Remember Rockford

HISTORIC REUNION IN 2010

Descendants of Rockford families are invited home

The Rockford Preservation Society will host a truly historic reunion of the village’s descendants and supporters on Labor Day Weekend 2010. The reunion is planned in conjunction with their Remember Rockford campaign.

Everyone with ties to the village, past or present, and all supporters are invited to attend the weekend of festivities Sept. 3-5, 2010.

Highlights will include a Friday evening reception at the Rockford Inn bed & breakfast; a catered picnic on Saturday with village tours and entertainment; and a Sunday service at the restored Rockford Methodist Church.

The next planning meeting for reunion event volunteers will be at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 7, 2010, at the Rockford Methodist Church. If you can help with planning or with facilitating communication with your extended family, please come!

Registration for the reunion will begin in early 2010. Please mark your calendar now and let your relatives know about this wonderful opportunity to reconnect with their heritage

The family of Capt. William M. Norman, late 1800s.

Remembering Rockford... "My family is from Rockford and were members of that church, owned a sawmill on the river, fought in the revolution and the war between the states."- K. Holyfield, Virginia

"I love Rockford. My Dad was born in Surry County. He was the son of a tenant farmer and lived all over Surry County and it seems to me that he used to tell stories about getting on the train at Rockford to go into Mount Airy when he was a young boy and teenager."– S.Roberts, N.C.

"When I was a little boy, we went to Rockford and I was fascinated by the then partially burned Grant Burrus Hotel. My mother told me at the time that one or some of my relatives lived at the hotel."- P. Norris, Indiana

Rockford's Grant-Burrus hotel

To receive information about upcoming events, just register with the 'Remember Rockford' Campaign.

Please click on the "Register" button at the left on this page.

Rockford Park Dedicated

Rockford Park, at the site of the historic Grant-Burrus Hotel, was officially dedicated and opened to the public Nov. 15, 2008. The park is one of three historic sites that are the focus of the "Remember Rockford" fund-raising campaign.

"Our goal of transforming the historic site into a place that people can enjoy has finally been realized," said Hannah Holyfield, president of the preservation society.

The program included remarks by Adam McComb, director of Surry County Parks & Recreation, Margaret Burrus Timberlake, and RPS board members Marion Venable and Hannah Holyfield. The Marshall Brothers provided musical entertainment.

Rockford Park Dedication

The 'Remember Rockford' Campaign

The goal of the Remember Rockford campaign is to raise $385,000 to restore Rockford’s circa 1800 Masonic Lodge Building and circa 1830 York Tavern, and completion of the historic Rockford Park at the site of the circa 1796 Grant-Burrus Hotel.

This is the first capital campaign in the history of the 37-year-old preservation society, which has depended on small grants, donations and volunteer labor to improve its properties. Its restored sites include the 1900 Post Office, the 1850 Dudley Glass store, and the 1914 Rockford Methodist Church.

“While we have made steady progress over the past three decades, we recognize that to finish the job this organization was created to do, our restoration effort must have broad and sustained support,” says RPS President Hannah Holyfield. “We sincerely hope the entire community will rally around this campaign, which is being undertaken by folks who simply love Rockford and want to honor the families who over the past 200 years have made it such a special place.”

Please Register Now

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Selling Old Items

To Fund Preservation Operations

The ongoing work of the Rockford Preservation Society is dependent on the lifeblood of regular income to pay for routine costs. In addition to the costs of restoring old buildings in Rockford, we have many of the same recurring expenses that all property owners have; mowing the grass, repairing a roof, removing trees and a number of other costly chores that any homeowner would be familiar with.

To help cover these ongoing expenses our board members are donating items that can be sold on Internet auction sites like ebay. With the economy being what it is we understand how difficult extra dollars can be to find. However we find that most everyone has few items around the house or in the garage or attic that can be contributed.

We are asking our friends and supporters to help us in this fundraising effort by donating items which can be sold or auctioned to raise money for the daily costs of our operations. Just a few items of some worth from a number of you could really make a difference in sustaining this important community work. We would appreciate whatever you can donate that can be sold online. Being a non-profit organization we can give you a tax deductible receipt for the value of your gifts.

Following is a list of the kinds of items that we are looking for to use in fundraising.

Please call Hannah Holyfield for further information, to make donations, or to arrange to have items picked up from your home: 336-374-3825.

We need items like the ones in this list that are in good condition and of a size that is shippable:

Jewelry of any kind, Old Cameras

Used smoking pipes
Watches, wrist watches & pocket watches
DVD Movies
Pocket Knives

Fishing reels & lures
Old merchandise boxes and cartons in good condition.

Anything old; boxes, tins, cans, bottles, containers;
Old shotgun shell boxes, cartridge boxes and others.
Coins, Hummel figurines, etc., toys, dolls, comics, Art, Glass & Ceramics
Antiques of any kind and size.

Completed Rockford Park