The North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources announces that 17 individual properties across the state, including seven shipwrecks, have been added to the National Register of Historic Places. The following properties were reviewed by the North Carolina National Register Advisory Committee and were subsequently approved by the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Officer and forwarded to the Keeper of the National Register.
With these new additions, the number of North Carolina’s listings in the National Register of Historic Places has surpassed 3,050.
“North Carolina continues to be a leader in the nation’s historic preservation movement, and the National Register is a vital tool in the preservation of our state’s treasured historic resources,” said Secretary Susi Hamilton, N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. “When we add new properties to the register, we are continuing to expand and diversify the story of North Carolina."
The listing of a property in the National Register places no obligation or restriction on a private owner using private resources to maintain or alter the property. Over the years, various federal and state incentives have been introduced to assist private preservation initiatives, including tax credits for the rehabilitation of National Register properties. As of Jan. 1, 2018, over 3,665 rehabilitation projects with an estimated private investment of over $2.571 billion have been completed.
In Central North Carolina
Bladen County Training School, Elizabethtown, Bladen County, listed 9/11/2018
Bladen County Training School is locally significant for its association with African American education in Bladen County from 1928 until 1970 when the school was desegregated. It was one of three schools in the county financed and constructed with the assistance of the Rosenwald Fund, which provided seed money for construction of the primary building, a 10-teacher brick school erected in 1928. Additional buildings were funded by the county over the following decades. Bladen County Training School served African American students in grades one to 12. Elementary students came from the Elizabethtown community and high school students came from across Bladen County, as it was the county’s first high school for African American students. The nomination for Bladen County Training School was funded by an Underrepresented Community Grant to the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office from the National Park Service.
Minneola Manufacturing Company Cloth Warehouse, Gibsonville, Guilford County, listed 9/11/2018
Minneola Manufacturing Company, founded as the Minneola Cotton Mill in 1886, served as the dominant industry in Gibsonville from 1886 until the mill’s closure in 1988. While the larger mill complex does not have the requisite historic integrity to be listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the Minneola Manufacturing Company Cloth Warehouse remains intact and represents a vital aspect of the cloth manufacturing process. As the primary repository of the finished goods, it was a critical facility for protecting the company’s valuable finished cloth and preparing it to ship to market. The warehouse, first constructed in 1907 and enlarged in 1935 and 1953, is significant as a rare surviving and intact example of a free-standing cloth warehouse, illustrating principles of mill design that promoted fire resistance and that protected the finished cloth from the mechanization environment of the main mill building. Minneola Manufacturing Company Cloth Warehouse remains the largest, still free-standing example in piedmont North Carolina. Built following slow-burn construction techniques, it retains many original steel wire-glass windows and interior steel and pine columns and supports.
Oak Grove Cemetery, Raleigh, Wake County, listed 9/11/2018
Oak Grove Cemetery is the only cemetery in Method, a community established in the 1870s by freed African Americans. As such, it is the resting place of African American pioneers and numerous other early community leaders, reflecting Method’s earliest period of settlement during the Reconstruction era and Method’s growth and maturation, as well as burial practices in the Jim Crow south. The cemetery is significant in the areas of African American ethnic heritage, social history, settlement and community development. It exemplifies characteristics commonly found in historic African American cemeteries, including a generally unplanned layout, natural landscape, and a variety of grave marker types. Historic grave markers found in the cemetery are typically either commercially-made marble, which suggest higher economic status, or vernacular concrete. The nomination for Oak Grove Cemetery was funded by an Underrepresented Community Grant to the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office from the National Park Service.
Oberlin Cemetery, Raleigh, Wake County, listed 9/11/2018
Established in 1873, Oberlin Cemetery is a literal and symbolic repository of the African American pioneers who established the enduring village of Oberlin a short distance from Raleigh’s western border. As the community’s only cemetery, it embodies African American traditions and socio-economic circumstances from the Reconstruction era through the mid-20th century and is therefore significant in the areas of African American ethnic heritage, social history, settlement, and community development. Oberlin Cemetery exemplifies characteristics commonly found in historic African American cemeteries, including a generally unplanned layout, natural landscape, and a variety of grave marker types. Historic grave markers found at the cemetery are typically of handmade or locally-made cast-concrete, but also include some fieldstone head and footstones, as well as a wooden headboard. Additionally, there are a few high-style Victorian markers, which were a display of wealth and prominence in the community. The nomination for Oberlin Cemetery was funded by an Underrepresented Community Grant to the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office from the National Park Service.
William Henry and Sarah Hauser Speas House, Pfafftown vicinity, Forsyth County, listed 9/11/2018
The William Henry and Sarah Hauser Speas House in rural western Forsyth County is a rare, intact example of a prominent mid- to late-19th century brick farmhouse exhibiting eclectic Romantic- and Victorian-era stylistic details applied to a national folk form. Built ca. 1850 as a two-story, Greek Revival-style I-house with the front entrance originally oriented to the west, the house was enlarged in 1879 with a two-story gabled wing on the west elevation. The expansion resulted in a core T-shaped plan with the entrance relocated to the north elevation of the 1879 wing and an asymmetrical façade, in keeping with national house forms popular in the late 19th century. Among the extant ancillary buildings that contribute to the property’s significance are the ca. 1879 brick curing house, a rare building type for the period, and a ca. 1879 wood frame granary.
United States Post Office and Court House, Statesville, Iredell County, listed 4/26/2018
This nomination for the U.S. Post Office and Court House in Statesville was prepared for the U.S. General Services Administration. The building is locally significant in the area of Politics/Government as a notable example of a federal government building in Statesville, erected under the New Deal-era federal programs. The 1939 erection of the building was perceived as a symbol of community pride and achievement and as a representation of the federal presence in Statesville. The building is also locally significant as a notable example of the Simplified Classical architectural style popularized through the federal building projects of the 1930s and 1940s. The building is also locally significant in the area of art, as it houses original artwork executed by a master artist, Sahl Swarz, selected for this location through public competition under the guidance of the Section of Fine Arts of the Public Building Administration. The Period of Significance under Criterion A for Politics/Government and Criterion C for Architecture is 1939, the date of the building’s completion, and the Period of Significance under Criterion C for Art is 1948, the date of the installation of the artwork.
In Western North Carolina
Cicero Pennington Farm, Sturgills vicinity, Ashe County, listed 9/11/2018
Located on a parcel of just over 20 acres north of the unincorporated community of Helton, the Cicero Pennington Farm possesses local significance in the history of Ashe County’s agriculture as a remarkably intact farm complex. The property was built in 1884 and remained in its original ownership until 1928, when it passed from Cicero Pennington to his son, Dent. In addition to the main house, the farm retains a number of historic outbuildings including a spring house, garden shed, carriage house/woodshop, and livestock barn. The main house is also significant as one of the most ornate and intact examples in the county of a frame I-house with an elaborately detailed double-tier porch at its center bay.
William R. Ellerson House, Hot Springs, Madison County, listed 9/11/2018
The William R. Ellerson House was built in 1926 on a hill overlooking the French Broad River and downtown Hot Springs. Ellerson, who served as an agent for Edwin Wiley Grove’s business dealings in and around Madison County, engaged local builders to erect the dwelling as a reflection of his improved social and economic status in the community. The house is locally significant as a fully expressed and intact example of Craftsman-style architecture in Hot Springs.
Lincoln Heights School, Wilkesboro, Wilkes County, listed 9/11/2018
Constructed in 1924 just east of Wilkesboro, the Lincoln Heights School is historically significant for its association with the education of African American children across a four-county region. The original building, constructed with financial assistance from the Julius Rosenwald Fund, was expanded in 1926 and 1950. Additional buildings, including a combination agricultural shop and cafeteria, high school building, and gymnasium, were built between 1956 and 1963 across the roughly nine-acre campus. The complex was in use until 1968, when Wilkes County schools were integrated. Lincoln Heights School is also significant as an intact example of a six-teacher Rosenwald School. The nomination for Lincoln Heights School was funded by an Underrepresented Community Grant to the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office from the National Park Service.
In Eastern North Carolina
Eastern North Carolina Civil War Shipwrecks, 1861-1865, Multiple Property Documentation Form, approved 7/16/2018
The vast “sound country” of tidewater eastern North Carolina was a Civil War theater of combined army and navy operations, interior fleet actions, innovative commando tactics, construction of defensive aquatic obstructions, and mine warfare. Shipwrecks eligible for inclusion under this cover document are significant for their association with naval offensive and defensive actions in the sounds and rivers of eastern North Carolina during the Civil War. Some, with preserved hull remains, are also significant as a record of mid-18th-century shipbuilding techniques. These shipwrecks have the potential to answer questions about daily crew life, provide information about combat destruction from naval tactics and weapons of the era, and enable studies of vessel preservation in differing depositional environments. Seven shipwrecks were listed under this theme: U.S. Army Gunboat Picket (screw steamer), Washington vicinity, Beaufort County; Broad Creek Block Ships, Plymouth vicinity, Bertie County; C.S.S. Black Warrior (two-masted schooner), Elizabeth City vicinity, Camden County; Scuppernong (two-masted schooner), Shawboro vicinity, Camden County; C.S.S. Curlew (side-wheel steamer), Mann's Harbor vicinity, Dare County; C.S.S. Col. Hill (side-wheel steamer), Tarboro vicinity, Edgecombe County; Chicod Creek Wreck, Grimesland vicinity, Pitt County. Nominations for four U.S. Navy vessels have also been written and are under review. This cover document and the associated nominations were prepared by the North Carolina Office of State Archaeology (OSA) with assistance from the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office.
US Post Office, Court House, and Custom House, New Bern, Craven County, listed 8/7/2018
This nomination for the U.S. Post Office, Court House and Custom House in New Bern was prepared for the U.S. General Services Administration. It is locally significant in the area of Politics/Government as a visual symbol of the federal presence in the city of New Bern and as a local representation of public buildings constructed under the Public Works Administration (PWA). In addition, it is an excellent local example of the Georgian Revival architectural style popular for federal buildings constructed during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The period of significance for the U.S. Post Office, Court House and Custom House includes 1935, the date of the building’s completion, and 1938, the date of the installation of the federally commissioned artwork. Additionally, the U.S. Post Office, Court House and Custom House is a contributing resource in the National Register-listed New Bern Historic District.
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About the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the nation's official list of buildings, structures, objects, sites and districts worthy of preservation for their significance in American history, architecture, archaeology and culture. The National Register was established by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 to ensure that as a matter of public policy, properties significant in national, state and local history are considered in the planning of federal undertakings, and to encourage historic preservation initiatives by state and local governments and the private sector. The Act authorized the establishment of a State Historic Preservation Office in each state and territory to help administer federal historic preservation programs.
In North Carolina, the State Historic Preservation Office is an agency of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. Kevin Cherry, the Department's Deputy Secretary of Archives, History, and Parks, is North Carolina's State Historic Preservation Officer. The North Carolina National Register Advisory Committee, a board of professionals and citizens with expertise in history, architectural history and archaeology, meets three times a year to advise Dr. Cherry on the eligibility of properties for the National Register and the adequacy of nominations.
The National Register nominations for the recently listed properties may be read in their entirety by clicking on the National Register page of the State Historic Preservation Office website. For more information on the National Register, including the criteria for listing, see this page.