Historical architecture enthusiasts may be able to take a look at a structure and determine quickly who designed or built it. Take Jacob Holt, for example. The homes he built in and around Warren County in the 1840’s echoed Holt’s interest in Greek Revival and Italianate architecture.
Back then, it was common for one person to design, construct and finish interiors of homes, with help from area craftsmen and artisans, said local historian Mark Pace. Pace and WIZS co-host Bill Harris continued a discussion Wednesday about area architects from the pre-Civil War era to the 20th century.
Albert Gamaliel Jones, a contemporary of Holt, was known as a house carpenter, and, like Holt, drew from the classic Greek Revival and Italianate to create the buildings’ style.
He built homes like the Fuller Home in Louisburg, Ivy Hill near Hollister and Lake O’ The Woods in Warren County.
But, Pace said, he was also noted for numerous public buildings, including the 8-columned main building at Chowan College, the main building at Louisburg College and Wesleyan Female College.
“Sometimes it’s a little tricky to see where Holt stops and Jones starts,” Pace noted. Their styles are similar enough that one could be mistaken for the other.
Fast forward to the 20th century and Pace said a Virginia man – trained as a draftsman – became a registered engineer and set up a business in Henderson. The man was Eric G. Flannagan and his business – Eric G. Flannagan and Sons remained in operation until 2001, Pace said.
You don’t have to go far in Henderson to find a Flannagan building.
Pace has referred to the elder Flannagan as “the Jacob Holt of the 20th century.”
Flannagan’s style was a beaux arts style, sort of a post- Art Deco, Pace explained. Take Henderson High School.
What makes it beaux arts are the focus on symmetry and the details – gargoyles on the façade and embossed books under each window – that create that unique style that Pace said is a Flannagan hallmark.
Other area structures include the Methodist Church in downtown Henderson, the original Henderson fire station and the former municipal building beside it, the Orange Street School in Oxford and the main entrance to the Masonic Home for Children in Oxford.
Between Flannagan and his sons Eric Jr. and Stephen, the business has more than 600 homes and other structures to their credit.
When the business closed in 2001, the treasure trove of plans and blueprints were donated to N.C. State University and East Carolina University. And the North Carolina Room at the Richard Thornton Library in Oxford is the recipient of half a dozen boxes from the firm’s archives.
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