NEW BERN, N.C. — During the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Tryon Palace in New Bern had to close down many of its programs. In place of them, it opened the Tryon Palace camp, an outdoor immersive living history experience.
It allows visitors to see what military camp life was like for soldiers during the Revolunary War era.
What You Need To Know
The Tryon Palace camp opened during COVID after pandemic restrictions caused limitations
It has become one of Tryon Palace's most popular living history experiences
Historical interpreters, like Gary Riggs, live in the camp during the day
Their goal is to educate visitors and get them excited about history
Madeline Flagler is the education branch head for Tryon Palace.
“It's been very rewarding ...” Flagler said. “The way the setting is set up, people can get really close to it. It's not within a building, and people have to sit a certain place. It's really much more interactive and has a much more tactile feel to it. Even when they're not touching things, they are right there in the middle of it.”
The camp has quickly become one of the most popular attractions at Tryon Palace. Gary Riggs spends his days working in the camp as an historical interpreter.
Whether you live today or three hundred years ago, every day starts with a cup of coffee. For Riggs, it takes a little extra work for to make a cup of joe because he has to roast his own coffee beans over a fire.
Riggs spends most of his days portraying life in a North Carolina military camp. In this photo, he's living in 1778, role playing a soldier in the Continental Army.
“They're threatening to charge me rent because I'm out here too much,” Riggs said. “But when you love your job, you know.”
He's loved history ever since he met the Civil War re-enactors, who visited his school when he was 14. Now, Riggs been doing this type of work for almost 40 years.
“You really want to understand how things were done,” Riggs said. “So yeah, you can rely on other people. But myself, I chose to get as historically accurate as possible.”
He reads archives and soldiers diaries to research what life was like in these camps. Then he's able to immerse visitors in their living history. They dress the part, cook meals, build tents and basically live in this historical camp every day.
While the camp is there for educational purposes, its bigger goal is to get people excited about history.
“When you ask a kid, do you like history? [They say] 'no, it's boring. I hate it. It's a bunch of dates,'” Riggs said. “OK, when you do the program, and at the end of the program you ask the same question, the kids say well this is different. I mean this is interesting. It's not a bunch of boring dates and stuff.”
Riggs says it's been very rewarding to see kids and adults interested in what they're learning.
“It makes you feel really good to know that you said that and you did a good job,” he said.
Riggs couldn't be happier that he's able to pursue his passion at Tryon Palace and make a difference in people's education.
“Me doing this, I mean this is my hobby that turned into my job,” Riggs said. “But I'm hoping that this has actually spurred others on to pursue history. ”
Tryon Palace is going to expand its camp this year. It will double in size and show citizen life, as well as military life. The newly expanded camp should be completed in March.