The Town of Swansboro and the Swansboro Historic Preservation Commission have been awarded a 2021 federal Historic Preservation Fund grant for Certified Local Governments from the National Park Service, administered through the State Historic Preservation Office (HPO) of the North Carolina Office of Archives and History. The project is to conduct an architectural survey update within the boundaries of both the National Register-listed Swansboro Historic District (NR 1990) and the locally designated Swansboro Historic District. While there is a significant overlap in the geographical extent of the two district boundaries, the boundaries do not coincide. The twofold purpose of the survey is to provide a comprehensive survey update of properties that can be used in the commission’s review of certificate-of-appropriateness applications/design review and to provide a baseline of information that the commission will use to evaluate whether the locally-designated historic district boundaries should be revised.
The Town of Swansboro has hired Richard Grubb & Associates, a Wake Forest, N.C-based cultural resources consulting firm, to complete the project. Ellen Turco will serve as Principal Investigator. Preliminary fieldwork will start in early March. The project will conclude no later than September 2022.
The architectural survey entails documentation of buildings and landscapes that are at least 50 years old. Fieldworkers take photographs, draw site plans, and collect oral history from people they meet on site. They conduct a limited amount of archival research to establish patterns of historical development. The Swansboro Architectural Survey Update will culminate in a final report that summarizes the results from fieldwork.
At the conclusion of the survey, the HPO will share the final report with the National Park Service and will retain all materials from the survey as part of the statewide architectural record. Public access to the information will be available through HPOWEB, the HPO’s geographic information system, which is accessible online at http://gis.ncdcr.gov/hpoweb/. The survey material will facilitate the environmental review necessary for state and federal undertakings and will aid in planning for future economic and community development projects. Survey products also will be useful for the continued development of heritage tourism programs in Swansboro.
For more information on the Swansboro Architectural Survey Update, contact Elizabeth C. King, Architectural Survey Coordinator for the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office, at elizabeth.king@ncdcr.gov or 919-814-6580, or Ellen Turco of Richard Grubb & Associates, at eturco@rgaincorporated.com.
About the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources
The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (NCDNCR) is the state agency with a vision to be the leader in using the state's natural and cultural resources to build the social, cultural, educational and economic future of North Carolina. NCDNCR's mission is to improve the quality of life in our state by creating opportunities to experience excellence in the arts, history, libraries and nature in North Carolina by stimulating learning, inspiring creativity, preserving the state's history, conserving the state's natural heritage, encouraging recreation and cultural tourism, and promoting economic development.
NCDNCR includes 27 historic sites, seven history museums, two art museums, three science museums, three aquariums and Jennette's Pier, 41 state parks and recreation areas, the N.C. Zoo, the N.C. Symphony Orchestra, the State Library, the State Archives, the N.C. Arts Council, the African American Heritage Commission, State Preservation Office and the Office of State Archaeology, and the Division of Land and Water Stewardship. For more information, please visit www.ncdcr.gov.