Read the Cultural Heritage Site Designation Report
Read the Cultural Heritage Site Designation Resolution
The little house that is known as the Patterson Cottage Museum first stood two blocks north of its present location on Graham Street (now South Fayetteville) across the street from the business secton. It was built by Dr. Armstead Jackson Patterson as a home for his aging parents, George and Sophia Coble Patterson, who came to Liberty to live about 1885. Early in the 1900’s, the house was moved around the corner and relocated on East Swannanoa Street. It remained there, owned by Bobby Simmons and used as rental property until 1974. The lot on which the house stood was sold to be used for Liberty’s first convenience store and the cottage was to be torn down. Bobby McGowan Haynes begged that it not be destroyed, but moved and restored to honor the Patterson family. Mrs. Haynes contacted Mayor Joe Griffith and the town council, headed a committee of interested citizens, garnered the support of the Randolph County Historical Society and together, they proceeded to raise funds for the moving of the cottage to its present location at 221 S. Fayetteville St. where it would be restored and used for a museum for the town of Liberty. Instead of furnishing the house exclusively in the manner of the time the cottage was built, the restoration committee decided that the museum would contain eclectic pieces donated by Liberty families spanning many generations. The museum was completed enough to become part of the Bicentennial celebration in 1976, the deadline set by the committee. From the beginning, the Town of Liberty administered the funds and maintained the grounds of the museum. Later landscaping and gardens were the work of the Liberty Garden Club, who started with a few rose bushes, added five mini gardens and an herb garden.
