her oldest brother, Sitgreaves Attmore, and her middle
 
brother, Isaac Taylor Attmore, died while in Confederate service. The youngest Attmore boy, George, was only 13 when the war began. He was wounded while serving in the Confederate Army but survived. The house too survived the burdens of the war bearing witness to another generation of the Attmore-Oliver family.
 
Hannah survived the desperate times of the Civil War but poverty beset her and most everybody else in New Bern during the long reconstruction period. One can learn the tale of Hannah and her vivacious daughter in the inspiring story of "poor little Sunshine, mama gave her away" while strolling through the children’s room in the Attmore-Oliver House.
 
Hannah died in 1881, leaving the home to her three daughters. It was during this period that William Oliver, living with his children, began selling insurance, his profession at the time of his death in 1908.
 
His daughter, Mary Taylor Oliver, eventually became the sole owner of the house. She ran her insurance business from her home and continued to live in the house until her death at the age 91 in 1945. It was from her four nephews that the New Bern Historical Society purchased the house in 1954 for $30,000.
 
The house was furnished by the Society in the early 1950’s. A few Attmore and Oliver family pieces have been returned to the property. Furniture of the Federal, Empire and Victorian eras are used throughout the house. Because the house is frequently used for Society functions, the Attmore-Oliver house is not strictly a museum house.
 
It affords visitors the rare opportunity to see a home lived in by just two New Bern families throughout most of the nineteenth century and half of the twentieth.
 
HOURS OF OPERATION
 
 
The Attmore-Oliver House is now open on Saturdays through October, 2007.  It opens at 1:00 and the last guided tour is at 4:00.  Cost is $4 for adults; students are free.

  • All Donations are appreciated 
  • Contact the New Bern Historical Societyfor more information
 
(252) 638-8558

P.O. Box 119, New Bern, N.C. 28563 nbhistoricalsoc@yahoo.com
 The Attmore-Oliver Historic House Museum is located in the heart of New Bern’s Historic District,
two blocks east of Tryon Palace and one block from the downtown shopping area. 
Entrance: 510 Pollock Street