Dunn, first settled in the 1880s as a logging town and turpentine distilling center, is the largest city in east-central North Carolina's Harnett County. Only 40 miles south of the state capital of Raleigh, Dunn is host of the North Carolina Cotton Festival each fall and also has a number of historical, cultural and recreational attractions. If you're planning to stay overnight, the area provides an assortment of accommodations, including hotels and bed-and-breakfasts.
Historical Attractions
- The Averasboro Battlefield and Museum, about 7 miles southwest of Dunn, is the site of a March 1865 Civil War battle that involved about 25,000 Union troops and 8,000 Confederate soldiers. The property includes three plantation homes that were there during the fighting. A museum contains artifacts found after the battle and exhibits that display period uniforms, troop locations and movements. Be sure to visit the Chicora Cemetery, final resting place of 56 Confederates killed in the battle. Living-history demonstrations and battle re-enactments are held periodically. The General William C. Lee Airborne Museum in Dunn, set in the general's early 20th century, three-story neoclassical Revival home, pays homage to the native son who helped develop and organize the U.S. Army's Airborne Division for use in World War II.
Ponds, Parks and Trails
- Historic Rhodes Pond, 5 miles south of Dunn, was built in the 1700s by a dam across the Black River. The remains of an old mill and the dam can be viewed, but the tea-colored pond today is home to beaver, cypress groves and lilies and used for fishing, boating and canoeing. The pond is open daily and free to the public.Raven Rock State Park, less than 25 miles northwest of Dunn, is named for a 150-foot-tall crystalline formation that stretches along the Cape Fear River. Other amenities and attractions include fishing and canoeing in the river, hiking trails, picnic areas and campsites. Or hike or hike the Dunn-Erwin Rail Trail, a 5-mile nature trail set on old rail corridor that crosses the Black River and leads from downtown Dunn to Erwin.
Cultural Attractions
- The Harnett Regional Theatre puts on musical productions, plays and shows throughout the year at the renovated Stewart Theatre in downtown Dunn.Campbell University in Buies Creek, just 10 miles away, also presents a variety of concerts, plays and musicals in its Scott Concert Hall and Ellis Theatre, each of which seat close to 400 people and are situated in the school's Taylor Bott Rogers Fine Arts Center.
Festivals
- If you're visiting in the fall, you might want to attend one of several festivals held in Dunn and surrounding communities. Spivey's Corner, 10 miles northwest of Dunn and the longtime home of the National Hollerin' Contest, has moved the event to mid-September as part of the Hollerin' Heritage Festival. Other activities include a barbecue cookoff, children's games, live music, antique farm equipment displays and a classic car show.Mule Days, held the fourth weekend in September in downtown Benson, about 7 miles northeast of Dunn, includes a mule-pulling contest, rodeos, a parade, bluegrass music, a street dance and clogging.Among the features at the North Carolina Cotton Festival, held the first Saturday in November in downtown Dunn, are craft and food vendors, live entertainment and an operating cotton gin.
