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Spanish Coin from 1756 on Display at Alleghany Historical MuseumThis silver, Half Reale coin, minted 265(!) years ago in Mexico City was traded and worn by one of the last of the indigenous people before white settlers appeared in force on the Blue Ridge. It was drilled to be worn on a necklace or some other type of adornment, and it is very rare- likely, the first of its kind to be found in Alleghany County.

The milled coin measures just under 3/4 of an inch in diameter. It was minted during the reign of Spanish King Ferdinand VI, and features a coat of arms with two lions and two castles, a classic symbol of Spain. The inscription, VTRA QUE VNUM means, “Both are one.” It appears around a crown over two hemispheres linking the Old and New Worlds together.Information from CoinQuest.comhttps://coinquest.com/cgi-bin/cq/coins.pl…

Thanks to everyone who helped with our Grand Re-Opening, today! We had a good turnout, some good donations and (most important) a good time.Special thanks to Mason Wagoner, Karen Bell, Eileen Elrod, Martha Adams, Karlie Keepfer, Mayor Wes Brinegar and everyone who participated!

The Grand Opening of the Alleghany Historical Museum, at the First Community Building (45 North Main Street), will be August 20 & 21.

Friday night at 7pm on the 20th, we’ll have a Grand Opening Preview, where donors can see the exhibit and the lovely new Streetscape in downtown Sparta. If you’re interested in coming to the Preview, but haven’t donated before, the donation box will be right beside the door – anyone is welcome.

The next day, Saturday, we will have demonstrations, live music, a ribbon cutting, and a 50/50 raffle.

We’d like to again thank several of the people who helped us acquire the new building: Darlene Wyatt at Mountain Dreams Realty, Lisa Crouse, Whitney Ivey, April Horton-Fender, Dennis Gambill, Donna Edwards, Ricky Brown, Richard Doughton and Milton Campbell and the Board of Directors at First Community Bank.

As always, your monetary donations (and book purchases) help us reach our goals. If you would like to donate to the Museum Building Fund, you can do so at any time, online at ahgs.org or by mail at PO Box 817, Sparta, NC 28675.

We hope you’ll be able to join us to celebrate our Grand Opening at our new location (45 North Main Street).

Have you seen this great resource by the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office?

Just go to the site, click the disclaimer at the bottom of the screen and you can see the location and status of many (many!) historic sites around Alleghany and beyond.

https://nc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=79ea671ebdcc45639f0860257d5f5ed7&center=-9030320,4370440,102100&scale=4514

Susan Yarborough brought us this great photo of a 1937 Ford Tudor Sedan stopped at the old Laurel Springs ESSO and Post Office. The building was located approximately where the current Laurel Springs, North Carolina, Post Office and Fire Station now stand.