Johnston County seat Smithfield is chock-ful of history, churches

I had two rather involved shoots within a couple days' time span earlier this month, and rather than process pictures from one of the shoots and then do a post about it before moving on to the next, I decided to do all the processing for both shoots first. Then do the posts for each afterward.

Today's post is about the first of those shoots, which involved a visit on Feb. 17 to Smithfield, the seat of Johnston County, which is adjacent to (and east of) Wake County, where I live. One of these days, I might get smart and make a point to learn more about a place before I visit it for picture-taking. Alas, that day wasn't Feb. 17.

After my visit, and the curiosity I developed from my stroll in Smithfield, I sent for some promotional literature about the town and Johnston County. And after perusing it all, I wished I'd have had some of that knowledge before making the trip. On the plus side, the literature will help me explain a little about some of the pictures I took.

The town got its name from the fact that Smith's Ferry operated along the Neuse River, which flows through the northern portion of the downtown. One of the last battles of the Civil War was fought in Bentonville in southern Johnston County, 12 miles or so south of Smithfield. That battle, in March 1865, actually was the last between Union Gen. William T. Sherman and Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston (the county was not named for him; it was named for Gabriel Johnston, royal governor of North Carolina from 1734 to 1752 ).

Fast-forwarding to more contemporary times, Smithfield is home to the Ava Gardner Museum. Gardner, an actress and singer, was born in 1922 seven miles east of Smithfield. Of the many films she starred in, she was nominated for an Oscar once -- for best actress in Mogambo in 1953. She was married three times, and all ended in divorce. The first two -- to actor Mickey Rooney and then to musician and big band leader Artie Shaw -- lasted a year each and occurred in the 1940s. Her third and last was to Frank Sinatra, whom she considered the love of her life. Their union lasted from 1951 to 1956.

Gardner died in 1990 and is buried in Sunset Memorial Garden, a cemetery at the split of two major thoroughfares northwest of town -- business U.S. 70 and NC 210. Technically, it is in an area designated as West Smithfield.

I did get some exterior shots of the Gardner museum, which is part of the downtown landscape. Two of those photos appear below. But I didn't have the time to go inside the museum this time (admission is $12, and there is an Ava Gardner Festival every June). And while I didn't stop to roam through Sunset cemetery, I did spend time in a downtown area cemetery, Riverside, that I came across on my walk-around.

Smithfield is also home to an annual summer Ham and Yam Festival; Johnston County has a major hog production reputation in the state, and I presume the festival is a celebration of that fact. As you might expect, it also is where you'll find the source of a good number of nuisance lawsuits originating from the offensive odor of hog manure. But I digress ...

The downtown area has five churches in close proximity that I managed to reach. The photo leading off the post is a shot of the exterior of one of those, First Presbyterian. I wouldn't normally lead a post profiling a community with a picture of a church, but I liked this particular composition, so I decided to be a little different. There a few other churches not too much farther out from where I roamed that I did not reach this time.

I enjoyed my visit and would not mind going back to chase after other pictures now that I know more about the community. I also would like to visit the Bentonville battlefield site, which I'm told has a driving tour available (a battlefield drive tour is a feature I became acquainted with a couple years ago when Lee Ann and I visited the Yorktown battlefield in Virginia). You'll find that the link above to the Ham and Yam Festival mentions something about a re-enactment of the Bentonville Battle coming up in the middle of March. It is being held on the 155th anniversary of the battle.

As usual, to view a larger, sharper version of a photo, simply click on it. This is particularly helpful if you access the blog using a mobile device. To see a full gallery of photos from my shoot there (including the churches), click on the link in this sentence.

Photo geek stuff: This should be no surprise to regular visitors. I used my Canon 6D and Tamron 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD lens for the shoot, grabbing three exposures of each composition that I later melded into one using Photomatix software during post-processing.

The front (above) and back (below) of Neuse Little Theatre, which is home to the local community theater group. The building is not far from the Neuse River. In the bottom photo, the river is just left of the riverwalk snaking on the far left of the photo. I came upon the two sides of the structure at opposite ends of my walk-around. The shot above I came up early on; the one below was one of the last. 

A better shot of the Neuse in this overlook of the riverwalk taken from the bridge on Market Street, one of the town's main thoroughfares.

The front of the Ava Gardner Museum (above) and, behind the pickup truck, a closer look (below) at the exterior to the right of the main door). 

Above, a look at the west facade of the Johnston County Courthouse along Second Street, where to the right of the original structure you see the glass transition to a newer, less architecturally inspired courthouse extension (first below). A closer look at this facade appears in the second photo below followed by a photo of the skylights inside the glass transition area. I did go inside the original courthouse hoping to find a cool rotunda and ceiling, but alas ... there was none. The full gallery includes a few photos of the front facade facing Market Street.

Above and below: Two of the more striking, older structures in the downtown area. Both area long Market Street. 

Town Hall fits into the downtown landscape (above), as does a mural (below) on the side of Evans Jewelers at 320 E. Market St. 

Above: Adjacent to Town Hall is the appropriately named Town Hall Park, a modest green space dedicated in 2004.

On South Front Street, just north of Riverside Cemetery, one encounters the Primitive Baptist Church (above) and the historic Hastings House (below), which are next-door neighbors. The Greek Revival Hastings House, which dates to circa 1839, served as headquarters for Confederate Gens. Joseph Johnston, Wade Hampton and Braxton Bragg for the Battle of Bentonville ... and was used by Union Gen. William Sherman after the battle. Today it is maintained by the Downtown Smithfield Development and is the central location for the annual Ham and Yam Festival the first weekend in May.
  

Above: The oldest bar in Smithfield is the Little Brown Jug. The establishment, which overlooks the the town's riverwalk along the Neuse, has a history of its location at its website. 

The first structure that caught my attention as I drove into town on Market Street was the main entrance to Centenary United Methodist Church (above and next three photos) and its striking blue dome. The third photo below actually is the look on the church complex's back side, reflecting construction of at least one addition over the years. 

The expansive campus of First Baptist Church features the primary entrance and facade (first photo below) and the adjoining chapel (above). The plaque (second photo below) tells the story of the church bell (third photo below).  

Above: This elegant structure houses the accountant offices of Dees, Jackson and Jackson on South 3rd Street, just across the street from the Presbyterian church depicted in the lead-off photo. 

The rig above was parked on South 3rd Street between the Presbyterian Church and the accountants' offices above when I arrived. The driver had just carted away a dolly of cargo toward the buyer's location behind me. In the first two photos below are another view of the Presbyterian church and a closeup of its bell.  

Above and three photos below: Just a block west of the Presbyterian church on Church Street is St. Paul's Episcopal Church. The area on the other side of the big-stone wall appeared to be a church cemetery since it was in the same block as the church. But I could be sure; directly across the street -- both west and south of the church -- sits Riverside Cemetery.    

Next up: Riverside Cemetery and Buffalo Creek Greenway