Tryon Palace is a modern reconstruction of the historical colonial royal governors' palace of the Province of North Carolina. The Palace gardens are also well-renowned.
In October 2010, Tryon Palace opened the The North Carolina History Center, a 60,000-square-foot (5,600 m2) facility on six acres that revolutionizes the visitor experience at the state’s premier historic site and sets a new standard for the museum experience. The innovative use of interactive technology and living history programs is designed to attract families with children and young adults, an audience currently less responsive to traditional historic site and museum activities.
Two Interactive Museums - A virtual time machine takes visitors to the year 1835 in Craven County, North Carolina. Here, historic roles can be adopted that allow for a number of hands-on activities. The Center provides an intergenerational, interactive learning adventure for parents and children working as teams: sailing a ship, distilling turpentine and producing naval stores, piecing an electronic quilt, and helping the shopkeeper find merchandise for customers in the dry goods store.
The Regional History Museum has been transformed from a conventional artifact-based museum to one that incorporates layered contextual graphics, multimedia and visitor interactivity.
The 16 acres (65,000 m2) of gardens offer three centuries of gardening history.
