ELLERBE — According to unconfirmed reports, the State of North Carolina will buy the Historic Ellerbe Springs Inn in Ellerbe. It is expected the Inn will be converted into North Carolina’s “summer governor’s mansion.”
Referring to Richmond County, the spokesperson said, “You can’t ask for a more centrally located place in North Carolina. A governor can be anywhere in the state within three or four hours. Also, the Ellerbe area is just beautiful. Have you watched the sunset from Bethel Church on Grassy Island Road? Sure beats watching exhaust fumes on the 440 Beltway at dusk.”
“It’s the perfect site,” the spokesperson continued. ”Going all the way back to Thomas Jarvis, North Carolina’s chief executives have always complained about the summer heat and traffic in Raleigh. None of them want to be in Raleigh in August. Matter of fact, I don’t want to be in Raleigh in August, either. But they pay me a lot of money, so I don’t have a choice.”
The Inn is ideal for a seasonal governor’s mansion. There are rooms for the governor and his family, as well as for essential staff and guests. The Springhouse lends itself to gatherings and official state functions, as it did when First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt visited in the 1940s.
“The Ellerbe Springs grounds are so peaceful and beautiful,” the spokesperson said. “There’s even a pond on site. No modern governor has done this — at least not to my knowledge — but decades ago, most governors preferred skinny dipping to regular baths. That was in the 1800s, before North Carolina had a mansion with indoor plumbing. Ellerbe Springs Inn has fantastic bathroom facilities, of course, but we may have a future governor who prefers a bath in nature to a private shower in the Inn. That’s what I love about this place: The State of North Carolina is covered…even if the governor isn’t!”
Officials with Richmond County Government and the Town of Ellerbe were unavailable for comment this morning.
One Ellerbe resident offered his opinion, however. “Can’t say the governor — any governor — will be as big a hit here as Andre the Giant was,” he said, referring to the professional wrestler and Hollywood star who lived in Ellerbe for many years. “We loved Andre. But, if I ran into the governor while ordering up a strawberry shortcake at The Berry Patch, I guess I’d say hello.”
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Written by local historian and Rockingham Mayor John Hutchinson.
