Christmas at the Carter Mansion planned for December 2 and 3
Published 9:59 am Friday, November 18, 2022
- Christmas will be celebrated at the Carter Mansion Friday and Saturday, Dec. 2 and 3, when candelight tours of the house will be given by reservation only, beginning at 6 p.m.
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Are you tired of the hustle and bustle that always accompanies this time of year? If so, step back in time to the 18th century and enjoy a colonial Christmas at the beautiful Carter Mansion, Tennessee’s oldest frame house. Join the Carter family and their friends for a glimpse into a simpler time, when Christmas was the grandest celebration of the entire year.
In colonial America the Christmas season was celebrated as a month-long event of merriment and festivities signaled by caroling, feasting, dances, fox hunts, and the firing of Christmas guns.
Christmas on the colonial frontier would have been much different though, with only the simplest of pleasures being offered by the humble backwoods settlers. However, in contrast, the Carters would have displayed an opulence only seen in the finest homes of Williamsburg or Philadelphia.
Visitors will have an opportunity to spend a candlelight evening inside the home of John Carter, which will be decorated with bright greenery for the holidays. They will visit with 18th century historic interpreters as they take them to a Colonial American Christmas. Tours begin at 6 p.m. and a new tour starts every 20 minutes with the last tour beginning at 8:20 p.m. General admission is $12 and tours are by reservation only. You may register at tnstateparks.com/parks/events/sycamore-shoals.
The Carter Mansion is located at 1031 Broad St., Elizabethton. For more information contact Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park at 423-543-5808.
You can also drop in for a visit at the park visitors center and museum at 1651 West Elk Ave., Elizabethton.
