- Three months before the Declaration of Independence, the Halifax Resolves declared independence from Britain.

It happened right here in historic Halifax, North Carolina.

And if you walk the grounds today, you might notice something a little odd, something you've probably seen before, but haven't noticed, maybe here, or here, or here.

So what is it?

They're called Liberty Poles.

For colonists with no voice in their government, raising a pole was how you made yourself heard.

They became popular in America around 1765, when Britain mandated the first direct tax on the American colonies, bypassing local legislatures, and sparking intense resistance.

But soldiers knew exactly what they meant, and chopped them down.

So patriots raised them again, and again, and again.

In New York City alone, a pole was raised and destroyed six different times.

That symbol outlasted the war.

Look close enough, and you'll see it, even in places you've looked a thousand times before.

Today, you can find an example of one of these Liberty Poles in the place that celebrates North Carolina's cry for freedom.

Signed on April 12th, 1776, the Halifax Resolves document is finally coming home.

Long held in the National Archives, it instructed North Carolina's delegates to the Continental Congress to vote for independence, three months before the declaration was signed.

Now, for the first time, you can see it in the place where it was born.

The only known copy will be on display in the newly remodeled Visitor Center at Historic Halifax through October 6th, 2026.

- We are standing really on hallowed ground.

We're in Historic Halifax, North Carolina, on the exact spot where the Resolves were signed.

This is the summer of freedom here at Historic Halifax, and there will be living history all summer here, especially on Saturdays.

So if you have children that are interested in the history and interested in America's 250th birthday, and you're in North Carolina, this is the place to bring them.

There's a working forge, so you can see how they made their tools at the time.

There's a smokehouse, and you actually smell the hams that are being smoked in there.

You see a garden, you see the animals that were here.

You see reenactors.

We have our own cannon here now that fires occasionally.

[muskets firing] - We have a variety of trades here at Bradford Denton House.

We have arts and cooking here.

We have several talented cooks.

Just a lot of excitement, much like it was 250 years ago.

- Historic Halifax offers guided walking tours through authentically restored buildings and the Montford Archaeological Exhibit, built over the actual excavation of an early Halifax home, with walkways over foundations uncovered by archaeologists.

- There are fine homes here that the aristocrats had, and there are simple common homes here.

There's a jail here that you can walk through and see how that worked.

The Visitor Center is a great place to start when you make your journey here to Halifax.

- We have a totally reimagined Visitor Center.

Was a complete renovation, so it feels and looks like an entirely new building.

There's something here for everyone.

We tell a diverse story.

We try to honor the history of all of North Carolina.

- The stories that they're telling there are amazing, not just about the signers of the Resolves and their story, but the other people that lived here.

And when you walk up to the Visitor Center, there's a beautiful piece of Native American art, which is the walkway.

And when you go inside, you learn their story as well.

I think that the bravery of those delegates in setting their name to something that said, "We officially want to be free," would just kind of open the door for everyone else to follow suit.

And they were actually risking their lives and committing treason to help form our nation.

- 250 years ago, before the nation dared, Halifax did.

(gentle music) - Historic Halifax is at 25 St.

David Street in Halifax, and it's open Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m.

to 5 p.m.

For more information, call 252-583-7191, or visit them online at historicsites.nc.gov/halifax.