In 2001, the Mount Olive Area Historical Society signed a 99-year lease with Christine and Lippman Aaron Long Jr. for the use of their house at 137 East Main Street as a history museum. The museum was named after great-uncle, David John Aaron.
David John Aaron
Aaron lived in Mount Olive between 1881 and 1910. He was the publisher and editor of Mount Olive’s first newspaper, The Mount Olive Telegram (1883-1890). He also owned Aaron’s Pharmacy, was an incorporator of the Bank of Mount Olive in 1901 (present day Southern Bank), and was the first resident of Mount Olive elected to the North Carolina State Senate (1902-1904).
The house which was built around the 1900s, was designed in the Queen Anne architectural style. It was originally occupied by Aaron’s son, Dr. Leonard Aaron, operator of Aaron’s Pharmacy. The museum opened on April 28, 2007. It is a subsidiary of the Mount Olive Area Historical Society, Inc.
The museum contains hundreds of artifacts from the 1700s to the mid-1900s. They include an 1850s pie safe, an operational washing machine from the early 1930s, farm tools and equipment, Civil War and railroad memorabilia and a timeline of Mount Olive’s history.
Pie Safe.1860s
Exhibits include Mt. Olive Pickle Company, the University of
Mount Olive, the Mount Olive Rotary Club, the Mount Olive Twentieth
Century Club, the first Pickle Festival in 1952, and the Mount Olive
Fire and Rescue departments. The museum displays also include an
1850s spinning wheel, an 1893 corn planter, 1930s stove, kitchens utensils, and
medical instruments.
Stove.1930s
Photographs cover a wide range of individuals, street scenes
and businesses. Manuscript collections include several area
families. The Kraft Photographic Collection contains hundreds of
thousands of negatives and prints covering life in and around Mount
Olive from the mid-1900s to the early 2000s.
This website wouldn’t be possible without the University of Mount Olive. A group of students designed and edited this site, their information can be found right here.
Listed below are some of the close friends and supporters of the town.
Founded in Mount Olive in 1901 and still headquartered here, Southern Bank today has assets of over $2 billion with over 60 locations in Eastern North Carolina and Virginia. Its mission is simple: to be large enough to offer the most innovative and convenient banking technologies, yet small enough to give customers the small town personal attention they've been getting for nearly 120 years
Launched in a local mall by entrepreneur Kenney Moore, Hwy 55 has been serving up authentic hospitality and fresh food since 1991. Now headquartered in Mount Olive, Hwy 55 operates over 130 of its open-grill diners in eight states and two foreign countries. Visit our local store at 1037 N. Breazeale Avenue in Mt. Olive Centre.
Visit the Mt. Olive Pickle Company gift shop, located at the corner of Cucumber and Vine. While there, ask to see the award-winning 14-minute DVD that talks about the company’s colorful history and shows how Mt. Olive pickles are made today. Hours: 8am-5pm weekdays. Address: One Cucumber Boulevard, Mount Olive, NC 28365.
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