One of the area’s finest attractions is finally open for visitors five days a week. What? Did a new Disney park open up here? Six Flags, maybe?
No, I am talking about the Thomas Day House, the restored home and workshop an African-American man who was North Carolina’s largest furniture manufacturer before the Civil War.
Southside Virginia is filled with his works, including some at my house in Cluster Springs. He made tables, cradles, coffins, mantel pieces, stair brackets, newel posts and door frames using curves around elongated scroll shapes.
Just across the border in Milton, N.C., the museum used to be open only by appointment. Since mid-May, there has been a staff of five to maintain the house and show people around from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Tours are held at 10 a.m., 11 a.m., noon, 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. $2 for adults, $1 for children, seniors, and military, no reservation required.
So you can just walk in now and look at Day’s work in the middle of town. The site is already receiving lots of visitors, including seniors' groups on buses and many from Virginia International Raceway, less than 2 miles away. The town is 28 miles southwest of South Boston and 12 miles southeast of Danville.
But you should visit the museum now, because the place will be closed for most of 2026 for renovations. They will include a parking lot, elevators and converting the old bank across the street into a visitors’ center.
All of this work became possible after ownership of the site transferred to the state of North Carolina for creation of a historic site after years of efforts by a local citizens’ group.
While the museum is closed, the staff will continue researching Day’s history and promoting his legacy at various historical events, both locally and throughout the country.
Leading the group is DeAsia Noble, who grew up in the nearby town of Pelham.. “Thomas Day was a name I always knew, but I knew little about the context,” she says. When she was in graduate school at North Carolina State University, a speaker persuaded her to become more involved in African-American history. Then she jumped into the Thomas Day House restoration effort, much to the delight of the local the local restoration group.
How did Day accomplish so much at a time when slavery was rampant? The prosperous clientele that liked his work bent the rules somewhat to let him create his masterpieces. The state waived a rule barring new free blacks into the state when he wanted to bring his wife from Halifax County, VA, to live with him.
Day grew quite prosperous, but the Panic of 1857 forced him into bankruptcy, even before the Civil War. His achievements were appreciated more in the past 25 years, and many of his works are on display at the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh.
For details, see: https://historicsites.nc.gov/all-sites/thomas-day-state-historic-site
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