2^nd Floor

Patriots or Traitors:  North Carolina's Civil War
September 20, 2011 - March 10, 2012

The Gaston County Museum is excited to launch an exhibit portraying North Carolina’s involvement in the Civil War.  With 2011 being the 150th Anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War, the museum wants to tell the local story of this monumental event in our nation’s history.

To help illustrate what life would have been like for everyone involved in the war, the visitors will be following five different characters throughout the exhibit – an enlisted soldier, an officer, a slave, a woman, and a child.  Each character will tell about a unique aspect of the war that affected them; some will be based on actual people from North Carolina, while others will be a representation. 

Throughout the exhibit, there will be hands on activities for adults and children to participate in – they can sign an oath of service to the Confederacy, they can huddle down in the trenches and dress up like a North Carolina soldier, they can prepare a campsite and learn about what type of food soldiers and their families would eat, and much more. We hope you will come and experience this exciting, interactive new exhibit.