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Holloway Street School, before and after rehabilitation
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Durham County, Durham, Holloway Street School
Constructed in 1928 with additions in the 1950s and 1975, the Holloway Street Elementary School is a prominent and architecturally significant building in the East Durham Historic District, which primarily consists of single-family residences. The school was designed in the Collegiate Gothic Style and may have been influenced by the construction of Duke University. The 2015-2016 rehabilitation has continued the educational use of the campus as the Reaching All Minds Academy, a K-5 charter school. This project was spurred by the use of the federal and state income-producing historic tax credits with a private investment rehabilitation cost of $9 million.
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Scott and Roberts Dry Cleaning Plant, historic image, before, and after rehabilitation
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Durham County, Durham, Scott and Roberts Dry Cleaning Plant, Office, and Store
Constructed in 1947, the Scott and Roberts Dry Cleaning Plant, Office, and Store is one of Durham’s best surviving examples of the Streamline Moderne architectural style. Scott and Roberts, Inc., was dissolved in 1987, but the building continued to function as a dry cleaning establishment until the early 21st century. The building was sold for real estate development in 2011 and was rehabilitated 2013-2016 for use by multiple high-tech office tenants. This project was spurred by the use of the federal and state income-producing historic tax credits with a private investment rehabilitation cost of $480,000.
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Cherryville Drug Company-Allen Drug Store, before and after rehabilitation
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Gaston County, Cherryville, Cherryville Drug Company-Allen Drug Store
The Cherryville Drug Company building was erected in 1911 and sold to the Allen brothers in 1916. Due to a street widening project, the façade and eight feet of the building were removed and the façade reconstructed in 1917. In continuous operation by the Allen family until 1993, this former drug store in the Cherryville Downtown Historic District was rehabilitated 2015-2016 into a medical spa. This project was spurred by the use of the federal and state income-producing historic tax credits with a private investment rehabilitation cost of $74,000.
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Walston Livery Stable, before and after rehabilitation
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Constructed in 1934, the Walston Livery Stable in the Wilson Central Business-Tobacco Warehouse Historic District was one of the last liveries built in Wilson and was out of business by 1950. This tall, one-story warehouse is perfect for its new use as a brewery and taproom known as 217 Brew Works. The 2015-2016 rehabilitation of this underutilized building was spurred by the use of the federal and state income-producing historic tax credits with a private investment rehabilitation cost of $550,000.
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Book covers of new survey publications
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By Claudia Brown
A hallmark of North Carolina’s historic architectural survey program is the collection of publications that present the results of our county and municipal survey projects. Just as North Carolina is a leader in efforts to record the full breadth of its historic architecture, no other state has such an extensive collection of books generated as a logical next step in the effort to document and promote the preservation of historic resources.
With the recent publication of three books, the total number of North Carolina’s one hundred counties that have had the results of their architectural surveys published rises to 56. Two of the books were released late last year: West of the Chowan: The Historic Architecture of Hertford County, North Carolina, based on the work of Jeroen van den Hurk and others and edited by J. Daniel Pezzoni; and The Historic Architecture of Johnston County, North Carolina, by Thomas R. Butchko and edited by K. Todd Johnson. In January of this year The Architectural History of Jones County, North Carolina, by Christina R. Moon was published. The Hertford County book, published by the Historic Murfreesboro Commission, presents the results of the comprehensive survey funded by the State Historic Preservation and completed in 2011, while the Johnston County and Jones County books are based on surveys completed in 1980 and 1997, respectively, with matching grants from the State Historic Preservation Office and subsequently updated and published through local efforts. Purchasing information for all three books is on the publications page of the HPO web site at http://www.hpo.ncdcr.gov/bibliog.htm.
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The Bessie Virginia, built in 1931, ran up to 90 tons of freight weekly between Ocracoke and Washington, North Carolina. Photo courtesy of coastalreview.org
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For centuries, boats were vital to the delivery of goods and news on eastern North Carolina’s coast. The role the boats played in this long-gone practice and the waters through which they maneuvered have been commemorated by the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum and Heritage Center at Harkers Island through “Port Light,” an interactive, online multimedia exhibition about the “Saltwater Highways of the Outer and Inner Banks.” The goal of the project is to capture histories of the trade, civic and kin connections that extended from the Outer Banks to mainland ports, from the Colonial settlements to the fishing villages of the early to mid-20th century, when boats were the primary mode of transportation. Visitors to the online exhibition will find the written historical summary, oral history audio, and archival photography of 12 different vessels. It also features an interactive map that details the routes of the boats. Read the full article here. Click here to access “Port Light.”
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Wake Forest Post Office, 301 South White Street in the Downtown Wake Forest Historic District. Photo courtesy of wakeforestnc.gov
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There is a new way to explore the town of Wake Forest’s local and downtown historic districts through two new online virtual tours. Structured around interactive maps of each historic district, both tours feature photos of significant houses, buildings, and other landmarks. Each point of interest also includes a brief description and professionally voiced audio clip that users can play at their own pace as they move through the respective historic district.
The project was accomplished with local funds matched by a federal Historic Preservation Fund grant awarded to the Wake Forest Historic Preservation Commission by the State Historic Preservation Office to complete the narration portion of each virtual tour. Blueforest Studios in Raleigh executed the narration.
To access the tours online, visit https://www.wakeforestnc.gov/ and search “Historic Districts,” or download the app on your smart phone by searching “Town of Wake Forest” on ITunes. For more information, contact Senior Planner Michelle Michael at 919-435-9516 or mmichael@wakeforestnc.gov.
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Historic image of Lenoir, circa 1874
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By Annie McDonald
In the late 1820s, Pennsylvania native James Harper moved to North Carolina and established an estate on several hundred acres along the Morganton-Wilkesboro Road on the northern edge of what was then Burke County. Naming the property Fairfield, Harper entered into business with relatives in western North Carolina and soon prospered. By 1839, the community that grew up around his crossroads mercantile, post office, and Federal-style house was known as Harper’s Store. Following the 1841 formation of Caldwell County from parts of Burke and Wilkes counties, Harper was among a handful of property owners who provided land for the establishment of the new county seat, Lenoir. With the late-nineteenth-century development of Lenoir’s textile and furniture industries, the town prospered, quickly becoming a regional manufacturing center. The resulting growth through the mid-twentieth century of the commercial downtown and residential neighborhoods, as well as myriad cultural and educational institutions, has left Lenoir with a rich and varied architectural heritage.
Despite its architectural legacy, Lenoir has only marginal architectural survey coverage, with the majority of documentation dating to the 1986-1987 reconnaissance-level survey of Caldwell County. Outside of the Downtown Historic District, which was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2007, and four individually National Register-listed resources, there are fewer than 100 survey records for resources in the city of nineteen square miles. Several of these previously documented resources have been lost over the past thirty years. Furthermore, the mid-1980s survey work only recorded resources built into the 1930s and did not capture the many excellent examples of mid-century modern architecture throughout the city.
Increasing local interest in historic preservation has been fueled in part by the rehabilitation tax credit program and by municipal planning and outreach efforts. Local concern for the value of historic resources has driven the State Historic Preservation Office to think critically about the need for a comprehensive architectural survey of Lenoir. On March 8, 2017, the HPO released a Request for Proposals for a project that will update many of the existing survey files and record approximately 480 additional resources, either individually or in groups. The project will significantly expand our understanding of the city’s complex history through documentation and analysis of the built environment. The project will begin in the spring of 2017 with selection of a qualified consultant and will continue through the summer and autumn.
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Detail of entry at 5 East Main Street in Old Fort.
Photo courtesy of blackmountainnews.com
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The ca. 1900 masonry commercial building at 5 East Main Street in the Old Fort Commercial Historic District has a distinctive arched storefront. Unfortunately, in recent years, the masonry became badly deteriorated. When the owners decided to undertake a rehabilitation of the property, they were referred to Hillsborough’s Wayne Thompson and his company, Heritage Restorations. Thompson identified the issue as deteriorating lime putty mortar and sent mortar samples to US Heritage Group in Chicago so they could create replacement mortar that visually and chemically matches the original. The rehabilitation project was completed last August. To learn more, click here.
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Examples of burned corn cobs excavated from eighteenth-century Catawba towns
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By Mary Beth Fitts
The Catawba Indian Nation is a federally-recognized tribe located south of present-day Charlotte. In the late 1600s European colonists traveled to Catawba towns to trade, and after 1708 the Catawba acted as military allies for the Carolina colonies.
The Catawba arranged their towns close together for defense and faster mobilization of their forces. However, this strategy made them a target for enemy raids and also vulnerable to being surrounded by expanding colonial settlements. These circumstances put a strain on Catawba food practices, especially during the 1750s when there was a regional drought.
Despite uncertainty regarding crop yields, the Catawba continued to grow corn as a staple food and in some cases intensified their corn farming activities. A research project that I undertook in 2016 examined whether the Catawba grew different kinds of corn during this stressful period. Doing so requires careful planning and planting practices because corn easily cross-pollinates.
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Diagram of corn cob fragment showing measurements taken to estimate kernel size
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Based on measurements of carbonized corn cobs excavated from the remains of Catawba towns by UNC-Chapel Hill’s Research Laboratories of Archaeology, I was able to define three different types of corn. The first type has 12 or 14 rows of small kernels. The other two types of corn have 6 to 10 rows of kernels, with one type having larger kernels than the other. Most of the cobs from the larger-kernel group were found at a Catawba town that was rebuilt after being burned by the British General Cornwallis as he marched up the Catawba River during the Revolutionary War; the Catawba had been aiding the American rebels.
These findings suggest that during the middle of the eighteenth century, the Catawba may have been growing at least two different varieties of corn. They continued to grow these varieties until the American Revolution, despite several hardships including a drought and a high-mortality smallpox epidemic. After the war, they obtained a new variety of corn.
In the future, I hope to compare the Catawba cobs to those from other Indian and settler sites to see how their farming practices fit into the larger picture of food production in the Carolinas during the eighteenth century.
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Ann V. Swallow
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At the end of February, we wished Ann Swallow farewell and good luck on her retirement from a long and productive career in historic preservation. Since January of 2001, Ann was the HPO’s National Register Coordinator, based in Raleigh. Ann’s job was more than reviewing National Register nominations; she also offered guidance about historical and architectural resources in her service region, which extended from Rockingham County to Gaston County. During her years of service at the HPO, Ann oversaw the listing of 795 nominations, including 226 historic districts, and the placement of 1,223 properties on the North Carolina National Register Study List. Ann enjoyed working with the National Park Service, the North Carolina National Register Advisory Committee, and the HPO’s National Register staff to administer a successful National Register Program in North Carolina.
Ann is a graduate of the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history. From there, she worked as an education supervisor at Strawbery Banke, Inc., an historic neighborhood museum in Portsmouth, New Hampshire; as an education/information assistant with the National Trust for Scotland at two of its historic properties in Edinburgh and in the West Highlands; and as a gardener at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. After earn a Masters of Architectural History with a certificate in historic preservation from the University of Virginia, Ann administered the National Register and survey programs at the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency for fifteen years prior to joining the North Carolina HPO.
During her time working in Illinois and in North Carolina, Ann recognized the importance of historic landscapes and the information they can provide about historic resources. She advised consultants on a variety of property types and landscapes throughout the state including mill villages, baseball fields, resorts, and church and recreation camps. Some of her favorite projects were the Model Farm in High Point, a farm established by the Quakers as a means for educating southern farmers about modern agricultural practices; the Occoneechee Speedway in Hillsborough, an historic dirt racetrack; and the Church of St. Lawrence in Asheville, nationally important for its design and engineering by Spaniard Rafael Guastavino Sr. that features Guastavino’s cohesive construction.
Over the years, Ann led numerous training sessions for nomination preparers and the North Carolina National Register Advisory Committee. She also re-wrote the document, “Practical Advice for Preparing National Register Nominations in North Carolina,” a companion piece to the National Park Service’s instructions.
Ann’s wisdom and knowledge of North Carolina history and the National Register Program will be greatly missed.
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Kelsey Morrison and Sam Burner stand in front of a display
for their project “The One”
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Kelsey Morrison, intern at the NC HPO and a graduate student in the School of Architecture of North Carolina State University’s College of Design, won a 2017 AIA Triangle Scholarship for her work on a project called “The One.” When asked to describe the project Kelsey explained, “’The One’ is a tall tower designed by myself and Sam Burner, located in the heart of an up-and-coming area of San Francisco, at the busy corner of Van Ness and Market Street. The area lacks a community identity but is a pinnacle point of transportation; by incorporating residential, office and commercial, the 600-foot tower addresses the live-work-play balance. The heart of the building is the elevated terraced gardens, which will be used by the residents, office employees, and community, and hopefully some produce will be sold during market hours below the gardens and to local restaurants.”
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Screenshot of Buffalo, NY’s Atlas of ReUrbanism map. Red areas represent blocks of older, smaller, and mixed-aged buildings. Blue areas represent the opposite: newer, larger, similar-aged development. Photo courtesy of nthp.maps.arcgis.com
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The National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Preservation Green Lab has developed the Atlas of ReUrbanism, a tool that takes large amounts of data currently available about cities and makes it more accessible, allowing for the exploration and discovery of connections between older buildings and economic, demographic, and environmental measures. It uses a “Character Score,” which rates 200- square-meter sections of cities in order to find “the older, diverse fabric that has proven to be valuable in urban areas.” It classifies building stock by age and size. Higher scoring areas in red represent blocks of older, smaller, mixed-aged buildings. Lower scoring areas in blue represent newer, larger, similar aged development. They have mapped a few cities so far, including New York, Buffalo, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Los Angeles, and are moving on to other towns, including four in North Carolina: Charlotte, Durham, Raleigh, and Winston-Salem. Read about the initiative and see maps here.
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-- Snag one of these Frank Lloyd Wright homes while you still can! Click here.
-- Take a look at these digitilized house catalogue designs from the 1920s here.
-- America is home to some pretty bizarre architecture. Visit here to see photos.
-- Chilean-born photographer Camilo José Vergara’s project “Tracking Time” focuses on the decay of neglected urban communities. Click on this link for a quick reminder of why historic preservation matters. To visit Vergara’s website, click here.
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For statewide events lists, visit the HPO Facebook events list, Preservation North Carolina events list, or a March 2017 calendar of events and workshop and conference list courtesy of the Federation of NC Historical Societies.
January – December 2017 Help us celebrate the centennial of World War I! Across the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, programs, lectures, events, and online resources in celebration of the WWI centennial will be offered; they also will be shared on social media. The centennial will end in 2018. You can read more here. This is a link to the website that will feature the WWI blog, events and other resources. The following are official World War I Centennial websites: http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/ and http://www.ww1-centennial.org/
February- December 2017 The National Preservation Institute has announced the schedule of 2017 Professional Training Seminars in Historic Preservation & Cultural Resource Management. Click here to view the calendar.
March 24-25 Race and Public Space: Commemorative Practices in the American South, Charlottesville, VA. This symposium will explore intersections between scholarship and practice around race, memory, and commemoration. To learn more about the event, visit http://www.arch.virginia.edu/race-public-space-symposium
April 5 Join us for the Office of State Archaeology Lecture Series. “Before Corn: An Investigation of Eastern Agricultural Complex Plants at the Tom Jones Site, Arkansas” will be presented by Rosie Blewett at 11:30 AM in the auditorium of the Archives Building, 109 East Jones Street, in Raleigh. Click here for more information.
April 7 African Americans and Education: Past, Present and Future, featuring various speakers, will be held at the University of North Carolina Wilmington Watson College of Education. For more information, click here.
April 18-20 3D Digital Documentation Summit in New Orleans, LA. The National Center for Preservation Technology and Training is partnering with several organizations to host a three-day summit on 3D digital documentation for cultural heritage. Click here for more information.
April 19-22 National Council on Public History Annual Conference, Indianapolis, IN. To learn more, visit http://ncph.org/conference/2017-annual-meeting/.
April 21 Cultural Resources Consultants Workshop presented by the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office and the Office of State Archaeology. This workshop will focus on how the two offices review development projects under federal and state laws and regulations. For more information about the workshop and registration, click here.
April 21 South Carolina Statewide Historic Preservation Conference, Columbia, SC. To learn more, visit http://shpo.sc.gov/events/Pages/presconf.aspx.
April 30-May 5 Pine Mountain Settlement School Restoration Maintenance Workshop, Pine Mountain, KY. Join nationally known preservation trades artisans Bob Yapp and Patrick Kennedy for a 5-day, hands-on learning experience on the beautiful campus of Pine Mountain Settlement School. See here for more information.
May 1-3 Main Street Now Conference, Pittsburgh, PA. For more information, visit http://www.preservationnation.org/main-street/training/conference/.
May 31-June 3 This year’s Vernacular Architecture Forum conference will be held in Salt Lake City, UT.
The theme is Two Utahs: Religious and Secular Landscapes in the Great Basin West. Click here for more.
September 27-29 Mark your calendars! Preservation North Carolina’s Annual Conference will be held this year in Charlotte. Check back here for updates.
November 14-17 Mark your calendars! The 2017 PastForward conference will be held this November in Chicago, IL. The main themes this year will be ReUrbanism, Technology, and Health. Check back here for updates.
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Please send any comments or suggestions to Hannah Beckman at hannah.beckman@ncdcr.gov. Please forward this newsletter to others who might be interested in the information. Archived issues are online at http://www.hpo.ncdcr.gov/newsletter/newsletter.htm.
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The activity that is the subject of this publication has been financed in part with federal funds from the National Park Service (NPS), U.S. Department of the Interior, and administered by the NC HPO. However, the contents and opinions do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of NPS or NC HPO. This program receives federal financial assistance for identification and protection of historic properties. Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, as amended, the U. S. Department of the Interior prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, disability or age in its federally assisted programs. If you believe you have been discriminated against in any program, activity, or facility as described above, or if you desire further information please write to: Office of Equal Opportunity, National Park Service, 1849 C Street, N.W., Washington DC 20240.
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