Submitted Photo
The interior of one of the cabins at White Sulphur Springs is pictured here.
A fabled Mount Airy resort area will be part of a public television program to air tonight and Friday night, according to a local tourism official.
Rental cabins that have been developed at White Sulphur Springs will be among the segments highlighted on “North Carolina Now,” a program broadcast by UNC-TV. It is a weekly show that focuses on people, places and events across the state.
The program can be seen today at 9 p.m. and Friday at 8:30 p.m., based on an announcement Wednesday by Jessica Icenhour Roberts, director of tourism and marketing for the Greater Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce.
Also to be included on the 30-minute program will be “Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore” exhibit at Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University in Durham, and the Southern Folklife Collection at the Wilson Library at UNC in Chapel Hill. Another site highlighted will be Wrightsville Beach Museum of History, with a “House Special” segment of the show to sample the fare at Dale’s Indian Cuisine in Greenville.
The portion on White Sulphur Springs will explore the history behind that area, once the site of a large hotel where people came from miles around to experience the springs said to possess healing powers. It also will detail how rental cabins developed there by local businessman Burke Robertson are allowing visitors to experience part of that atmosphere today.
A camera crew came to the site during the fall in preparation for the show to debut tonight.
“The history of that area and the uniqueness of the site is what caught their attention,” Robertson said Wednesday of the “North Carolina Now” producers.
In the late 1880s, White Sulphur Springs represented an escape for North Carolina’s coastal and other residents who would come there by train, according to Robertson. It was the farthest point west where railroad lines had been laid, he said.
The first hotel was built by 1890, but later was destroyed by fire. That led to the construction of a new hotel that was developed in stages, and by 1910 had 165 rooms, said Robertson, who welcomes the exposure to the city as well as the historic resort property.
“I think it’s pretty impressive for Mount Airy,” he said, “and we’re certainly happy that the cabins at White Sulphur Springs are being mentioned.”
Those who miss the initial airings of the “North Carolina Now” program can watch the show later online, according to the UNC-TV website.
Reach Tom Joyce at 719-1924 or tjoyce@heartlandpublications.com.
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