A former racing workshop that served as the home of Earnhardt’s No. 3 team for many years now houses the Richard Childress Racing Museum. The building covers 47,000 square feet; the museum traces the evolution of an independent one-car team into one of the most successful organizations in NASCAR. The cars tell this story, too: the largest collection of No. 3 Goodwrench Chevrolets includes the winning cars from the 1998 Daytona 500 and the 1995 Brickyard 400.
History in Buildings and the Cityscape
The Davidson County Historical Museum is located in the Old Davidson County Courthouse, completed in 1858 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Its exhibits showcase material culture spanning 12,000 years of history. The broad span of time and the historic courthouse offer different ways to explore: encounter both objects from a distant past and a 19th-century building.
The Wil-Cox Bridge in Yadkin River Park also points to a specific year of construction: it was built in 1924. In Thomasville, three self-guided historic walking tours reveal further traces of the past. Each round-trip route is less than a mile long. Public art offers a different perspective: the Thomasville Mural Walk brings together murals celebrating the city’s history, culture, and community spirit.
Thomasville: Remembrance and Local Insights
The three recognized American Civil War sites in Thomasville include the City Cemetery, the Visitors Center, and an area near the pedestrian underpass; information signs mark the locations. Confederate and Union soldiers lie side by side in the City Cemetery. The City Cemetery Museum can be visited by appointment only. If you plan to visit, arrange your appointment in advance.
At the Thomasville Farmers Market, visitors buy directly from producers, with no middlemen. It is a producer-only market: certified producers from Davidson County and from Davie, Forsyth, Guilford, Montgomery, Randolph, and Rowan counties are eligible to participate. Check the current market schedule before you go. For a different kind of activity, Winding Creek in Thomasville offers an 18-hole, par-72 municipal golf course. The Thomasville Aquatics Center has a lap pool, a leisure pool, and a splash area; check current operating status before visiting.
Racing, Wine, and Events
Lexington in Davidson County is the southern gateway to Yadkin Valley wine country. The city is also known for the Lexington Barbecue Festival, an annual tradition held on one of the last two Saturdays in October. The festival takes place in Uptown Lexington, where a nine-block stretch of Main Street is closed to traffic. Details may vary from year to year, so it’s worth checking the event information before your trip.
The Everybody’s Day Festival is held in Thomasville every year on the last Saturday in September. If you’d like to include both events in your travel plans, check the latest calendars: they take place in different months and in different cities.
Childress Vineyards combines guided tours with wine offerings. The 45-minute tour leads through landscaped grounds and event spaces and includes a complimentary wine pour. In the Barrel Cave, wines are sampled with a tapas pairing. Reservations and availability may change; check in advance to see what’s offered during your visit.
Explore more destinations: Lexington, Thomasville, Wilson County, Rowan, Duplin County, Edgecombe County, Wilkes, Cleveland.
For the overview of the wider region: North Carolina.
