ML050630232
| ML050630232 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Brunswick  |
| Issue date: | 01/25/2005 |
| From: | US Dept of Interior (DOI) |
| To: | Emch R NRC/NRR/DRIP/RLEP |
| Emch R, NRR/DRIP/RLEP, 415-1590 | |
| References | |
| Download: ML050630232 (48) | |
Text
United States Department of the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service for HCRS use only National Register of Historic Places
'received Inventory-Nomination Form ale entered See instructions in How to Complete National Register Forms Type all entries-complete applicable sections
- 1. Name historic Southport Historic District andfor common
- 2. Location street & number not for publication city, town Southport vicinity of congressional district Seventh state North Carolina code 37 county Brunswick code 019
- 3. Classification Category Ownership Status Present Use
.X district public X
occupied agriculture museum building(s) private
-X-unoccupied
-X). commercial X park structure
.X. both work In progress educational X. private residence site Public Acquisition Accessible
... entertainment X religious object In process yes: restricted
-X-government scientific being considered yes: unrestricted Industrial transportation no X
military other:
- 4. Owner of Property name Multiple owners street & number city, town vicinity of state
- 5. Location of Legal Description courthouse, registry of deeds, etc. Brunswick County Courthouse street & number city, town Bolivia state North Carolina
- 6. Representation in Existing Surveys The Architecture of Southport title by Carl Lounsbury has this property been determined elegible? __ yes
.xY no date 1979 federal
-. state county Xz local Survey and Planning Branch depository for survey records N.C. Division of Archives & History city, town Ralejgb state North Carolina
.t V'
p.>
- .V 7:4ss z
S--
- 7. Description Condition Check one Check one L. excellent
.X. deteriorated unaltered
.X.
original site X.
good ruins JX altered moved date X
fair unexposed Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance Located at the mouth of the Cape Fear River the small village of Southport is the best example of a Victorian coastal town in North Carolina.
The town has barely grown past its original 1792 boundaries.
Over half of the structures in the historic district date from the 1885-1905 period when Southport bustled with economic activity and speculative ventures. Most of the plain one and two-story frame dwellings which border the meandering tree-lined streets were built by about a half dozen local carpenters working in the local tradition. All the residential streets feature a canopy of live and water oaks which tie the town together into an oak grove. Viewed from the river the town appears much like a park.
Beyond the main commercial blocks of Moore and Howe Streets, the streets, which remain uncurbed, wind between the gnarled oaks. The combination of shady informal streets, river orientation vernacular Victorian buildings, fishing boats and docks give the town a distinctive character. Because well over one hundred of the buildings in the town can be traced to an individual carpenter-builder and a specific year of construction, the town presents an excellent study of Victorian building practices in a small North Carolina town.
The history of the town of Southport, like the history of most towns, is written in its landscape. To understand the landscape, it is necessary to know something about the development of its settlement and building patterns.
The earliest settlement was located at the edge of the river clustered around Fort Johnston:
The first houses were simply a handful of small cottages, the houses of river pilots who had found the site a safe anchorage for their ships. When Smithville was laid out in 1793, most of these dwellings probably sat askew the new property lines.
Development of the new town in the early nineteenth century was mainly confined to. the area closest to the river. Since the Cape Fear was the primary source of live-lihood and transportation for most citizens, new houses and stores were erected along Bay and Moore Streets.
The siting of the first courthouse on East Moore Street in 1809 encouraged the growth of shops and law offices in the area around the courthouse.
Bay Street developed with a mixture of docks and houses stretching along the river side.
The main road to Wilmington was a trail rambling out of town from East Moore Street.
Some building activity might have developed along this road except for the fact that Smithville's main transportation route was the river.
With two or three important exceptions the early dwellings were small one story frame structures.
The river pilot and his family could ill afford to build in a style or manner beyond the most modest needs. The problem of finding adequate housing in this early period was frequently aggravated by shortages of building supplies. Most building materials had to be floated down the river from Wilmington.
There were no saw mills in the area.
Nails and other hardware were difficult to obtain.
These problems could have been overcome by competent carpenters and masons; however, early building efforts were often hampered by the lack of men in Smithville skilled in the building trades. With reconstruction of Fort Johnston and the building of the new court house the shortage of skilled craftsmen ceased to be a serious problem. The dependence of outside supplies of building material remained a constant source of irritation and delay until the late nineteenth century.
United States Department of the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service Vor HCRS use only National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form dateentered Continuation sheet DESCRIPTION Item numbe 7
Page 1 The small frame houses were of a traditional type popular in eastern North Carolina in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The one story house type had two principal rooms, an all-purpose room known as the hall, and a more formal parlor.
A narrow passageway may have divided the hall from the parlor.
The kitchen was connected to the dining room at the back of the house by an open breezeway.
The upstairs space was used for bedrooms or storage. Most houses had a low shed porch on the front.
The houses may have been small but they were comfortable and well built.
Comparing the contemporary quality of architecture in 1905 with that of the antebellum period, one long-time resident noted that although the architecture of the early period
...was of the simplest kind, still in every house were evidences of an aesthetic taste.
Especially their taste ran in the direction of mantle pieces and staircases with carvedlballusters for-altho the houses were of one story there were always finished rooms in the attic as was plainly evident by dormer windows which existed in every house and at these modern times are always leakey did not leak from the time they were built till the houses were in ruins... they were built by careful and skillful mechanics and many of our modern mechanics could learn lessons from an inspection of this old work and would see at once that the houses are all parts of them were built by workmen who did honest work and built not only for money but also for reputation.1 None of these small houses has survived.
The Adkins-Dosher House (9) and the Swain House (57) are two descendants of this early house type.
By the last quarter of the nineteenth century, this house type seemed a little antiquated for many residents. However, the hall and parlor cottage was still being built in the poorer sections of Southport well into the twentieth century.
Although wealth was not alien to Smithville, it was certainly rare.
A few large two story houses of elegance and style were built on Bay Street, but the whole scale of building remained modest throughout the antebellum period.
The two and a half story Walker-Pyke House (27) was built in the first or second decade of the nineteenth century and is probably the oldest surviving private residence in town.
The house appears to have been built as a summer residence for a Wilmington merchant. Across the street on the side of the Brunswick Inn (28) stood the two-story summer house of Governor Benjamin Smith.
Built by Benjamin Blaney, the Smith house survived until 1858 when it was torn down to make room for the present structure.
The old house was described as a "large and palatial residence." In plan, the house had a central stair passage with a pair of drawing rooms on one side and a large dining room thirty or forty feet long on the other.2
I United States Depart..-tent of the.iterior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service National Register of Historic Places
!eceelved Inventory-Nomination Form date entered Continuation e
Description Item number-7 Page 2
As Smithville became a fashionable summer resort in the last decade before the Civil War, building activity increased. A new brick courthouse (77) replaced the earlier wooden one.
Next to the courthouse, St. Philips Episcopal Chapel (78) was erected. The church originally was a rectangular structure with its main entrance on the gable end facing Moore Street. The applied pilasters and pediment of the facade are characteristic of the Greek Revival style.
To accomodate the summer visitors, several boarding houses were built on Bay and Moore Streets. On the waterfront, -the Stuart House opened its doors to tourists in 1842.
The two story boarding house was destroyed about twenty-five years ago.
In the 1850s the Carolina House was built at the corner of Bay and Howe Streets. The two-story structure, which was unfortunately demolished in May, 1978, became a favorite residence of summer visitors who had sailed down from Wilmington. Back on Moore Street, boarding houses such as the Bell-Clemmons House (92) catered not only to summer visitors but to those in town with business at the county courthouse.
New structures were built on the military reservation in the 1850s. Many of these new frame buildings'at Fort Johnston were covered with vertical boards and battens.
The board and batten style gained popularity throughout the United States through the influence of publications on domestic architecture by A. J. Downing.
At Fort Johnston, the new hospital (38) was sheathed in this way. The Carolina House was also covered with vertical boards and battens.
The development of architecture in Smithville from the 1790s until the 1870s was slow, often retarded by the shortage of building material, competent craftsmen, and money. With but a few exceptions, domestic architecture was unpretentious and conserva-tive.
old house plans, developed in the mid-eighteenth century, held on tenaciously in Sfithville through most of the nineteenth century. Public and commercial buildings faintly echoed the stylistic tendencies of the day.
There were a few Federal and Greek Revival details here and there but for the most part architecture in Smithville was dressed with few ornaments of style.
In contrast with the slow and often stagnant growth of antebellum Smithville, the new town of Southport bustled with building activity in the late nineteenth century.
In the twenty-five years after 1887, the appearance of the town was radically transformed.
In 1900 there were approximately 260 houses in Southport, over half of them built in the previous eleven years.
From 1889 to 1896 alone, one hundred new houses were under construction.
Older houses frequently received repairs and improvements.
Carpenters and masons, who once suffered months of unemployment, found themselves busy year-round as "the work of improvement in houses and buildings seems to be epidemic, repairs are being made in all parts of the city." 3 In 1889 twenty-five new houses were built; a dozen more received substantial alterations or additions.
In the decade after 1889, there was an average of over ten new houses under construction in Southport each year.
VUinited States Department of the Interior
".'teritage Conservation and Recreation Service ForHCRSusooniy national Register.of Historic Places received Inventory-Nomination Form a
- -tred Continuation sheet Description Item number. 7 Page 3 The old problem of an inadequate supply of building materials was overcome in the early 1890s by the development of local brick and lumber companies.
In February, 1890, the Southport Brick and Tile Company was organized by J. A. Pullan and W. H. Pyke of Ft. Wayne, Indiana,and William Weeks, a former ship carpenter turned real estate agent.
The brickyard was located two miles east of the town on Walden Creek.
In April the newspaper noted that "the demand for brick is so urgent that the Southport Brick Company is making brick by hand at its works. The machinery is arriving but orders cannot wait."4 In late September the Southport Lumber Company was formed.
The new company proposed "to build a first class mill, making all kinds of mouldings for house furnishing, besides a planing and saw mill." The rapid completion of the mill was urged for "the Lumber Company will have plenty of orders to fill as soon as they can get to work, for there will be five or ten new houses erected when parties can buy the materials here without having the river delays."5 Six months later the mill was in operation with the planer "smoothing off quantities of rough board daily."6 Narrow machine-cut boards of oak, hickory, and poplar were used by local carpenters for wainscoting -and ceilings in new houses. Most of the interior woodwork found in houses of this period probably came from the Southport Lumber Company All sections of town underwent new building.
The small older houses on Bay and Moore Streets were either pulled 'down or moved to make room for larger houses.
On Bay Street Corlett House (6), Stevens-Taylor House (19), and J. J. Adkins House (20) all date from the late 1880s and probably replace earlier houses on their sites.
Several new blocks were completely developed in three or four years. The houses in the 100 block of North Lord Street were built between 1889 and 1894. Other streets such as West Nash and West West Streets had houses built on them within a very short period in the early 1890s.
New streets and subdivisions were opened up.
In 1891 Brunswick Street was widened and new housing along the harbor soon developed. That same year W. B. Stevens advertised lots in "Cottage Place, an attractive subdivision" in the northwest section of town.
Lots 66 feet by 100 or 200 feet could be purchased for $15 to $150.
The first contract for a house in this area was made later that summer.7 The Pyke and Weeks subdivision at the upper end of Atlantic Avenue was developed a few years later.
In 1895 Atlantic Avenue was opened up extending into the new subdivision.
The next year Howe Street was extended through the property of S.M. Robbins.8 Architectural development in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in Southport was characterized by a general increase in the scale of building and an overwhelming uniformity in the plan, details and ornament of new houses. The Victorian penchant for bay windows, jigsaw ornament, and irregular massing was incorporated into the local building traditiorn but it can scarcely be said that the carpenter-builders of the period were consciously emulating the national styles.. To apply the terms "Stick" or "Queen Anne" styles to Southport architecture would be misleading. Builders such as A. 3. Robbins, Henry and Joseph Daniel, and George Davis were working in a native tradition that changed very slowly. Most house plans that were used in the 1890s were developed decades earlier.
The so-called "double cottage" plan, a one story house with two rooms on each side of a central passageway, was popular in eastern North Carolina in the early nineteenth century.
Dozens of houses of this type were built in Southport in the 1890s.
The R. Dosher, Sr. House (209), C. G. Smith Cottage (244), and Foley Cottage (248) are three examples. The side passage plan, a two
United States Department of the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
[ForonS use.:
National Register of Historic Places received.
i..
inventory-Nomination Form
[date entered Continuation sheet Description Item number 7
Page 4 two story house with two rooms on one side of stair passage, was a popular urban plan for over one hundred years. The narrow lot of the James Burriss House (129) on West Lrash Street may have been one of the reasons the builder selected the side passage plan for the house.
If most carpenter-builders clung to traditional house types, there was at least one man who worked with new types. W. T. Ottoway seems to have been keenly aware of the Victorian sensibilities. His designs step out of the local vernacular tradition by his experimentation with irregular massing and unconventional floor plans.
In the T. St. George House (206), the convergence of a number of small wings creates a jumbled irregular roof line, a feature that pleased the Victorian sense of the picturesque. Another house designed and built by Ottoway, the T. Carr House (238) is also outside the traditional pattern of local architecture.
Few builders followed up the initiative set by Ottoway. A. E. Stevens, president of the SouthporE Lumber Company, constructed a house of unique design on North Atlantic Avenue.
The, machine cut interior woodwork of the Stevens House (259) attests to the'fine quality of work produced at the saw mill.
The introduction of the machine-cut woodwork tended to undermine the native woodworking tradition.
After 1890 the standardized interior was the rule in Southport.
By far the most prolific builders in the boom years of the late nineteenth century were the Daniel brothers and A. J. Robbins.
The Daniel brothers had been apprenticed to their father Enoch Daniel, a ship's carpenter, in the years following the Civil War. A. J. Robbins married into the family in the 1890s.
Together, these three master carpenters were responsible for more than thirty new dwellings in Southport from 1889 to 1896.
V The Richard Dosher, Sr. House (209) is typical in plan and ornament of dozens of houses put up by the Daniel brothers and Robbins.
In plan the house is characteristi of ma-ny "double cottages" built in the 1890s. A narrow center passageway divided the house.
On each side are two rooms. Each of the four rooms has its own fireplace.
The two chimneys are set axially along the wall separating the front rooms from the-back ones. At the back of the house, a covered breezeway connects the house with a-kitchen.
The architectural details inside and out are ubiquitous in late nineteenth century Southport.
Outside there is a bracketed frieze, prominent cornice, and narrow pilasters at the corner of the walls.
Inside details feature arched and bowed window and door architraves, unsophisticated mantelpieces, and narrow, machine-cut, beaded boards.
Although Robbins was not the most imaginative builder, his work showed the competence of a skilled craftsman.
He would often repeat a house design if it suited his client.
In the spring of 1895 he built E. H. Cramner a substantial one and a half story house on Atlantic Avenue (263).
The new House he completed for Daniel Bender in October of the same year was almost an exact replica of the Cramner House.
Around 1910 Robbins built four identical one story houses on Atlantic Avenue (249,250, 260,261). At this rate of construction, he seems to have been speculating in the housing market rather than building for specific customers.
Robbins, like the Daniel brothers, worked in the local building tradition.
House plans remained straightforward
/United States Department of the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service For HCRS use only National Register of Historic Places received date entered
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Y inventory-Nomination Form L
Continuation sheet Description Atem number 7
Page 5 simple arrangements.
When fashion dictated, a bay window was added or a center gable was placed on the roof.
These minor stylistic considerations did little to affect the traditional building pattern in domestic architecture.
The brick buildings of the commercial district of Southport followed the boom in domestic architecture.
In the first decade of the twentieth century with the influx of outside capital and the development of new businesses, there was a need for substantial commercial buildings.
The availability of brick at the Southport Brick and Tile Company and the prestige of having a brick store led many businessmen to select this material for their new commercial structures. One of the earliest brick buildings of East Moore Street was the Southport Bank (72) which opened in 1905.
The facade of the building is laid with smooth machine-made brick in a common bond.
The side and rear walls are laid in rougher brick with a 1: 7 bond.
This rather plain style was copied in other buildings on the block, notably Watson's Pharmacy (71), the Harper-Northrup Building (66), and the Hood Building (69).
The inspiration for this type. of architecture can be found in several commercial and public structures built in Wilmington at the turn of the century.
Colonial Revival stylistic details were filtering into the Southport builder's repertoire by 1910.
No houses were completely built in this style; that would break too much with traditional predilections.
Small elements of ornament, however, could be incorporated just as details of earlier styles had been judiciously adopted.
New houses, the Robbins-Chadbourn House (21) and the Almgreen House (159) for example, show elements of classical detail.
Porches are supported by columns instead of turned posts; modillions replace frieze brackets in the eaves; and, roofs feature pedimented bays.
Once this last great wave of building peaked in the years before the First World War, architectural activity waned.
One or two commercial buildings were constructed in the 1920s and a few new homes in the bungalow style (96,203) were erected in the late 1930s but little more.
The flourish of building activity in the late nineteenth century was due to the concomnitantgrowth in population and relative wealth in Southport.
As with the antebellum period, domestic and commercial architecture vaguely followed the prevalent national styles.
Elements of each style were incorporated into local building tradition.
and interpreted in various ways.
If style and ornament were only incidental to the Southport builder, then house type was of primary importance.
It was this intimate knowledge of traditional house types that the carpenter-builder carried with hin to each new job. Some master carpenters were willing to experiment but rarely did they break away from the traditional framework and build a house of imaginative design.
Despite this lack of imagination, the workmanship of most carpenters in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries remained at a high level of competence.
The Depression ended the era of the great master carpenters of Southport.
'Xnited States Department of the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form Continuation sheet Footnotes Item number 7.
lreceIved.
date entered Page 6 W. G. Curtis, Reminiscences of Wilmington and Smithville--Southport, 1848-1900,
- n. d., pp. 47-48.
Ibid., p. 48.
Southport Leader, November 15, 1894.
4 Ibid., April 17, 1890.
5 Ibid., October 30, 1890.
Ibid., June 25, 1891.
Ibid., April 23, 1891; August 20, 1891.
Ibid., October 31, 1895; September 17, 1896.
1.
A'significance Period Areas of Significance-Check and justify below prehistoric archeology-prehistoric community planning
-landscape architecture.
religion 1400-1499 archeology-historic conservation law science 1500-1599 agriculture economics literature sculpture 1600-1699 X architecture
.education military social!
.X 1700-1799 art engineering music humanitarian v
1800-1899 commerce explorationrsettlement -
philosophy theater
_X 1900-communications industry politicstgovernment X transportation Invention other (specify)
Specific dates Builder.Architect Statement of Significance (in one paragraph)
For over one hundred and eighty years the destiny of the small coastal town of Southport,established 1792 as Smithville, has been linked with the maritime fortunes of its inhabitants and the nation. Throughout the late eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries, the primary occupation of Southport citizens was river piloting. Ships that entered the Cape Fear River were guided by Southport pilots past dangerous shoals at the mouth of the river to the port of Wilmington twenty-five miles upstream.. When commerce prospered, the river pilots were busy and made good wages and the town as a whole flourished. All too often, however, therd'were too many pilots and too few ships to escort.
Southport appears to have been the only town in North Carolina whose livelihood depended upon this enterprise.
Southport is one of the few towns in the state which has so satisfactorily retained its late nineteenth century appearance of meandering streets, unrestricted by curbs or property lines.
Residential' streets are canopied with large and gnarled water and live.
oaks and lined with modest frame houses.. The last two decades of the nineteenth century were flush times for'river traffic and the town and the architecture of the historic district mirrors this economic prosperity. Street after street is filled with unpretentiou yet sturdy one arid two-story dwellings. These late nineteenth century houses feature repetitive plan configurations and simple stylistic details which produce an integrated architectural townscape. Because nearly all the buildings can be traced to an individual carpenter-builder and a specific year of construction, 'the town presents 'an excellent study of Victorian building practices in a small North Carolina town.
Criteria Assessment:
A. Associated with the coastal trading development of North Carolina as a village oriented to shipping and exhibiting that orientation in its physical character; its location at the mouth of the Cape Fear -River is especially significant in this regard since the Cape Fear is the only North Carolina river emptying into a deep water port. Military (Fort Johnston), shipping, and resort buildings in Southport exemplify its maritime heritage.
C. Exhibits distinctive characteristic of North Carolina coastal architecture in the floor plans and roof and porch forms typical of the region; and embodies the documented work of known local builders using building materials from known producers; and exemplifies the transition from traditional carpentry craftsmanship to mass production of building materials that took place in the 19th century in North Carolina.
u'nited States Department of the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form For HCRS use only'.-I-
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Continuation sheet Criteria Assessment
- Item number
).
The Cape Fear River adjacent to Southport is likely to yield information about shipping and trade in eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth century North Carolina; and the underground resources of the town district may yield information about building practices, lifestyles, trading practices, and cultural contacts of the maritime community.
N.
e.
United States Department of the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service For HCRS use only National Register of Historic Places received.
.aeentered
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inventory-Nomination Form LI.ui..
C6ntinuation sheet HISTORY Item number 8 Page 1 In 1887 the small coastal village of Smithville was rechristened Southport in eager anticipation of the day when it would emerge as the great seaport of the southeast.
The recent closing off of the new inlet and the dredging of the Cape Fear had created a natural harbor at Southport.
For the first-time in two hundred years, North Carolina had an easily accessible deep water harbor.
Surely the obvious commercial advantages of having a port city here were not going to be ignored by progressive businessmen of the New South or enterprising northern capitalists.
In an editorial in the local newspaper, an enthusiastic booster rhapsodized:
That a town so geographically located should need a herald seems strange, but strangest of all will be its future history, if it becomes not the city of the South Atlantic...
The city of Southport, at the mouth of the Cape Fear River, claims unhesitatingly a situation unsurpassed for the building of a metropolis.
It has a magnificent harbor, twelve miles in length and three fourths of a mile in width, affording a safe anchorage in.water varying in depth from 27 to 40 feet...To the capitalist, merchant, and tourist, Southport offers an unbounded field for investment, business, and recreational The allure of building another Chicago or Atlanta attracted money and men to Southport.
Wealthy outsiders from Boston, Fort Wayne and Chicago descended upon the town to buy up land and to speculate in new commercial ventures. Each month the few hotels and boarding houses were filled with more businessmen.
Real Estate prices began to soar. Dozens of new houses were going up all over town.
The City Council ordered that sidewalks be laid along the sandy streets.
A water system and even electrification were promised.
The Southport Leader wrote that "the old town of Smithville can scarcely be recognized in the new and ambitious City of Southport." 2 Notwithstanding this promise of activity, many citizens could recognize that the lack of a rail connection with Wilmington and markets further inland would forever prevent the growth of a metropolitan seaport.
What Southport needed, then, was a railroad line to one of the developing industrial cities in the Piedmont or at least a trunk line from Wilmington.
Several promoters came forth with schemes to entice railroads to build a line to Southport.
The town was eager to extend every priviledge to the railroads, willing to grant any rights promoters might require. Subscriptions were offered and citizens put forth what capital they had.
But nothing of substance ever developed; the schemes fizzled. The flush of excitement soon abated.
The disappointed began to talk about the slow business of building a new city and developing new lines of commerce.3 Although the railroad finally arrived in 1911 with great fanfare, the opportunity had passed. There was the growing realization that Southport would never become anything more than a pleasant little coastal village.
I 6iited States Department of the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
[o NY ational Register of Historic Place's received; Inventory-Nomination Form date entered..
Continuation sheet History Item numbera Page 2 Whatever the commercial advantages of Southport in the late nineteenth century, the location of the town had a different significance in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
Lying at the mouth of the Cape Fear River, the site was of paramount military importance to the English colonists. In the late 1740s, the royal governor Gabriel Johnston oversaw the construction of a fort named in his honor. Through the rest of the eighteenth century, the fort never seemed to be equipped with enough military artillery to be properly defended. By the 1790s two or three small houses had been put up near the fort by river pilots. These pilots would sail out to the ocean search for ships seeking to enter the Cape Fear. For a fee the river pilots offered to guide the cargo ships through the dangerous shoals and up the river.
In these years a few families from Wilmington came down to the area around the fort to spend the summer months taking in "the cool and healthy sea breezes."4 Agitation for the establishment of a town led t6 an act by the General Assembly in 1792 "to lay off and establish a town near Fort Johnston, on the west side of the Cape Fear River, in Brunswick County."5 i
River pilots, "and other inhabitants of Brunswick County" had contended (T)hat the erection of a town on the west side of the Cape Fear River, will be attended with a variety of beneficial effects to the health, commerce and convenience of said county and those adjoining.6.
Benjamin Smith and Joshua Potts laitd off the town around the fort in one hundred half acre lots. Where the shore line curved, the two commissioners turned their streets to run parallel with the river.
Cross streets were made to run perpendicular to the river so that a number of odd triangular parcels of land were created.
(See map).
Boundary Street (Caswell Avenue) was the western limit and Brown Street the northern boundary of the town.
Two important decisions made in the first decade of the nineteenth century were to have a lasting influence on the development of the new town of Smithville.
In 1604 the United States War Department'decided to rebuild the dilapidated Ft. Johnston.
In so doing, it assured the continuing presence of the military in the town. Four years later, an act was passed by the General Assembly to move the Brunswick County Courthouse from Lockwood's Folly to Smithville. With the dourthouse came the other offices of the county government.
These two institutions helped mold the character of the town during the antebellum period.
A third significant development that influenced the character of the town was th, emergence of the tourist trade.
It was a latent feature present from the time when Joshua Potts sailed down from Wilmington in the early 1790s to take advantage of the salubrious climate. Only in the last decade before the Civil War did Smithville receiv.
a large number of visitors.
By the "latter part of the Fifties, when all was alive wit beauty and fashion, it was the favorite resort of persons of wealth and refinement from Wilmington and other places, for health and pleasure."7 It was in these years that popular hotels and boarding houses such as the Stuart House on the waterfront and the Carolina House flourished.
,,2ed States Department of the Interior 4eritage Conservation and Recreation Service 1ForHC1RS'usebnY National Register of Historic Places received; Inventory-Nomination Form cdateentered' Zontinuation sheet History Item number 8
Page On the eve of the Civil War, the county seat had a little less than seven hundred inhabitants.
Of this number, an overwhelming majority found their living connected in some way with the river and ocean.
The leading occupation, as it was to continue to be until the early twentieth century, was that of river pilot. If a man was not a pilot, then he was either a pilot apprentice or seaman.
There was a small number of fishermen, boat carpenters, and dock workers. Other occupations included carpenters, mechanics, lawyers, boarding house keepers, and merchants. A few soldiers, ministers, and county officers completed the list. Black slaves were employed as household servants or dock workers but were few in number.
Antebellum Smithville was not a wealthy town. Few planters had a secondary home in Smithville.
River pilots could earn little money and during trade depressions, competition was always fierce.
The few merchants in town supplied only the most basic goods. Without superflous wealth, there was little need for fancy shops or special service trades. The county court only met four times a year and these were but a brief few weeks.
The boarding houses did brisk business but there was too little else.
The county jail seemed always to be filled but the boarders there asked for little and received much less.
The military population was never large and for many years the fort would be virtually abandoned.
Only during the long summer months of the tourist season was there some semblance of prosperous commercial activity. A few hotel keepers accumulated some capital but most of it was usually poured back into refurbishing their property.
Smithville was not withojt its few well to do citizens or one of two fine two story houses on Bay Street, but by in large most of its inhabitants were of modest means.
Smithville survived the Civil War and Reconstruction without much social turmoil or economic disruption.
In a town dependent on the sea and not the surrounding agricultural fortunes, this was hardly surprising.
During the war, many river pilots volunteered their services to the Confederacy as blockade runners.
The intrepid courage of the blockade runner was admired but all too often, he lost either his ship, his life or both.
After the capture of the forts of the lower Cape Fear in January, 1865, the citizens of Smithville found it prudent to surrender the town to the U. S.
Navy.
After the war, a Freedman's Bureau was established in town to see to the affairs of the former slaves.. Many blacks left their former plantations along the river and chose to settle in Smithville. By the turn of the century, two distinct black neighborhoods had been established, one in the northwestern part of town and a smaller one in the northeast section.
In the 1870s work began on closing New Inlet. Once this task was completed, it was realized that the currents of the Cape Fear River would naturally create a deeper channel and an excellent harbor at Southport and further upriver. With this development the future prospects of the town seemed bright indeed.
Although the exaggerated enthusiasm over the new seaport described earlier was transient, the more modest achievements of the new city of Southport were of lasting significance.
The outsiders who came to Southport brought with them two important things: money and business acumen.
Real estate companies, insurance agencies, and a bank were established. By the last decade of the nineteenth century a nascent commercial district was forming on East Moore Street. With a steady flow and accumulation of finance capital, several public improvements were undertaken throughout the town.
With the possibility of
sted States Department of the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service fiForHCRS useonly received'*
national Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomnination Form fdateente'rd d Continuation sheet History Item number 8
Page 4 securing loans very easily, homeowners began to make much needed additions to their old houses, or, as it was becoming fashionable, to build an entirely new house on a much grander scale.
Houses were being built in areas where there had been little more than swamp or forest.
Whole new neighborhoods and subdivisions were developed.
The face of Southport changes dramatically in the quarter of a century after 1887.
Along the river front, several new docks appeared in response to the growing commercial importance of the fishing fleet.
A coaling dock was erected at the foot of Rhett Street to service the numerous steam ships that anchored at Southport.
New churches and a new school were built to minister to the needs of an expanding population.
In 1890 there were 1181 inhabitants in Southport, nearly double the population of thirty years before.
Along with the newcomers from the Midwest, several Scandinavians and their families emigrated to Southport, giving the town something of a cosmopolitan atmosphere.
Through World War I and the earlyi1920s, Southport sustained a moderate growth rate.
The great boom era-faded slowly anid finally ended with the Depression of the 1930s.
Military activity in and around Southport during World War II encouraged the economic revival of the town.
After the war, a building boom reminiscent of the late nineteenth century, created new suburbs outside the historic center of Southport.
This upswing in economic activity was sponsored in part by the influx of a few large industries and the commercial development of nearby beaches. A severe challenge to the continued growth and development of the town emerged in the mid 1970s when the citizens of Brunswick County voted to relocate the county seat.
~ed States Department of the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form Continuation sheet Footnotes Item number 8
For HCRS use only '
received date entered Page 5 Southport Leader, February 27, 1890.
2 Ibid., March 6, 1890.
3See W. G. Curtis, Reminiscences of Wilmington and Smithville--Southport, 1848-1900,
- n. d., p.44.
4 Joshua Potts, "The Location of Smithville," James Sprunt Historical Monograph, Nos. 4-6, 1903, p. 86.
An act to lay off and establish a town near Fort Johnston, on the west side of the Cape Fear River, in Brunswick County.
6 Southport Leader, February 27, 1890.
V
g* Ma-o i
-w Curtis, W. G. Reminiscences of Wilmington and Smithville--Southport, 1848-1900, n.d.
N.C. Division of Archives and History.
Secretary of State Papers.
- 10. Geographical Data Acreage of nominated property Appr. 112 acres of land not including Battery Island or. the river.
Quadrangle name Soiuthpnrr, NC Quadrangle scate 1:24000 UMT References A
Ill I I I I I
I I
B W L
LW I
I I Il I I Zone Easting Northing Zone Easting Northing c
I I I I I, IJ D-1I I I W
W LW, E L LI WL ilJ F
I ILI W
I I L! -I G
I I I I I
I I I
I I I.,
I H I I L
1 I,
I I I I I
I Verbal boundary description and justification A 33 55' 19" 78 00' 59" B 33 54' 25" 78 00' 08" See Continuation Sheet.
C 33 54' 25" 78 01' 52" D 33 55' 06" 78 01' 37" List all states and counties for properties overlapping state or county boundaries state code county code state code county code
- 11. Form Prepared By nameltitle Carl Lounsbury, Consultant Survey and Planning Branch organization Archaeo1ogy
-is rri PrPRPrvaton tSecioate Jitne-1980 NC Division of Archives & History street & number 109 E. Jones St.
telephone (919) 733-6545 city or town Raleigh stale North Carolina 27611
- 12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification The evaluated significance of this property within the state Is:.
national state
.XXlocal As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89-665), 1 hereby nominate this property for Inclusion In the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according to the criteria and procedures set forth by the Heritage 5nservation and Recreation Service.
State Historic Preservation Officer signature Al 6 $
title State Historic Preservation Officer date September 12, 1980 iFor HCRS use only I hereby certify that this property Is Included In the National Register date Keeper of the National Register Attest:
date Chief of Registration
rnited States Department of the Interior meritagc-Conservation and Recreation Service National Register of Historic Places A
Inuentory-Nomination Formw:
- ontinuation sheet Bibliography Iten number 9
Page 1
Potts, Joshua.
"The Location of Smithville," James Sprunt Historical Monograph, Nos. 4-6, 1903.
Southport Leader, 1890-1896.
I
nited States Department of the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service
-orHCRSuseonly' National Register of Historic Places Irecelved Inventory-Nomination Form Continuation sheet Boundary Description Item number 10 Page 1 The boundary lines of the Southport Historic District closely follow the composition of the town plan as it was laid out in 1792 except for the inclusion of the Brunswick Street harbor area which was developed in the 1890s. At the western end of the town the construction of a new marina in the 1970s and the location of a modern restaurant and hotel complex has created a logical boundary with the residential section of West Southport.
This western boundary begins at a point on the southern side of Brunswick Street. It runs northward across the street and along the western property line of the Hudgins House (101) then turns along the northern boundary of this property and runs eastward to the southwest boundary of the McKeithan-Ford House (105)
It then turns northward and runs along the western property line of the McKeithan-Ford and Joseph Burriss House (157) and across West Street along the west property line of a house (151).
The northern boundary which runs along the back property lines of the houses on the north side of West Street eastward to Rhett Street, was selected as the terminus for the historic district because it is the last street parallel to the waterfront which has a consistent number of houses dating from the turn of the century. Although Brown Street, the next street beyond West Street, was originally laid out in 1792, it was not. developed until the middle of the twentieth century. In the northeastern part of the district the 300 block of North Atlantic Avenue between West Street and Brown Street is included in the'district because the east side of the street includes six consecutive houses dating from the 1890s.
On the west side of this block is the A. E. Stevens House (259), architecturally the most significant house of the Victorian period.
The east boundary of the historic district follows the back property lines on the east side of Rhett Street which was also the original city limit and beyond which is an undeveloped swamp. South of the cemetery the boundary runs southward along the east curb of Kingsley Street and then in a straight southeasterly line for one mile across the Cape Fear River. The southern boundary follows the shoreline at a one mile parallel until it intersects with:the poszer transmission line shown on the USGS map.
This encompasses the undeveloped Battery Island.
The boundary then turns northeast and follows the power line for one mile to the southernmost point of land bounding the mouth of the small Brunswick Street harbor. It then runs along the edge of the harbor following Brunswick Street to beginning point.
r,^ited States Department of the Interior 4 eritage Conservation and Recreation Service 4ational Register of Historic Places
.nventory-Nomination Form For HCRS use only.'....
i frecelved,
date entered Page ontinuation sheet KEY Item number P -
Pivotal -
Building or properties that are individually outstanding, historically and/or architecturally, and stand as a visual landmark in the community.
C -
Contributing -
Buildings whose architectural or historical significance is important to the total character and history of Southport.
These late 19th and early 20th century buildings define the planning, scale, and architectural unity of the town.
N -
Non-contributing -
Although these buildings -
such as contemporary dwellings -
may fit unobtrusively into the scale and planning of the earlier fabric of the town, they are not what gives it its historic character.
I -
Intrusive -
Building totally out of scdle or with unsympathetic materials which disrupt the materials and aesthetic qualities of the townscape.
b
<giln a ZtLt:5s 1tUPdZ MUeSIL a, n-e mJit!J.,I_
ejritage Conservation and Recreation Service oHnly';
National Register of Historic Places jrecelved inventory-Nomination Form 1dateentered
,- 3,-
Continuation sheet Item number Page site #
Key Description West Side Brunswick Street along the Harbor
- 1 C
Fishing Shacks and Storage Sheds: early to mid 20th century.
A series of small one-story frame buildings arranged haphazardly along the west side of Brunswick Street and jettying out over the old harbor and docks.
The present buildings, erected by charter boat operators and deep-sea fishermen, replace earlier ones of similar'scale and-materials. Once the scene of great commercial activity, the site has suffered in recent years as the new marina built just to the west has siphoned off much of the maritime activity.
North Side Bay Street between Brunswick Street and Caswell Avenue 2
N Motel: mid 20th c. Small one-story brick motel set back from the street.
South Side Bay Street between Brunswick Street and Caswell Avenue 3
1N Restaurant: C. 1975. One-story frame building used as a fish restaurant. Along with the hotel (2) above it is closely linked with the charter boat and other maritime activities along the old harbor (1).
North Side Bay Street between Caswell Avenue and Lord Street 4
P T. M. Thompson House: c. 1868.
Blockade-runner Thomas M.
Thompson built this two-story frame dwelling shortly after the Civil War.
Thompson was one of the few Southport native pilots to make a success out of this activity during the war. Most Southport pilots lost either their ships, their lives, or both.
The house features the last cupola to be found in a Southport dwelling.
Most of the interior-details have been removed'during a recent renovation.
The original plan consisted of four large rooms with a stair passage in the center.
5 C
Thompson-Loughlin House:
- c. 1900. A small cottage built by the Thompson family around the turn of the century.
The house originally had three rooms with a kitchen in the back connected by a breezeway.
6 C
H. Corlett House:
1889.
Originally a one-story frame house built for river pilot Harry Corlett.
The house was raised to two stories and the floor plan significantly changed about twenty years ago.
- 7 C
Rob Davis House:
mid 1930's. A two story frame house built for Rob Davis, a lawyer, sometime after 1934.
The hip roof and porch eaves display exposed rafters in the bungaloid style.
The
,,ited States Department of the Interior H.eritage Conservation and Recreation Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form For HCRS use onlyr.
received Late entered Page 2
Continuation sheet item number Site 4=
Key Description 7
C (Cont'd) porch is supported by clusters of posts articulated by block-like capitals. Although this is one of a half dozen bungaloid houses in Southport, the house plan retains the traditional center passage dividing two rooms on either side.
North Side Bay Street between Lord Street and Howe Street 8
9
'IA
$e, Ilq vWAn zl q6 X, I1,2 W "I 10 11 12 N
C, C :.1 C.
ST, C.
sr Wells House:
1952. A modern one-story house with many Wrightian elements incorporated in the design. A prevailing horizontality is emphasized by the low hip roof and boldly projecting cornice line. Vertical forms such as the stone shimney and two oak trees, which literally emerge through the roof,.add contrapuntal tension to an otherwise quiet design.
This house is the best example of modern design within the town.
- - tdkins-Dosher House
- c. 1892.
A small frame cottage constructed for E. H. Adkins' mother in 1892-3. Adkins was a river pilot.
In plan there were originally four small rooms.
A chimney, located on the partition wall warmed the two front rooms.
The mantels, like nearly all found in Southport, are of simple design and were fabricated at the local sash, blind, and door factory.
C
/
L. Pepper House:
last quarter 19th c.
River had this two-story frame house constructed in Details on the inside are typical of the type 19th century dwellings in Southport.
pilot Lewis Pepper the late 19th c.
found in all late C
R. Dosher House:
- c.
1892-3.
In the early 1890s merchant Richard Dosher purchased part of this lot from Charles Philbrick of Summer-ville, Mass., a speculator, and had this large two-story frame house built for himself. Dosher was also responsible for erecting a number of small cottages around town in the 1890s.
.Site of the Carolina House.
A mid 19th c. two-story boarding house was demolished in May, 1978 to make room for proposed brick condominiums. The Carolina House was one of the last ante-bellum boarding houses in Southport which was once filled with perhaps a half dozen.
South Side Bay Street between Lord Street and Howe Street 13 P
River Pilots Tower and Building:
early 1940s.
The present metal structure replaced an earlier wooden one near the site.
The tower served as a watch tower for river pilots.
When a ship was observed nearing the mouth of the Cape Fear River, the tower watchman would dispatch a pilot boat to aid the incoming ship in negotiating the dangerous entrance and channel.
The two-story frame building below it served as a center for pilots.
gted States Department of the Interior ecritage Conservation and Recreation Service ForHCRSuseonly iational Register of Historic Places jreceived inventory-Nomination Form edate"-
Continuation sheet Item number Page 3 site e Key Description
.14 N
Hotel:
mid 20th c. A small concrete block one-story motel which sits on the site of former fishing/commercial activity.
Hurricane Hazel destroyed most of the commercial buildings on the south side of Bay Street in 1954.
15 N
Restaurant:
mid 20th c. A seafood restaurant.
It is a one-story frame building.
16 P
Frying Pan Lightship: 20th c.
A lightship which once was anchored in the nearby Frying Pan shoals to guard against dangerous waters.
The lightship is a mid 20th c. example of traditional maritime con-nection of the town.
The ship is moored at the foot of Howe Street and offers a powerful focal point at the end of the vista of Howe Street.
North Side Bay Street between Howe Street and Davis Street
- 17 Park: A privately maintained park on a corner lot which was occupied in the early 20th c. by a two-story commercial building..
18 C
J. Thompson House:' C. 1905. A two-story frame house with a modified side passage plan.
The two-story porch posts are an unusual feature in Southport architecture.
The house was built for merchant James Thompson about 75 years ago.
19 C
Stevens-Taylor House:
late 19th c.
The plan, structural, and architectural details suggest that this one-story house dates from the last two decades of the 19th c. The front part of the house formerly had two rooms on either side of a center passageway.
Each of the four rooms was heated by fireplaces placed centrally along the partition walls separating the front and rear rooms. A small dining room wing was.located at the end of the center passageway. Beyond the dining-room was a breezeway which led to the detached kitchen.
This plan was popular with Southport builders during the great building boom of the late 19th c.
20 C
J. Adkins House:
last quarter 19th c. Originally a one-story "double cottage" as they were called, this house was identical to the Stevens-Taylor House (19) next door.
River pilot J. J. Adkins raised this house, except the front right room to two stories in 1900. On the inside the door and window architraves feature a slight curvature on top, a characteristic found in nearly all houses built between 1885 and 1905.
The high ceilings are covered with narrow beaded boards; and, the newel post of the open stringer stair is heavy and squat, both features of the millwork of the Southport Lumber Company.
a ted States Department of the. Interior eritage Conservation and Recreation Service plational Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form tFo 1-CS s~ only1 IreceIved I
S Jj.'
date entered Page Four Continuation sheet Item number Site #
Key Description 21 C
Robbins-Chadbourn House: c. 1910.
A two-story frame house.
The layout of the house was originally a side passage plan.
The treatment of the pedimented bay on the Bay Street facade is similar to several two-story structures built in Southport during the same decade.
Local carpenter A. J. Robbins built this house for Dr. W. M. Bryant who worked at the Cape Fear Quarantine station..
North Side Bay Street between Davis Street and Atlantic Avenue 22 P
Fort Johnston Officers Quarters: c. 1805-09. Overlooking the Cape Fear River, this brick structure was constructed in the early 19th c. to house officers in the Ft. Johnston complex.
It replaced an earlier wooden buildi A two-story center block is. flanked by one story wings on either side.
The main block originally supported a two-story porch or double piazza.
This porch was renewed several times in the 19th and 20th c. Twenty years age the present awkward two-story portico.
The brickwork of the fabric was laid in 1:3 bond.
Both the exterior brickwork and interior wood-work and plan have been altered a great deal.
The tight wing retains some late 19th c. woodwork. At one time the Southport library was housed in one of the wings.
However, today the entire building is used for its original purpose, quartering U.S. Army officers.
23
-R, U.S.O. Building: c. 1942.
A long, low, one-story frame building erected d
A..I{.
during World War II for entertainment purposes.
There is one large room with a fireplace at one end and a kitchen-canteen at the other end.
24t N
House:
mid 20th c. One-story frame residence.
25 c
Garcia-Pullan House: c. 1881, 1889, 1894.
In the early 1880's shipbuilder Emanuel Garcia built a small one-story four-room house at the foot of Rhett Street.
Charles H. Smith of Chicago purchased the house in 1889, reworked the interior, and added a'second story.
Five years later another Illinois speculator, J.A. Pullan bought the house and had it moved to the present site on Bay Street.
I 26 C
Grimes House:
last quarter 19th c. Two-story frame house which has been greatly altered in recent years.
27 P
Walker-Pike House: c. 1800-20.
A two and a half story frame house that may likely be the oldest surviving house in Southport.
The dwelling has a clipped gable roof pierced by three dormer windows on the front and back The two-story front porch replaced an earlier one.
The interior woodwork on the first floor is the mill-work variety found in late 19th c. Southpor houses. This remodelling of the first floor dates from 1889 when outside speculators J. A. Pullan and W. HI. Pyke from Chicago bought the house.
They left the second story and garret as they were so that it is on these
&4 ited States Department ot the.nterior
,critage Conservation and Recreation Service
[ForHCRSuseon National Register of Historic Places k;Ccvcd Inventory-Nomination Form dadeerterecd Continuation sheet Item number Page Five Site !
Key Description floors that the original wood and plaster work are found.
An early 19th c. lock patented by Carpenter & Co. is located on a door in the garret.
North Side Bay Street between Atlantic Avenue and Rhett Street 28 P
Brunswick Inn: c. 1859.
Once used as a hotel in the late l9th c., this large two-story frame building was built in 1859 for Thomas D. Meares on the site of the late 18th.c. summer house of Governor Benjamin Smith.
Unlike most Southport dwellings, the house has a deep brick basement.
The plan of the Brunswick Inn is "H" shaped with the long arms parallel to Bay Street.
An entrance lobby divides two spacious parlors on each side and opens into a room with a circular opening in the ceiling which allows the extension of a chandelier from the second story. The two front parlors feature a plaster cornice with robust moldings and finely-worked Italianate mantels.', In the early 1880's the residence was convert' into a resort hotel.
A two story addition was added to the rear of the original structure.
In its prime in the late 19th c, the Hotel Brunswicl catered to a lively clientele of travelling merchants and summer vacatior In 1905 the name was changed to the Brunswick Inn. About 7 years later part of the rear addition was removed to S. Davis Street and converted into a residence by Ax J. Robbins.
.29 N
House:
mid 20th c. One-story brick residence.
30 C
Frink-Cotten House: c. 1890.
A two-story frame house that has been severely altered on the inside during recent renovation.
.31%
N House: c. 1940.
One-story.frame residence.
South Side Bay Street between Atlantic Avenue and Rhett Street 32 N
House: mid 20th c. One-story frame residence.
33 C
Quarantine Office:
mid 1930's.
A two-story frame residence.
In order to prevent the inadvertent importation of dangerous diseases from ships that had visited foreign ports, a U. S. quarantine station was establishc after the Civil War and located on pilings in the middle of the Cape Fear River.
Around the turn of the century a two story building was erected on this site in Southport to maintain the routine affairs of the quarantine station.
The present structure which has been converted into a residence replaced the earlier one that burned in the 1930's.
'34 N
house:
mid 20th c. One-story frame residence.
cited States Department of the Interior A
g4eritage Conservation and Recreation Service 6For HCRS use onIy'I 'I National Register of Historic Places '
keied ;: ;.<2.:.y<t inventory-Nomination Form t eentered A...
t~
'i'
,ontinuation sheet Item number Page Six bite 0 Key Description 4orth Side Bay Street between Rhett Street and Kingsley Street 35 N
House: late 19th c./ 20th c. alterations. A two-story late 19th c.
house that has been bricked over.
36 C
Harper-Newbold House:
1901. A late 19th c. two-story frame house that a
was completely rebuilt in 1901 by pilot Tom Harper.
37 C
Lambeth House: early 20th c. A small one and a half story frame cottage.
38 P
Fort Johnston Hospital: c. 1852-1860.
This two-story residence once served as the hospital for Ft. Johnston.
The building was located on the western edge of the military reservation near the Officers Quarters (22 !
The exterior was originally sheathed with vertical boards and battens.
This siding still exists beneath'the modern siding.
The front room downstairs was used as a doctor's office; the room behind it was the steward's ro'om.
The area at the end of the side passage housed a small dispensary.
Upstairs was a'12-bed sick ward.
In 1889 the hospital was moved off the.reservation to the present site and converted into a residen' A one story bay was added to the left side of the house and two story addit was attached to the rikght side. A new one story porch was added at that time.
39 N
House: mid 20th c. One-story brick house set on a large shaded lot.
South Side Bay Street between Rhett Street and Kingsley Street 4N Caroon Crab Company: mid 20th c. A rambling one-story commercial building which jetties over the river.
North Side Moore Street between Brunswick Street and Caswell Avenue 41 N
House: mid 20th c. One-story frame residence.
42 N
House: mid 20th c. One-story frame residence.
43 C ^Iz Julius Weeks House: late 19th c., 1896.
In 1896 pilot Julius Weeks doubled the size of this frame dwelling by adding a second story.
The boxy proportions of the house are accentuated by the extremely shallow hip roof.
2.-0fr Brine res.iciice vv;44,a~li c-rn;cC :-,.pn evad lcikz; E.-5 t
44 C
House-early 20th c.
On r
rcstoidy p
vof.4frotAi 1,rc(6.
45 C
H. Ruark House: c. 1885-1900.
Probably built in the late 1880's or early 1890's, this one-story frame house was occupied at the turn of the century by Hanson Ruark a bartender.
The original plan of the house, known in the town during this period as a "double cottage" type, consiste.
d.States Department of the Interior l We conservation and Recreation Service For HCRS use only' 0ticnal Register of Historic Places '
receivect nventory-Nomination Form ate entered continuation sheet Item number Page Seven Bite /
Key Description of two rooms on each side of a central passageway.
These four rooms were heated by fireplaces placed axially between the front and back rooms.
In the 1920's the house received a new roof which altered the original appearance.
The front pf the new roof extends in an unbroken slope to cover the front porch.
Piers on brick bases support the roof.
46 C
House:
early 20th c. One-story frame residence.
South Side Moore Street between Brunswick Street and Caswell Avenue 47 N
House: mid 20th c. One-story brick residence.
48 1
House:. mid 20th c. Two-story frame house.
North Side Moore Street between Caswell Avenue and Lord Street 49 N1 House: mid 20th c. One-story brick residence.
50 N
House: mid 20th c. One-story brick residence.
51 N
House: mid 20th c. One-story brick residence.
South Side Moore Street between Caswell Avenue and Lord Street 52 N
House: mid 20th c. Two-story brick residence.
53 N
House: mid 20th c. One-story brick residence.
54 N
House: mid 1930's.
Two-story frame house.
North Side Moore Street between Lord Street and Howe Street.
55 C
W. Newton House: 1886.
In Nay 1886 two brothers, Julius and Walker Newton purchased portions of lots 34, 35 and 36.
On the corner lot Walker Newton erected this two-story frame dwelling.
The two-story bay in the front, one-story bay on the side and the rear extension were added in June 1895 when the house received numerous alterations and repai which were carried out by Henry Daniel, a local carpenter.
Interior architectural details are characteristic of late 19th c. Southport carpentry and mill work.
The dark stain of woodwork inside produces a handsome effect.
56 C
Julius New.:ton House: 1886.
This two-story frame residence built for Jul Newton is less refined in architectural detail than the house next door built at the same time for his younger brother Walker.
Both houses, the were of better quality than nost houses constructed in the late boom years of the 1880's in Southport.
These two river pilots were evidently successful in their profession. The Julius Newton House has paired
kited States Department of the Interior iHeritage Conservation and Recreation Service I For HCRS'U'Se only' National Register of Historic Places '.
. l inventory-Nomination Form daleentered; continuation sheet Item number Page Eight
- ite 1 Key Description windows with dog-earred arched architraves on the lower facade. THe motif was popular in the town in larger post Civil War dwellings.
57 C
S. Swain House: 1889. A one-story frame dwelling similar in plan and finish to several houses built during the 1890's in Southport. The house was built for Brunswick County planter Samuel Swain. A contemporary newspaper report observed that "Samuel P. Swain has completed a new and tasty cottage where he can enjoy city life when tired of his plantation."
This "tasty cottage" has a broken-bed pediment with frieze brackets and a lancet air vent on the front and side gables. The motif is repeated on a smaller scale on the front porch.
58 C
W. St. George House: c. 1885. River pilot William St. George had this two-story frame house constructed in the mid 1880's. About a decade later, a large two-story bay was added to the front, perhaps, in an effort to stylishly update this rather plain house.
As to be expected in houses of' this period, the interior finish is composed of narrow beaded boards in the ceiling and wainscoting.
The stairway has the characteristically heavy and squat newel post juxtaposed with finely tapered turned balusters.
.59 I
Bank: c. 1970. A modern one-story brick bank building, vaguely neo-colonia:
in style.
South Side Moore Street between Lord Street and Howe Street 60' Park: A heavily shaded park on the corner lot.
61 I
Bicentennial Building: mid 20th c. A garish one-story brick building with a false front.
62 N
Public Librarv: c. 1970. A one-story brick building.
63 I
Waccamaw Bank Building: c:.
1970-71. A two-story brick, glass and metal commercial building. Herbert McKim of the Wilmington firm of Ballard, McKim, and Sawyer was the principal architect.
Large brick sections with flat roofs rhythmically alternate with sloping metal canopies whose projecting eaves cover plate glass walls.
Most of the interior space is open two full stories to the roof. When viewed in the overall townscape the bank is something of an anomaly.
The scale of the building is out of proportion with the smaller commercial structures of the next block.
Its location at the intersection of the two main streets accentuates this discrepancy of scale.
North Side Moore Street between Howe Street and Davis Street 64 N
Drug Store: mid 20th c. One-story brick commercial building.
. ted States Department of the Interior 4eritage Conservation and Recreation Service rlorHCRS izseonl Rational Register of Historic Places received' Inventory-Nomination Form dattenr e d.
- ontinuation sheet Item number Page Nine site 1)
Key
-Description 65 C
Smith Building: c. 1920-25.
Two-story brick structure. The rich use of applied stone for pilasters and an elaborate entrance marks the building as being one of the few commercial structures built during the 1920's.
Such a display of ornament adds an interesting contrast to the earlier brick commercial buildings in this main business block.
66 C
Harper-Northrup Building:
- c. 1905.
This two-story brick building exemplifies the commercial architecture of Southport in the first decade of the 20th c. The facade has been given a smooth pressed-brick finish.
Side and back walls are laid in coarser brick with a 1:5 bond.
The arch of the cornice line is repeated in the arch above the center windows at the second story level.
The use of granite strips laid between every 10 to 14 brick courses on the facade is a feature common not only in South-port but appears in commercial buildings throughout the state.
67 N
Post Office: mid 20th c. A one-story brick building.
68 N
Store: mid 20th c. A small one-story brick commercial structure.
69 C
Hood Building: c. 1904.
One of the first brick commercial buildings in Southport, the Hood building stands on the site of an earlier frame commer building erected in 1889.
The present structure was erected by the Hood brothers for their wholesale business.
The facade of this two-story struc is laid with smooth machine-pressed bricks in a common bond.
Brick piers intersperced by strips rise along both sides of the facade.
The side and rear walls are dressed with rougher bricks in a 1:5 bond.
An exterior staircase along the right side has been removed. The lower part of the facade was altered in recent years as the building was converted into county offices.
South Side Moore Street between Howe Street and Davis Street 70 C.
Commercial Block: c. 1910.
This row of brick commercial buildings once stood a full two stories. Damaged by fire some fifteen to twenty years after they were built, the second story was removed.
71 C
Watson's Pharmacy: c. 1905.
This one story brick building replaced an older wooden drug store operated by D. I. Watson.
The brick treatment of the facade, side, and back walls is similar to the Harper-Northrup Building (66) and the Hood Building (69) on the same block.
The facade is laid with smooth bricks while the side and back walls are laid in a 1:7 bond.
The original interior with its pressed metal ceiling survived virtually unchanged until recently.
72 C
Bank of Soutlhport: c. 1904-05.
Two-story brick building with machine-pressed bricks on the facade.
The side and rear walls are constructed in rougher brick, 1:7 bond.
Window openings have segmental arches with stone sills.
The interior still has much of its original trim
,ted States Department of the Interior heritage Conservation and Recreation Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory-t4omination Form For HCRS use only received date entered
-Pe-Ten "
- a-S Page Ten Continuation sheet
' Item number Site #
Key Description 73 C
J. L. Wescott House: last quarter 19th c. J. L. Wescott, a dry goods merchant, had this two-story frame house built in the last quarter of the 19th c. In plan, style, and proportion, this house is similar to other late 19th c. dwellings built in Southport just prior to the great boom in the late 1880's. Very little of the original fabric remains.
In 1979 the house suffered a serious fire and stands to be demolished. The'plan of the'wescott House consists of three rooms.
A center passageway separates two front rooms.
74 C
Stevens-Taylor Building: Late 19th c. A long one-story frame structure that has had a variety of commercial uses.
In the late 19th c., E. B.
Stevens had his insurance and real estate business located here.
In the first half of the 20thjc., Ed Taylor had his prosperous law practice here.
75 N
Former Post Office Building: c. 1909.
Originally a one-story frame building con'structed to house the Post Office of Southport.
A back room and second story were added at a later date.
The entire'structure
'f ir has been unsympathetically renovated for commercial use in recent years.
76 C
E. B. Stevens House: mid 19th c. This two-story frame house may have been erected as early as the 1850's, although documentary and architectural evidence is inconclusive.
In the 1880's speculator E. B. Stevens purchased the house.
In 1894 the house underwent extensive alterations.
A two-story back wing was added at this time.
The interior has been el severely-altered in recent years to accommodate a law firm.
North Side Moore Street between Davis Street and Dry Street
.77 P
Former Brunswick County Court House: c. 1854. The present two-story brick structure is probably the second Court house on the site.
In the 1850's the old wooden court house was pulled down to make room for the present building. W. D. Morrell was the architect-builder.
The courthouse has suffered numerous repairs and alterations in the past 125 years.
In 1922 a one-story porch was added to the facade by A. J. Robbins.
Interior woodwork dates mainly from the period 1890-1920.
The building was covered with stucco when two wings, unsympathetic in character, were added in the 1960's.
In the summer of 1978 the functior of the structure was rendered superfluous with the opening of the new court house in Bolivia. The building now houses the city government.
78 P
Saint Philips Episcopal Church: c. 1860, 1894-96.
This frame church, situated across from Ft. Johnston on Court House Square, probably dates from the late 1850's. The congregation was organized by officers from the fort.
In April, 1860 the church was consecrated.
During the Civil War.the church was used as a hospital and as a school.
During
Cued States Department of the Interior heritage Conservation and Recreation Service For HCRS use only' National Register of Historic Places inventory-Nomination Form dateentered
,ontinuation sheet Item number Page Eleven ite I Key Description the 1890's the church underwent significant repairs.
In 1894 a tower was erected on the left side of the church.
A stain glass window was installed in the front of the church where the old doorway stood.
Two years later under the guidance of W. T. Ottoway, a local carpenter, the interior was renovated. Narrow beaded Carolina pine boards were arranged in diagonal patterns on the walls above the chair rail and in the ceiling. For a number of years the exterior was polychrome.
The pilasters on the front and the trim was painted a dark green color.
Aorth Side Moore Street between Dry Street and Atlantic Avenue 79 N
House: mid 20th c. One-story brick residence.
80 N
House: mid 20th c.. One-story frame residence.
81 N
House: mid 2.0th c.. Two-story brick residence.
82 N
House: mid 20th c. One-story brick residence.
South Side Moore Street between Davis qtreet and Atlantic Avenue 83 N
U. S. Army Officer Apartments: mid 20th c. One-story brick apartments for officers of Ft. Johnston.
84 C
Fargusson House: c. 1890.
This small one-story frame house was moved to the present site from the foot of Rhett Street in 1890.
Numerous alterations were made to it.
In 1894 a new kitchen depencency was added.
85 N
House: mid 20th c. One-story brick residence.
86 N
House: mid 20th c. One-story frame residence.
87 C
Ruark-Small House: c. 1885.
Small one-story frame house.
Typical late 19th c. Southport details
- 88 N
House: mid 20th c. One-story frame residence.
North Side Moore Street between Atlantic Avenue and Rhett Street 89 C
Foley-Hood House: late 19th c., c. 1910.
Once a small one-story cottage erected in the late 19th c., this frame house was greatly enlarged in the early part of this century to two full stories.
Mrs.
Amanda Foley purchased the small house in 1891.
Warren Hood, a member of the merchant familv of the same name (69), married into the Foley family in the 1890's.
Hood was responsible for enlarging the house.
the flaring gambrel roof that was added is unusual for Southport.
C eprtment of the Interior pervation and Recreation Service iFor HCRS use onl ',
I Register of Historic Places 'received.
.s j ory-No iniation Form
!date eAterid,".
ion sheet Item number Page Twelve me
.Ev x
Description 90 C
J. B. Ruark House: c. 1890. Prosperous merchant J. B. Ruark had this two-story frame house erected on the site of his older house. The older house was moved to the corner of Moore Street and Atlantic Avenue (87).
The narrow flared gable end of the house is turned toward the street.
The round-edge shingles in the gable, bracketed frieze, and bay window are typical Southport features of this period. The floor plan is the traditional side passage plan.
91 C
Drew-Platt House: last third 19th c., c. 1892. A small one-story frame house that was occupied by a rapid sucession of tenants in the late 19th c. In 1892, A. J. Robbins added the back rooms.
92 C
Bell-Clemmons House:.c. 1855.
Once used as a boarding house in the late 19th c., this unadorned two-story frame dwelling has had several additions and alterations made-to it in subsequent years.
The original floor plan may have been some form of the side passage plan.
The interior woodwork dates from various periods.
93 C
Carr House:
1903.
This two-story frame house was a dilapidated ruin before it was substantially rebuilt in 1903. The two-story back wing dates from this periods 94 N
House: mid 20th c. One-story frame residence.
South Side Moore Street between Atlantic Avenue and Rhett Street 95-N House: mid 20th c. Two-story frame residence.
96 C
John Ramseur House: c. 1938.
A small bungalow with two broad gables facing the street.
The house has overhanging eaves with exposed rafter ends.
Beams and other horizontal framing members project from under the gables.
This bungaloid feature is treated in a similar manner in the Willing House (203) on S. Lord Street.
97 N
House: mid 20th c. One-story frame residence.
North Side Moore Street east of Rhett Street 98 Graveyard:
from late 18th c.
South Side Moore Street east of Rhett Street 99 N
House: mid 20th c. One-story brick residence.
100 C
T. Harper Cottages: c. 1898-99. Two small cottages built for Captain Tom Harper in the late 1890's.
ited States Department of the lderior 14eritage Conservation and Recreation Service tForHCRSuseonty National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form r.at enteredw Continuation sheet Item number Page Thirteen Site I Key Description North Side Brunswick Street west of Short Street 101 C
Hudgins House: late 19th c. A two-story frame house built for the Hudgins family.
Paired brackets of the millwork variety appear beneath the shallow hip roof.
102 C
House: late 19th c.
Small one-story frame residence.
103 C1td John McKeithan House: c. 1895.
Built in the late 1890's this one-story frame house features many of the familiar carpentry details of the period.
The interior trim consists of the bowed door and window architraves and narrow beaded boards employed for wainscoting.
104 C
Moses McKeithan House: c. 1891.
One-story frame residence.
This house is a typical example of a house type popular in eastern North Carolina at the turn.of the century.
The "double cottage" plan has a double depth of rooms with a passageway running through the middle of the house.
The kitchen wing opens off the back of the passageway.
The architectural details are what are to be expected in Southport houses of this period:
narrow keaded boards, arched and bowed window and door architraves, turned porch posts, and simple mantels.
105 C
McKeithan-Ford House: c. 1900.
Moses McKeithan built this boxy two-story frame house for his son Fred McKeithan at the turn of the century. In 1917'the house was purchased by the Fords, the present owners.
North %tSide Brunswick Street between Short Street and Caswell Avenue 106 House: mid 20th c.
One-story frame residence.
107 N
House: mid 20th c'.
Small one-story frame residence.
108 it House: mid 20th c.
Small one-story frame residence.
109 C
M. Madigan House: c. 1891.
Boxy two-story frame house with a shallow hip roof.
The house has been altered in recent years.
The structure was built by Sergeant Michael Madigan, who was an active speculator in Southport real estate in the 1890's.
Largely through his efforts, the western part of the town was built up during the last decade of -
the 19th c.
110 C
Grey Burriss House: c. 1889.
The frame of this one-story house came from an older Methodist parsonage which was moved to Brunswick Street in 1889.
A room addition to the front and a kitchen wing were added shortly thereafter.
III C1 C
James Pearce House: c. 1877, 1893.
A one-story frame house connected
Cs Department of the Interior c onservation and Recreation Service For HCRS use'only'";
Pi al Register of Historic Places re.eived a tory-Nomination Form' 1inuation sheet Item number Page Fourteen Description to an older and smaller frame structure behind it. George Davis, a local builder, constructed-the more substantial and pretentious "double cottage" in front of the older one in 1893.
The interior of both parts of the house have the familiar attributes of architectural detail found in all houses of the 1885-1910 period.
112 Garrison-Potter House: last quarter 19th c. Similar in stylistic detail and plan as the J. L. Wescott House (73), this two-story dwelling has three rooms on the ground floor. A center stair passage once divided the two front rooms.
Interior trim is characteristic of the late 19th. c.
113 C
House: early 20th c. One-story frame residence.
114 C
House: early 20th c. One-story frame residence.
115 oYiu
_ 'e late 19th c. A two-story frame residence with characteristic architectural details.
116 N
T fuse: mid 20th c. One-story frame residence.
117 C
'd1ousei early 20th c. One-story frame house.
South Side Brunswick Street west of Caswell Avenue 118 C
House: late 19th c. Two-story frame residence.
119 N
House: mid 20th c. One-story frame residence.
120 C
W. S. Davis House: c. 1891. A small one-story frame cottage built for Will S. Davis a river pilot in 1891.
North Side Nash Street between Caswell Avenue and Lord Street 121 C
Henry Daniel House: c. 1889. Master carpenter Henry Daniel completed this small one-story frame cottage for his residence in early 1889.
Interior and exterior features are typical of the period and characteristic of the Daniel brothers' carpentry.
122 C.
J. N. Daniel House: c. 1892-93. Working between other jobs, carpenter J. N. Daniel finished this one-story frame house for himself in about a year. Normally, construction of a house of this size in Southport in the 1890's would have taken about 2-3 months.
Stylistic details include the Southport bowed architraves, lancet air vents in the gables, turned porch posts, simple mantels, and narrow headed boards.
123 C
House: late 19th c. One-story frame residence with typical finish and details.
-lt-.,-
2Jae Z tO w.. o C
- c.,C:jo lO v5C wvht dt Fp reet<: Wfe 47-.4. -Il;
g ates Department of the InteriL.
,e Conservation and Recreation Service Fo'HCRSusoonlyId otional Register of Historic Places recelved.>.
nventory-Nomination Form datebntered:;.
Continuation sheet item number Page Fifteen Site L Key Description 124 C
J. A. Williams House: last third 19th c., 1890. A rambling one-story frame house probably built in the 1880's for river pilot J. A. Williams.
In 1890 an addition was made to the side of the dwelling facing Lord Street. A kitchen and dining room wing was built for Williams by Henry Daniel.
South Side Nash Street between Caswell Avenue and Lord Street
.125 N
House: early 20th c. A two-story house that was bricked over in the past 15 years.
126 N
House: mid 20th c. One-story brick residence.
North Side Nash Street between Lord Street and Howe Street 127 C
Richard Bensdly House: mid 1880's, 1890. A small one-story frame house built for a river pilot.
In 1890 a kitchen was added to the back of the house.
128 C dHouse: early 20th c. One-story frame residence.
129 C
James Burriss House: c. 1891.
Like so many residences in Southport, this two-story frame residence replaced a smaller, earlier dwelling on the site.
The side passage plan and finish of the house is similar to the J. B. Ruark House (90) which was erected a year earlier.
130-C Newton-Daniel House: c. 1901-03. When purchased by builders A. J. Robbirns and Joseph N. Daniel in 1901 from river pilot John R. Newton Sr., this late 19th c. house was thoroughly renovated and enlarged to two stories.
Unaltered since 1903, the house exemplifies the handiwork of Robbins and Daniel, the two most active carpenter-builders in Southport at the turn of the century.
The stylistic details of the renovated house reflect the popularity of the classical revival in Southport in this period.
Gone are the steeply-pitched roofs, the heavy cornice, the frieze brackets, and the intricately-turned porch posts associated with late l9th c. Victorian Gothic millwork.
Instead Robbins and Daniel employed modillions beneath the cornice and tapered columns for porch supports.
On the inside, they made extravagant use of the narrow beaded, boards
-for wainscoting.
Characteristic of the new detailing for Southport is the treatment of the door and window architraves and mantels.
The architraves have corner blocks decorated with incised circular patterns, a treatment found thirty years earlier elsewhere in N.C.
Much of the interior woodwork retains its highly polished finish.
131 C
Robbins-Gause House: late 1890's.
A small house on this site was enlarged to two full stories by A. J. Robbins for his residence in the 1890's.
Bays heave been added to both sides of this franc residence.
The architectural details found in the house are in keeping with the perf-
nited States Department of the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service For HCRS use only
National Register of Historic Places received..'-,.'.'*
Inventory-Nomination Form
- ontinuation sheet Item number Page Sixteen Site (/
Kev Description
- outh Side Nash Street between Lord Street and Howe Street 132 N
House: mid 20th c. One-story brick residence.
133 C
Garcia-Swan House: 1889.
Emanuel Garcia, a skilled ship carpenter, who had settled in Southport in the early 1880's, had this small frame cottage built in 1889.
In 1893 Henry Swan bought the house and employed Henry and J. N. Daniel to double the size of the house by building an addition to the right side of the original structure.
134 C
Daniel Bender House: 1895.
In 1895, A. J. Robbins built this two-story cross-gable house for -Daniel Bender.
It was identical in plan and stylistic detail to the E. H. Cranmer House (263) built by A. J. Robbins earlier that year.
.135 I
Bank: mid 20th c. A one-story brick savings and loan.
North Side Nash Street between Howe Street and Atlantic Avenue
.136 I
Fire/Police Station: mid 20th c. One-story brick municipal building.
b 137 I
Rescue Quarters: 1978.
One-story brick building.
138 P
Masonic Lodge: late 19th c. Excellent example of late 19th c. architecture of this fraternal order in N.C.
The most significant change to the two-story frame building has been the addition of the two-story pedimented porc-in the decade preceding the First World War.
Originally there was a simple one story entrance porch.
The interior details date from the late 19th c. except some modern panelling which covered much of the earlier work.
The pressed metal ceiling is similar to one found in the W. Newton House (55).
The building has been used for a variety of purposes besides housing the Masons.
In the late 19th c. it served as a school.
During W.W. I, the Army-Navy Club was located here.
139 P 7, Trinity Methodist Church:
1888-1890.
Set in a spacious surrounding this late 19th c. frame church is the best testament to the imagination and competent skills of native Southport carpenter-builders, working in the Victorian Gothic.
A squat bell-tower sits atop the shingled roof.
Non-structural buttresses decorate the nave walls and transcept.
Mssrs. Fore and Foster of Wilmington designed and made the stain glass for the lancet windows.
Highly polished Carolina pine was employed.
on the interior.
Above the wainscoting, the narrow beaded boards are set diagonally and extend the full height of the walls.
The ceiling is also covered with narrow beaded boards set in chevron patterns.
Henry Daniel directed the construction of the church over a two year period.
The cost of the church was estimated to be $3,300.
An unsympathetic educational wing of brick was added to the back of the church in the 1960s.
.J ited States Department of the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form For HCRS use oniyi recelved Ldate entered.
Page Seventeen Continuation sheet Item number Site #
Key Description South Side Nash Street between Howe Street and Davis Street 140 I
Grocery Store: mid 20th c. One-story brick commercial building.
141 C
S. W. Lehew House: 1894.
Originally a one-story dwelling with six rooms, this frame house was raised to two stories about thirty years after it was built.
The original house was built by local carpenter George Davis and was similar in appearance to the W. S. Davis House (120).
South Side Nash Street between Dry Street and Atlantic Avenue
.142 I
New Post Office: 1980. An unsympathetic brick post office under construction 1979-80.
North Side Nash Street between Atlantic Avenue and Rhett Street 143 C
House: early 20th c. One-story frame residence.
144 C 3_. t brnmer Methodist Parsonage: c. 1889.
One-story frame structure which was moved two blocks from'its original site next to the Methodist Church.
The structure is now used as a residence. Many late 19th c. stylistic details are evident.
145 C
Building: early 20th c. A small one-story frame structure which was used for a number of family businesses.
146't N
House: mid 20th c. One-story frame residence.
South Side Nash Street between Atlantic Avenue and Rhett. Street 147 C
House: early 20th c. One-story frame residence.
148 C
House: early 20th c. One-story frame residence.
149 N
Building: mid 20th c. One-story block structure used for neighborhood grocery at one time.
150 C
Former Jail: 1904.
Two-story brick structure laid in 1:6 bond.
It was the county jail from 1904 until 1971 when it was replaced by a one-story brick building behind it.
North Side of West Street west of Clarendon Street 151 N
louse: mid 20th c. One-story frame residence.
152 N
House: mid 20th c. One-story frame residence.
k4 ted States Department of the Interior 54critage Conservation and Recreation Service
,For HCRS useonly raational Register of Historic Places jr eci inventory-Nomination Form
,date entered
..4 Zontinuation sheet Item number Page Eighteen Uite f Key Description 153 C
Pack Tharp House: 1894.
One-story frame residence with the gable end Isa-
- c.
facing West Street.
John Cox built this house for Pack Tharp, the
- Ie3n.ic4p V.
- Ae74 7iearber in Southport at the turn of the century.
.r-kes~.sekst Itq W bvelt 6t 154 C
Charlie Swan House: 1911.
A two-story frame house built for lighthouse keeper Charlie Swan by Ernest Burriss.
155 C
Rob Woodside House: c. 1905.
Originally a one-story frame house that was raised to two stories.
156 C
House: c. 1905. Two-story frame house.
3outh Side West Street west of Short Street 157 C
Joseph Burriss House: 1892.
One-story fram'e residence built by George Davis.
.158 N
IHouse: mid 20th c.
Small one-story frame residence.
North Side West Street between Clarendon Street and Caswell Avenue 159 C
""Charles Almgreen House: c. 1906-1912.
Large two-story frame dwelling.
The plan consists of four large rooms with a stair foyer in the front of the center passageway.
160 C
Houses'c. 1900.
One-story frame residence with turn of the century stylistic details.
161 C
House: c. 1900. One-story frame residence with turn of the century stylistic details.
162 C
John Newton House: 1905.
A well-designed two-story frame house set libn a pleasant tree-shaded lot. When completed in 1905 the plan consisted of two large rooms and a side stair passage. About two or three years later, a spacious two-story wing was added to the right side.
Interior details throughout the house include narrow beaded boards used for wainscoting and ceilings, the Southport bow at the top of the door and window architraves, and attenuated balusters with an awkward heavy newel post.
South Side West Street between Short Street and Caswell Avenue 163 C
George Davis House:
1891.
George Davis built many houses in western part of Southport in the 1890's.
In 1891 he built this plain one-story frame house for his own residence.
164 N
House: mid 20th c.
One-story brick residence.
- ils-78) inited States Department of the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form F HCRS use only I y received late entered Page Nineteen Continuation sheet Item number Site #
Key A A Description 165 N
Church: mid 20th c. A early 20th c. frame church as been replaced by a modern brick structure.
North Side West Street between Caswell Avenue and Lord Street 166 C
George Dosher House: 1890. A one-story frame house whose plan and simple architectural treatment make it one of a dozen small cottages of similar design built in the 1890's.
The main part of these houses contain four rooms with a small kitchen and dining wing usually attached to the rear.
167 C
Wade Ruark House: 1889.
A 'very small unadorned cottage built for Wade Ruark, a fisherman, in 1889.
The original plan consisted of two rooms on each side of a central passage.
168 C
Asa Dosher Mouse: late 1890's. A large two-story frame house which once featured interesting shingle designs and sawn work on the exterior.
The house was designed by W. T. Ottoway, the carpenter-builder who lived next door to Asa Dosher.
169 C
House: mid 1930's. A one-story residence with bungaloid features.
North Side West Street between Lord Street and Howe Street 170 C j4'1MJames Pinner House: c. 1890.
Small one-story frame cottage with many W%
stylistic details used by Southport builders in the 1885-1905 period of expansion.
The house was built for James Pinner, a waterman who worked at the river docks.
171 C
House: early 20th c.
One-story frame residence.
172 C
House: early 20th c. One-story frame residence.
173 C
House: early 20th c. One-story frame residence.
South Side West Street between Lord Street and Howe Street
-174 C lt.Henry Mintz House: 1904. A. J. Robbins built this two-story frame house for Henry Mintz, a member of the life saving station at Oak Island. The porch has been renewed.
Other changes have been made to the dwelling.
175 N
House: mid 20th c.
Two-story frame residence.
.176 1 N House: mid 20th c.. One-story frame residence.
United States Department of the Interior
$eritage Conservation and Recreation Service Fot HCRSuseoniy'
- -::'1-National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form Continuation sheet Item'number Page Twenty Site Key Description North Side West Street between Dry Street and College Street 177 C
Nathan Windsor House: 1890. A one-story frame house with an interesting floor plan.
The house was built for Nathan Windsor, a steam boat engineer. The plan is "T" shaped with a large room with a bay window projecting toward E. IWest St.
Across the back of the house, a breezeway has been enclosed to connect the main part of the house with a kitchen of uncertain date.
Interior finish includes the Southport bow on the door and window architraves, high baseboards, and hardware common to the period.
The two porches have been rebuilt, probably in the 1920's or 1930's.
4orth Side West Street between College Street and Atlantic Avenue
'178 N
House: mid 20th c. One-story frame residence.
South Side West Street between Howe Street and Atlantic Avenue 179 Park: Large municipal park filled with large trees, walks, and azaleas.
180 C
Public Building: 1904.
Erected in 1904 as a public school building, this two-story frame building was used in recent years. The building originally had a small one-story porch.
The center block once was covered by a hip roof and topped by a cupola.
Moses McKeithan, a Southport Carpenter, was the builder-contractor for the project.
.l81l I
Gymnasium:
mid 20th c. Two-story brick structure.
lorth Side West Street between Atlantic Avenue and Rhett Street
.182 C
W. R. Ferguson House: Early 1870's, 1895. The late 19th c. home of W. R. Ferguson, a Methodist minister and sometime Southport postmaster, this rather small two-story frame house was probably built in the early 1870's.
The most notable feature of the house is the single stepped-shoulder chimney of irregular bond.
In 1895 the house was thoroughly renovated.
183 C
Lewis-Walton House: early 1890's. This one and a half story frame house was built in the early 1890's for Robert Lewis, a fisherman.
The plan of tI.
house initially had four rooms divided by a center passageway.
184 C t aouse: early 20th c. One-story frame residence.
South Side West Street between Atlantic Avenue and Rhett Street 185 I
Mobile Home: c. 1970.
The only mobile home in the original town limits.
186 C
C. McKeirhqn 1uloin'n v
_o1...An A.A......
Ztted States Department of the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service IMational Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form For HCRS use only g
received one date entered Page Twenty-one 7ontinuation sheet Item number Site I$
Kev Description dwelling. The irregular massing, curved porch line and multiple roof lines produce something of a Queen Anne flavor to the overall composition.
Although the interior was renovated about thirty years ago, the exterior details are within the local building tradition.
The house was built by the prolific local carpenter A. J. Robbins for C. C. McKeithan.
187 188 I ;
vans-McKenzie House: c. 1890; A small one-story frame cottage.
N House: mid 20th c. One-story frame residence.
West Side Caswell Avenue between Moore Street and Brunswick Street I
189 190 C '
House: c. 1900.
Two-story frame house with stylistic details of the perio-C
'J;;ohn Burriss House: c. 1890.
Two-story frame house with a side passage plan.
It is similar to the J. B. Ruark (90) and James Burriss (129) houses.
East Side
.191 192 Caswell Avenue between Moore Street and Nash Street CV.,
House: c. 1900.
Two-story frame residence.
C :-
'S. Brinkman House: 1893, 1895.
Originally a one-story frame residence.
Two years later Samuel Brinkman added a second story.
It has a side passage plan.
C Sterling Craig House: mid 1880's.
One-story frame residence.
West Side Caswell Avenue between Brunswick Street and West Street
- 194 C Zo,1louse: c. 1900.
Two-story frame' residence with typical stylistic details of the period.
195 C-' 1'Price.Furpless House: 1912.
Two-story frame residence built by builder and mayor Price Furpless.
The pedimented gable, dentil band, and porch columns offer evidence that Colonial Revival stylistic details were filtering into the Southport builder's repetoire by 1910. Wainscoting in the front room consists of an unusual board and batten style.
196 C a Woodside-Bryant House: 1923.
Rob Woodside, a Southport carpenter active in the early part of this century, constructed this two-story frame house for his residence in 1923.
.197 N
House: mid 20th c. One-story frame residence.
198 C.3i Hlouse:..AJ 24th Two-story frame residence.
i4. Cf,
ied States Department of the Interior
- tage Conservation and Recreation Service fjational Register of Historic Places inventory-Nomination Form 7
For HCRS use only received date entered Page Twenty-two
'ontinuation sheet
- ite V Key Item number Description
- 19.. 0
.199 Ct
?
House:
Ed 4no4, c, One-story frame residence.
200)
C20 Northrup House: c. 1910.
A two-story frame residence that strongly resembled the now altered Jelks House on Howe Street.
The most interesting feature of the house is the angular two-story porch.
last Side Caswell Avenue between Nash Street and West Street 201 C
Former Store:
early 20th c. One-story frame commercial building that
- ?-.
-,,Mas formerly used as a store.
- 202 NI Catholic Church: mid 20th c. Brick church.
4est Side Lord Street between Bay Street and Moore Street L, 203 N
Willing House: mid 1930's.
One of the few bungaloid houses built in Southport in'the early 20th c. 'The eaves treatment is similar to that of the Ramseur'House (96).
West Side Lord Street between Moore Street and Nash Street
- 204 205 206 ICXI. Boue: early 20th c. Small one-story frame residence.
C House: early 20th c. Small one-story frame residence.
C T. St. George House: 1894-95. Two-story frame residence with irregular massing of small wings.
The house was designed and built by W. T.
Ottoway.
207 P
Adkins-Ruark House: 1890.
Two-story, multi-gabled, house similar to the M. Craig House (208) built the previous year.
The Adkins-Ruark House, though, is more elaborate in scale and ornament. Machine-cut brackets are paired beneath the cornice.
Lancet windows are surrounded by round-edge shingles in the gables.
The two porches along with the bay windows repeat the ornamental motifs of the gables thus giving the irregularly-shaped house a cohesive appearance.
The interior woodwork consists of narrow machine-cut beaded boards set diagonally for wainscoting or used for ceiling over the bays. The door and window architraves arch slightly and bow out at the sides.
E. H. Adkins, a river pilot, had the house built in 1890.
His grandson was Robert Ruark (1915-1965), a popular journalist and author.
Ruark spent much of his childhood in this house and often returned here in later years. The Old Man and the Boy is a personal account of his boyhood years in the Southport area.
Many of Ruark's other books dealt with African themes, among them, Uhuru and Something of Value.
}Jnited States Department of the Interior fheritage Conservation and Recreation Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form F For HCRS use only IrecelYvd'.-
4 dtentered tw y-Thre
-Page Twenty-Three Continuation sheet Item number Site #
Key Description East Side Lord Street between Moore Street and Nash Street 208 C
Melvin Craig House: 1889.
A two-story frame house with steep front and side gables which flare out slightly above the cornice.
The broken cornice projects boldly above the second story.
The porch is supported by turned posts of a design and style popular in Southport at the period of its greatest growth.
Built for Melvin Craig, a river pilot, the house served as a prototype for the more ambitious Adkins-Ruark House (207.)
across the street.
209 C
Richard Dosher House: 1889.
A one-story frame house described by a contemporary source as a "double cottage".
The house was built for Richard Dosher, Sr., a "retired pilot and capitalist."
In plan the house is characteristic of'many "double cottages" built in the 1890's.
A narrow passage divided the house.
On either side were two rooms, each with its own fireplace.
At the rear of the house, a covered breezeway cGnnects the house with a semi-detached kitchen.
The architectur details inside'and out are typical of late 19th c. Southport.
West Side Lord Street between Nash Street and West Street 210 C
B. F. Newton House: mid 1880's.
Small one-story frame residence. In 1891 the house was moved further south on the lot and a new roof was added.
211 C
Newton-McKeithan House: 1891. When the house next door was moved 25 feet south,' B. F. Newton has this one-story frame residence built on the vacant lot.
With the gable end turned toward the street, the house is a familiar type constructed in Southport in the 1890's.
'212 N
House: mid 20th c. One-story frame residence.
213 C
W. T. Haskitt House: 1891.
One-story frame dwelling similar in design to several houses built in the 1890's throughout the town.
A broad low gable faces the street. A bay window extends out from the facade and a later front *porch cuts through this bay extension. The interior has been recently renovated.
East Side Lord Street between Nash Street and West Street
- 214 C
House: c. 1904.
A long and broad house built about 1904.
The attic area has been made usable by the insertion of a double window in the gable end facing the street and by the incorporation of a dormer window on the right side.
215 C
Joseph Bell House: 1890.
An undistinguished two-story house with a shallow hip roof.
The dwelling has a traditional side passage plan.
A two-storv wing was added to the left side of the dwelling at a much
United States Department of the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form For HCRS use only received date entered Page Twenty-four Coniinuation sheet Item number Site #
Kev Description later date.
Joseph Bell, a prominent merchant had the house erected in 1890.
216
- 217 C
Newton-Pinner House: c. 1895. One-story "L"-shaped cottage erected in the mid 1890's.
In shape and plan the house resembles the now demolished T. Jones House (1893).
N House: late 19th c. One-story late 19th c. dwelling that was encased in brick about ten years ago.
test Side 218 Howe Street between Bay Street and Moore Street tic la c 1.
o raiuc.
190 e
C
'House: c. 1930.
Two-story frame residence.
219 C
Calloway House: c. 1895.
In plan, two'heated rooms other side of the passage One-story frame residence built in the mid-1890's.
flank a passageway. A one room wing on the gives the overall plan an "L" shape.
- East Side Howe Street between Bay Street and Moore Street
- 220 N
Church: mid 20th c. Small one-story brick church.
221 N
Gause Building: c. 1915.
Although an awkward modern front has replaced the original facade, this two-story brick building must have appeared similar to early 20th c. brick commercial buildings on E. Moore St.
V The side and rear walls are laid in 1:6 bond.
-222
-223 N
Bar: mid 20th c. One-story frame commercial building.
N Newspaper Office: mid 20th c. One-story brick commercial building..
Home of the local newspaper.
West Side Howe Street between Moore Street and Nash Street 224 N
Former AMUZU Theatre: c. 1912.
A long narrow one-story, frame building which housed the first movie theatre in Southport. A modern facade has changed the original appearance.
225 C
AMUZU Theatre: 1918. A brick two-story building with a cast metal cornice and brackets. Walls laid 1:6 bond.
The theatre is still under the same management as when it opened.
226 C
C. G. Ruark Store: c. 1900.
Two-story frame commercial building constructe at the turn of the century.
Used now as an antique shop, it was once C. G. Ruark's dry goods store.
1,'nited States Department of the Interior heritage Conservation and Recreation Service For HCRSuse oniy'-
National Register of Historic Places receivec *.-
Inventory-Nomination Form Edateniered Continuation sheet Item number Page Twenty-five Site f Key Description East Side Howe Street between Moore Street and Nash Street 227 I
Government Building: mid 20th'c. One-story modern metal building.
228 N
Law Office: mid 20th c. Small one-story brick office building.
'229 N
Office Building: mid 20th c. Two-story brick office building.
West Side Howe Street between Nash Street and West Street
- 230 C
House: c. 1900.
Two-story frame residence.
231 I
Bank: mid 20th c. One-story brick building.
East Side Howe Street betweeui Nash Street and West Street 232 N
Southport Baptist Church: 1871.
The frame of the 1871 wooden church lies beneath a modern brick veneer.
The 1871 frame church building was constructed by George Baxter and faced on Nash Street. Much of the interior woodwork dates from the late 19th c. In the 1920's the church was turned'90 degrees to front on Howe Street and twenty years later a brick exterior was applied. About ten years ago the remnants of the steeple structure were removed and the present porch installed.
West Side Davis Street between Bay Street and Moore Street 233 C
Brunswick Inn Annex: 1882, 1912.
When the Meares residence on E. Bay Street was converted into the Hotel Brunswick in 1882, a two-story annex was added to the rear of the building.
The annex may have been designed by architect J. H. Vaughan.
In 1912 the annex was removed from the site.
Part of the addition was removed to the present site and rebuilt by A. J. Robbins.
A two-story bay was added to the front facing Davis Street.
The interior woodwork dates from the 1912 remodellin West Davis Street between Moore Street and Nash Street
'234 N
Office Building: mid 20th c. One-story brick law office.
235 C
R. Dosher Cottages: 1896.
Richard Dosher had these two one-story frame cottages erected on courthouse square. A. J. Robbins was the builder.
.The plan is typical of Southport cottages -
a double depth of rooms on either side of a center passageway.
236 C
R. W. McKeithan House: 1894.
Nearly a mirror image of the Thomas Carr House (238), this building was constructed by Samuel S. Drew for R. W. McKeithan in 1894.
Although the exterior has been shingled, covering the sawn work of the late 19th c., much of interior woodwork
United States Department of the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service National Register of Historic Places' Inventory-Nomination Form Idateentered Continuation sheet Item number Page Twenty-six Site #
Key Description has survived.
Wainscoting consists of narrow beaded boards set diagonally. Door and window architraves have the ubiquitous arched and bowed appearance. Mantels are squat and bulky.
In plan two small rooms are divided from a larger one by a center passage.
East Side Dry Street between Moore Street and Nash Street 237 C
Guthrie House: 1886.
Small one-s!ory dwelling built for It.
C. Guthrie a dry goods merchant. Notable ft' tures on the exterior are the decorative jigsawn barge boards on the three gables.
In plan the house originally consisted of four rooms arranged in a cross plan, the largest room being parallel to the street and opening into the other three rooms.
In 1892 a porch and kitchen wing were added. Eight years later another room with a bay window was added to the south.
Interior woodwork is typical of the period.
238 C
Thomas Carr house: 1893. A one and a half frame dwelling of interesting design and architectural features.
It was designed and erected by W. T. Ottoway for Thomas Carr and the immediate source for the R. W.
McKeithan house (236) erected the next year.
The side gables feature sun-burst patterns of 'narrow boards set diagonally against the gables.
The front gables are also decoratively trimmed. The interior was remodelled about fifteen years ago.
West Side Atlantic Avenue between Bay Street and Moore Street
- 239+
N House: mid 20th c. One-story block residence.
.240 N
House: mid 20th c. One-story frame residence.
East Side Atlantic Avenue between Bay Street and Moore Street
.241 N
House: mid 20th c. One-story frame residence.
242 N
House: mid 20th c. Two-story frame residence.
243 N
House: mid 20th c. One-story frame residence.
West Side Atlantic Avenue between Moore Street and Nash Street Sn,; )"
244 C
- C. G. Cot'age: c. 1890. A one-story cottage with a kitchen and dining room addition of 1894.
In plan a double depth of rooms are divided in the center by a passageway.
Interior details are in keeping with the period.
245 C
House: early 20th c. Small one-story cottage with turn of the century details.
r LInited States Department of the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form XFor HCRS use only`,;
e..
Lreceived
- date entered '
Page Twenty-seven Continruation sheet Item number Site #
Kev Description 246 C ' Ilouse: last quarter 19th c. Two-story frame residence with late 19th c., stylistic details. The plan features a double depth of rooms with a center passageway which leads to a former breezeway and kitchen wing at the back of the house.
East Side Atlantic Avenue between Moore Street and Nash Street 247 248 C
N1. Davis House:
- c. 1889.
Two-story frame residence which was moved from its original site on E. Moore St. in the early 20th c. The original plan consisted of a side passage with two rooms.
C Foley Cottage: 1891. A one-story house erected by Henry Smith for Mrs. Amanda Foley in 1891.
The basic design resembles the Smith Cottage (244) across the street.
A' third gable placed centrally on the facade, a feature common'to North Carolina houses of the period, has a lancet air vent surrounded by pointed shingles.
Despite the steep pitch of the roof, the upstairs space of the house was rendered useless for the lack of windows.
- 249 250 C
House: c. 1905.
A. J. Robbins.
One-story frame cottage with'a hip roof.
Built by b
C House: c. 1905.
Cottage identical to the one next door (249).
by Robbins at same time as several others on Atlantic Avenue.
Constructed West Side 251 Atlantic Avenue between Nash Street and West Street N
Building: mid 20th c. Small one-story block structure.
East Side Atlantic Avenue between Nash Street and West Street
.252 N
House: mid 20th c. Two-story frame residence.
253 N
House: mid 20th c. One-story frame residence.
254 C
Hubbard House: c. 1850's; 1890.
Perhaps the rear wing of the Ft.
Johnston Hospital or some other frame building from the military reservation, this small frame cottage was moved to its present location in 1890 and converted into a private residence.
Two back rooms were added at this time.
The new addition was covered like the front with vertical boards and weathering strips.
West Side Atlantic Avenue between West Street and Brown Street 255 N
House: mid 20th c. One-story frame residence.
'256 N
House: mid 20th c.
One-story frame residence.
dnited States Department of the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form
'For HCRS use only' recelved S..
date entered'..
Page Twenty-eight continuation sheet Item number Site 0 Key Description
.257
'258 259 N
House: mid 20th c. One-story frame residence.
N House: mid 20th1 c. One-story brick residence.
P A. E. Stevens House: 1894.
A two and a half story frame house of exceptional design.
Completed by builder A. E. Stevens as his family residence, the house features an extremely steep pitch and a bold uniterrupted sweep of the roof line.
At the second story level, a gabled projection is corbeled out about three feet.
Two pendants decorate this overhang. Although the interior has been slightly remodeled, much original woodwork survives.
Door architraves feature millwork corner blocks with rosettes.
Ground floorrooms have a broad cornice consisting of the ubiquitous narrow beaded boards set diagonally.
-This mill-cut board is also used on the first and second floors' ceilings in chevron and diagonal patterns. A few of the smaller windows have
-diamond paned stained glass.
The house in design, stylistic imagination, and craftsmanship, is, perhaps the highest achievement in domestic architecture 'in Southport during its most active period, 1885-1910.
East Side Atlantic-Avenue between West Street and Brown Street 260 C
Larsen House: c. 1905.
Carpenter A. J. Robbins constructed this one-story frame cottage along with four other houses along Atlantic Avenue as 2LcA C
speculative housing.
In plan there is a double depth of rooms divided II_"- 4i6.4{G9#y a central passageway. A fifth room, a kitchen, is attached to the back of one of the rear rooms.
.261 C ijr CHouse: c. 1905.
One-story frame residence identical to the one next door (260) and two further down the street (249 and 250).
262 C ' T. Fulcher House: 1892.
gable end turned toward is similar to the J. B.
Burriss (190) houses.
An unadorned. two-story frame residence with its the street.
In stylistic detail and plan it Ruark (90), James Burriss (129), and John 263 C
E. H. Cranmer House: 1895.
A one and a half-story frame residence built by A. J. Robbins for E. H. Cranmer in 1895.
In plan and stylistic details the house is similar to the Samuel Swain House (57) and identical to the D. Bender House (134).
The Cranmer House has large paired windows in its three gables thus making the half story an inhabitable space 264 C
James Price House: 1890. A plain one-story frame residence. The plan has four rooms, two rooms on each side of a center passage.
West Side Rhett Street between Bay Street and Moore Street
-265 N
House: mid 20th c. One-story frame residence.
'I-v ARCQ (11-78) ited States Department of the Interior
- ritage Conservation and Recreation Service ational Register of Historic Places ventory-Nomination Form FForf HCRS use only received
',^
, i' date'entered4 a,
L Page Twenty-nine
-itinuation
-e #
266 st Side 267 st Side 268 sheet Item number Key Description N
House: mid 20th c. One-story frame: residence.
Rhett Street between Moore Street and Nash Street N
House: mid 20th c. One-story block house.
-r Rhett Street between Nash Street and West Street C
aouse: early 20th c. Derelict two-story frame residence with many turn of the century stylistic features.
N House: mid 20th c. One-story'frame residence.
269