161st Anniversary of Surrender at Bennett Place Apr. 25

Bennett Place State Historic Site, at 4409 Bennett Memorial Road in Durham, is the site of a significant surrender of the south in the Civil War. It’s free to visit the visitor center and nature trails, but there’s a small charge for tours. Some events have a small fee as well.

Several special events take place at Bennett Place State Historic Site. Here are a couple of the upcoming events (Visit Bennett Place’s website or Facebook page for all the events.)

Uneasy Peace: 161st Anniversary Commemoration
Saturday, April 25, 2026
11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
$5 for adults; $2 for children, senior or military

Commemorate the surrender negotiations at Bennett Place that led to the largest surrender of the American Civil War. Learn more about how Generals Johnston and Sherman’s three meetings at the Bennetts’ home reflected the broader national debate over how to reunite the nation & remake the United States without slavery. Explore how veterans, civilians, and freed people alike experienced and thought about the end of the American Civil War and what would come next.

This program includes several costumed interpretation events and displays.

• 11:00: The Road to Bennett Place – Ranger Talk
• 1:00: Environmental History of Bennett Place tour*
• 2:00: Surrender & Freedom Stories – Presentation
• 2:30: What Comes Next? – Ranger Talk
• Surrender Vignettes – Limited availability. Be in the room where it happens while site staff guide us through the scene of Johnston and Sherman’s surrender negotiations. Features reenactors of the generals. 15 minutes. Times: 11:30, 11:50, 12:10, 1:20, and 1:40.

Old Hillsborough Road Market
Saturday, May 16, 2026
11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Free

James and Nancy Bennett lived along the Hillsborough Road, a major throughway between the county seat of Hillsborough and the state capitol of Raleigh. They earned money selling goods & services to passers-by on the roadway.

On May 16, Bennett Place State Historic Site brings back that entrepreneurial, small-business spirit with the Old Hillsborough Road Market. Shop local craft, retail, and food vendors while exploring our historic site! The program also features historic trades demonstrations and free ranger-talks in the Bennett home.

Luminary and Freedom Stories
Friday, September 18, 2026
7 to 9:30 p.m.
Free

Harriet Ann Daves recalled just how monumental Civil War surrenders were for her family: “When the surrender came my grandfather came to my mother and told her: ‘Well, you are as free as I am.'”

Claiming freedom was not so straightforward for the 331,059 enslaved women, children, and men during the Civil War. Some took enormous risk to reach Union lines before the federal government made any promise of abolishing slavery. Others left their homes and plantations to follow Sherman’s army as they marched through the southeast. Some believed home was where they already lived and worked and waited patiently for freedom to extend to them. Others still were lied to by their enslavers or moved away from the advancing U.S. Army so they would remain enslaved. Freedom came in different ways and at different times to enslaved people across the state.

One common thread unites these freedom stories: the defeat of the Confederate military ensured a new birth of freedom across the state and nation.

During this special luminary program, Bennett Place invites you to reflect on the end of the Civil War as a momentous step towards freedom for all Americans and the end of chattel slavery in the United States. Walk among 3,310 luminaries – one for every 1,000 enslaved people in North Carolina – and reflect on experiences of enslavement and freedom. Historians dot the path and share stories of people’s pathways to freedom and life after slavery & the Civil War.