Asking local historian Mark Pace to divulge which old house is his very favorite is akin to asking a parent which of their children they prefer: indeed, there may be one, but you don’t want to admit it.
In their discussion of old homes in the area listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Pace singled out Vance County’s Pleasant Hill, softening his pronouncement a bit by saying it’s one of his favorites.
There certainly are a lot of contenders in the four-county area, and WIZS’s Bill Harris and Pace reviewed a number of homes and other structures listed on the National Register in Vance and Granville counties on Thursday’s TownTalk segment of Around Old Granville.
Now known as Rivenoak, the stately old home near Middleburg underwent a restoration in the late 1970’s and gained its National Register status in 1979.
And as impressive as the home is, with its double-shoulder brick chimneys (special-ordered from Williamsburg), and Greek Revival style with Georgian elements, it’s the family that built it and lived there that adds to its significance, Pace said.
The family gained prominence for developing the railroad in the area, and for a period of more than half a century between 1778 and 1848, there was a member of the Hawkins family serving in state government.
Future N.C. Governor William Hawkins was probably born at Pleasant Hill, built by his grandfather, Philemon Hawkins, Jr. Research confirms that at least part of it was built as early as 1760.
And those chimneys, located on either side of the home? “Those chimneys are really impressive,” Pace said. Each chimney is constructed of about 20,000 bricks – that’s 80,000 bricks. All imported from Virginia.
Homes like Pleasant Hill are nominated and then placed on a study list before getting their official designation.
Not all of the structures are homes, though, Harris noted. There are farms, churches, bank buildings and more that share spots on the National Register.
Local history buffs may be familiar with Henderson’s Historic District, which Pace said contains 91 of the county’s 114 historic structures.
As he explained, Henderson was a pretty big deal from, say, the 1800’s to the 1940s and 50s.
“There was a lot of impressive architecture that you won’t find anywhere else in North Carolina,” he said. There were several architecture firms located in Henderson. Steve Flannagan designed First Methodist Church and the original Henderson High School, for example. And the iconic fire station and clock tower? Yep, local architect Robert A. Bunn designed it.
Another local architect, James Thrower, designed the original courthouse. It wasn’t until Frank Milburn designed a major renovation that the columns were added.
So many of the old architectural gems remain today in Henderson’s historic district, a tribute to the community’s interest in preserving and repurposing buildings with historic significance.
Like Pleasant Hill, there are numerous homes dotting the countryside that once were part of huge plantations. Ashland near Satterwhite Point, Machpelah and Pool Rock close to Townsville, and Ashburn Hall near Kittrell are some examples.
Many have been lovingly restored and meticulously maintained over the years, preserving those architectural details that make them exemplars of the periods when they were built.
But there’s one house on the National Register that was neither showy nor huge, but impressive all the same.
During a restoration project a decade or so ago, workers removed some siding from a structure to reveal a log home that was built in the 1760’s. Tests on the yellow pine in the center part of the home reveal they were felled in the winter of 1763, according to information on the nomination form that was submitted in 2014.
Present-day Granville County has its share of historically significant homes and buildings, too, but like Vance County, the northern portion of the county has more listed on the National Register than the southern portion.
The Allen-Mangum house in the community of Grissom in southern Granville County was built in the mid- to late-1800’s. It was one of more than 30 Granville County structures added to the National Register in 1988.
This coincided with the publication of an architectural survey, Pace said, that is still the “go-to” reference book for historic architecture.
Brassfield Baptist Church near Wilton is the oldest church in the county, built in the 1840’s. It’s on the list, as is the First National Bank Building in Creedmoor.
Pace said the Obediah Winston Farm in Creedmoor is on the list because “it was one of the most intact old-timey tobacco farms in existence,” with outbuildings intact to give a true flavor of what tobacco production involved.
Red Hill, on Townsville Road off Highway 15 near the Virginia line, has a few different styles, thanks to several renovations and additions over the years. The oldest part of the house dates to 1776.
There’s Hill Airy, which has been on the register since 1974, part of the expansive Gregory family holdings.
Another one of the Gregory family plantations, Elmwood, is what Pace calls one of the finest Georgian style homes in Granville County. Built it 1850, it had been abandoned for decades.
Pace said he was sure the home was “as absolute goner.” All the interior features had been removed over the years, leaving just a shell of a building.
But thanks to a renovation project, Pace calls it “one of the most impressive historic structures” in the county.
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