This report was written on July 5, 1985

1. Name and location of the property: The property known as the R. C. Biberstein House is located at 1600 Elizabeth Avenue, Charlotte, North Carolina.

2. Name, address and telephone number of the present owner of the property:
R. C. Biberstein Estate
c/o Ms. Susan Causey
Trust Department
Wachovia Bank & Trust Co.
Box 31608
Charlotte, N.C., 28231

Telephone: 704/378-5084

3. Representative photographs of the property: This report contains representative photographs of the property.

4. A map depicting the location of the property: This report contains a map which depicts the location of the property.

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5. Current Deed Book Reference to the property: The most recent deed to this property is recorded in Deed Book 200, Page 185. The Tax Parcel Number of the property is 125-111-21.

6. A brief historical sketch of the property: This report contains a brief historical sketch of the property prepared by Dr. William H. Huffman, Ph.D.

7. A brief architectural description of the property: This report contains a brief architectural description of the property prepared by Ms. Lisa A. Stamper.

8. Documentation of why and in what ways the property meets the criteria set forth in N.C.G.S. 160A-399.4:

a. Special significance in terms of its history, architecture and/or cultural importance: The Commission judges that the property known as the R. C. Biberstein House does possess special significance in terms of Charlotte-Mecklenburg. The Commission bases its judgment on the following considerations: 1) R. C. Biberstein (1859-1931), the designer and initial owner of the house, was a prominent mill architect during the era when Charlotte occupied a place of growing importance in the textile industry of the South; 2) the R. C. Biberstein House, an impressive example of the Rectilinear Style of architecture in Charlotte, is one of the few surviving residences on a once-grand suburban boulevard in Elizabeth, one of Charlotte oldest streetcar suburbs; and 3) the R. C. Biberstein House occupies a significant place in the streetscape of Elizabeth Avenue.

b. Integrity of design, setting, workmanship, materials, feeling, and/or association: The Commission contends that the attached architectural description by Ms. Lisa A. Stamper demonstrates that the exterior of the R. C. Biberstein House meets this criterion. It should be noted that Ms. Stamper could not gain access to the interior of the house. Consequently, a careful assessment of the architectural integrity of the interior could not be performed.

9. Ad Valorem Tax Appraisal: The Commission is aware that designation would allow the owner to apply for an automatic deferral of 50% of the Ad Valorem taxes on all or any portion of the property which becomes “historic property.” It should be noted that the property known as the R. C. Biberstein House has the current appraised value: Improvement – $41,320. Land – $79,200. Total – $120,520. The property is zoned B2.

Date of Preparation of this Report: July 5, 1985

Prepared by: Dr. Dan L. Morrill
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Properties Commission
1225 S. Caldwell St. Box D
Charlotte, N.C., 28203

Telephone: 704/376-9115

 

Historical Overview  

by
Dr. William H. Huffman
June, 1984

The Biberstein house at 1600 Elizabeth Avenue is the last, at this writing, of the many elegant houses which used to form a row of fine homes along the street that is still being used as a residence. Eighty-eight-year-old Constance Biberstein has lived in the house since she, her brothers and parents moved in the newly-built home in November, 1906. ¹

Her father, Richard C. Biberstein (1859-1931), was a noted mill architect, and was reputed to have designed more cotton mills in this region than any other individual. ² He was born in the German settlement of Fredericksburg, Texas, the son of Herman R. von Bieberstein (R. C. later dropped the “von,” which denotes noble descent, and changed the last name spelling). His father was an engineer who came West in the 1840s, and laid out many of the Texas land lines that are still in use. R. C. Biberstein studied mechanical engineering at Worcester (Mass.) Polytechnic Institute starting in 1879, and graduated in 1882. After employment with the U.S. Electric Lighting Co. of Newark, N.J., the Western Manufacturing Co. in Richmond, Ind. and the Atlas Engine Works in Indianapolis, he stopped off in Charlotte on a trip and made contact with Col. Wilkes, who owned the Mecklenburg Iron Works, and began work there in 1887 as a draftsman-designer. ³

The story is told that one day a man came into the Iron Works and asked Biberstein where Col. Wilkes was. When he replied, “He’s over there,” the man asked him to repeat it, and Biberstein had to shout directions, for which the man was obliged. When he was subsequently introduced, the stranger turned out to be Thomas A. Edison, who came to Charlotte to try and perfect his gold-separation process by means of electricity. ⁴

About 1897, Biberstein went to work for the Charlotte Machine Company, which was a mill machinery supplier run by H. S. Chadwick. Several years before, R. C. had married Laura Eisfeld of Fredericksburg, and they lived on N. Caldwell Street. In 1902 or shortly before, he left Chadwick’s employ and took a position as an engineer for Stuart W. Cramer, whose company designed and built many mills in the region (including Highland Park #3 in Charlotte). About 1905, R. C. went into business for himself as a mill architect and engineer with offices in the Piedmont Building on Tryon Street. ⁵

That same year he bought a building lot on Elizabeth Avenue from the Highland Park Company for $1250.00. ⁶ Highland Park was incorporated in 1891 by ten stockholders, who included E. D. Latta, W. S. Alexander, P. M. Brown and Walter Brem among others, for the purpose of developing what is now part of the Elizabeth neighborhood, but was then known as “Highland Park.” Banker-developer Peter Marshall Brown was president, and after his death he was succeeded by W. S. Alexander, who headed the firm when it dissolved in 1915. ⁷ Although Elizabeth, Charlotte’s second streetcar suburb after Latta’s Dilworth, contained a mix of style and size of houses on the side streets, the main thoroughfares of Elizabeth, Hawthorne, Clement and Central were graced with the fine homes of a number of the city’s professional and business leaders. The trolley came down the hill along Trade Street from the Square, and back up on Elizabeth to Elizabeth College at the top of the hill (now the site of Presbyterian Hospital), made a left turn on to Hawthorne and turned back south on Seventh after passing Independence Park.

R. C. Biberstein did the design for his own house, which was reported to be the only residence he ever did. Recalling his years living up North, he put fireplaces in nearly every room and made a double front entryway to keep out the cold air. When the family moved in during November, 1906, they lived on one of the city’s finest suburban residential streets within easy reach of the city center. ⁸

Sometime about 1915, when World War I was raging in Europe, but before the U.S. involvement, Biberstein gave up his downtown office and moved it to the back of the first floor of his Elizabeth home. There he practiced mill architecture until his death in 1931. ⁹ Biberstein was reputed to be very exacting and demanding of perfection in detail, and it was probably that, in combination with his good education and training with the best machinery and mill designers in the area, which served him well in winning many mill design contracts. ¹⁰ Another fortuitous aspect of his career is that he came to Charlotte and practiced mill architecture during the entire period when the New South industrialization of the Piedmont region, primarily cotton mills, boomed from the 1880s to the 1920s. Charlotte’s designers, suppliers, investors and transportation links played a key role in this expansion.

When R. C. Biberstein died in 1931, his architecture firm, which still exists under the name Biberstein, Bowles, Meacham and Reed, was taken over by his son, Herman V. Biberstein (1893-1966), a 1914 N. C. State graduate, who had joined the firm after college and Army service. In the early 50s, the architects moved to separate offices further down on Elizabeth Avenue, and in recent years a number of businesses have rented the south half of the first floor. ¹¹ Among the mills R. C. Biberstein designed were the Lancaster Cotton Mill; the Boger and Crawford Spinning Mill in Lincoln Co.; the Hudson Cotton Mill and the Dixon Mills in Gaston Co.; in Belmont, the Imperial Yarn Mill, the Linford Spinning Mill, the National and Chronicle Yarn Mills; in Mt. Holly, the Union Cotton Mill; and in Mooresville, the Mooresville Cotton Mills. ¹²

Thus the stately white house at 1600 Elizabeth Avenue is not only an elegant reminder of a different era in the city’s history, but it was also designed by and lived in by one of the best-known and often-engaged mill architects of the Piedmont Carolinas. It has earned the privilege of being designated as historically important to the community.

 

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NOTES

¹ Interview with Constance Biberstein, Charlotte, N.C. 25 June 1984.

² Ibid.

³ Ibid.; The Journal, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, November, 1931, p. 30; Charlotte Observer, September 13, 1931, p. 10.

⁴ Interview with L. H. Meacham, 20 June 1984.

⁵ Charlotte City Directories, 1889-1907; Journal, note 3.

⁶ Deed Book 200, p. 185, 23 May 1905.

⁷ Record of Corporations, Book A, pp. 235 and 335; Ibid., Book 4, p. 283.

⁸ Interview with Constance Biberstein.

⁹ Charlotte City Directories, 1915-1931.

¹⁰ Interview with L. H. Meacham.

¹¹ Ibid.; interview with Constance Biberstein; Charlotte Observer, Jan. 21, 1966, p. 4B.

¹² Interview with L. H. Meacham.

Special Note: At the time of the preparation of this report, the R. C. Biberstein House stands empty.

 

 

Architectural Description  

by Lisa A. Stamper
June 7, 1985

In 1906, the Biberstein House was built and designed by the local mill architect, R. C. Biberstein as his family residence. This elegant though simply detailed home is of the Rectilinear Style of architecture, as is the Bruns House located only two doors down the street. Another fine residence from the same period is located between these two historic homes. The Rectilinear Style, though derived from Victorian Styles, rejected their lavish ornamentation.

The Biberstein House is two and one-half stories high and built of clapboard siding on a brick foundation. One of its most interesting features is its wide-eaved and simply bracketed roof. The main body of the house is covered with a steeply pitched hipped roof, with small hipped sections topping architectural features such as projections, dormers, and the porch. There is one dormer featuring two single pane windows on each side of the house. The rear section of the house has a steeply pitched gabled roof. Three brick chimneys pierce this configuration. There are two exterior end side chimneys near the front of the building plus one chimney near the center of the back section.

A grand front porch wraps around the front half of the home. The southern side of this porch was enclosed in the late 1940’s or early 1950’s. Simple, sturdy columns support the porch roof, which is decorated with delicated dentile molding.

Almost all of the original windows, being true to the Rectilinear Style, are wooden framed and double-hung with one-over-one panes of glass. Many of them have simple shutters. They have short sills and unornamental surrounds. There are two small windows on each side of the house in the foundations. They are near the front, with the one closest to the end being a half circle and the next a rectangle.

Of course the portico is located in the front (northeast side) of the house. The pedimented roof is incorporated into the porch roof. The portico has more elaborate brackets and more pronounced molding than the rest of the porch. The wooden double doors at the entrance are also of simple design, with horizontal panels at the bottom and a single glass pane at the top of each. A rectangular transom heads the doors. Today, wooden framed screened doors cover the wood and glass ones.

The southern half of the front porch has been enclosed and until just recently has housed various small businesses. A door leading into the enclosed porch has been placed to the left of the original door. To the other side of the main entrance is a single window. The second story of the front facade has three symmetrically placed windows.

The southeast facade is cluttered with various additions on both stories; however, an original two-story bay projection is still intact. Although it is difficult to discern the original features of the back half of the facade, the front half retains its early-twentieth century ambiance with a single window in the second story front and one window in each of the bay’s sides. The first story of the bay projection has a typical window in one side and a horizontal rectangular window in another. The remaining original side is covered behind the enclosed porch.

It appears that the northwest facade resembles the original southeast facade in balance of composition. The front porch extends to the rectangular projection located almost in the middle of the building. Both the first and second story front sections have two typical windows. The first story back section has one horizontally paneled door then three windows. The second story, which is approximately one-half the length of the first, contains a single window.

The treatment of the rectangular projection is quite interesting. The foundation brick extends approximately halfway up into the first story. One door and one window are symmetrically placed in this brick on the northwest side of the projection. Above the brick wall on this side is a set of two windows, then a horizontal single paned rectangular window is set above those. On the northeast side of the projection a small, delicately framed oval stained glass window is placed in the second story. The only opening in the southwest side of the projection is a small rectangular window set into the brick wall.

The only major change from the original design of the southwest (rear) facade of the residence seems to be the enclosing of a first story, small, squarish porch on the south corner. Next to the enclosed porch is a single door. Next to that is a six-over-six paned window. Two symmetrically placed windows are located near the north corner. A three four-paned window set is located in the foundation underneath these northern windows. The second story gabled end contains only one six-over-one paned window.

The present condition of the interior can not be determined without taking a look inside. Unfortunately, this was not possible since the owner, Miss Constance Biberstein is no longer living in the home. Also, the business which occupied the south corner of the building has relocated. However, the original interior plan may be assumed from studying architect’s sketches of proposed renovations drawn in the 1940’s and 1950’s and presently located in UNCC’s archives.

The plan seems to be of Victorian Style, which is not surprising. One enters through the entrance doors, then through another door, and into the reception hall. Sliding doors (a common Victorian feature) connected the reception hall with the adjacent parlor. One may walk straight through the reception hall to an enclosed area containing the great stair, and a side door leading down to a couple small rooms and another door opening to the outside. The dining room is located behind the parlor and beside the great stair. It has a door entering into the parlor, the great stair, and a small room most probably used as a pantry, since the kitchen is located directly behind that. From the plans available, the rest of the first floor areas are not clear.

To give the first floor interior plan some reference to the exterior, the stairwell is located within the rectangular northwest projection. The exterior wall of the dining room is part of the southeast projecting bay. Therefore; the social areas were located in the front of the home while the more private and utilitarian areas were located in the rear. Of course all the main rooms had fireplaces.

The second floor plan sketch shows three large rooms resembling the same location and shape of the first story reception hall, parlor, and dining room. The original rear rooms can not be clearly defined. Usually the second floor of a residence is used for sleeping. It is safe to assume that most of these upper level rooms had fireplaces.

To the rear of the Biberstein House is a small building almost totally covered with shrubs and overgrowth. According to the 1925 Sanborn Map, it is located in the same spot that a garage was shown to have been standing. It is possible that this building is the original garage. Two other outbuildings shown on the Sanborn Map are missing from the present site. Today, an unpaved parking lot is located between the Biberstein House and its early twentieth-century neighbor. The three early residences left standing together on Elizabeth Avenue are surrounded by many modern one story rectangular commercial buildings.

Most of the exterior architectural features of the Biberstein House are still intact. Only the southeast side of the home seems to be marred by additions. Since almost all of the upper middle-class homes along early Elizabeth Avenue have been destroyed, the Biberstein House, the Bruns House, and their common neighbor are especially precious examples of the neighborhood’s post-Victorian architecture.

1. Name and location of the property: The property known as the Bethesda Schoolhouse is located at 13129 Alexanderana Road in Huntersville, North Carolina.
2. Name and address of the present owner of the property:         

Merle King & Wife, Elizabeth L. King

2509 Mallard Creek Church Road

Charlotte, N.C., 28262

3. Representative photographs of the property: This report contains representative photographs of the property.
4. Maps depicting the location of the property: This report contains a map depicting the location of the property.
5. UTM coordinate: 17516402E  3913276N 
6. Current deed book and tax parcel information for the property:

The Tax Parcel Number is of the property is 019-151-14.  The most recent reference to this property is recorded in Mecklenburg Deed Book 9879, Page 957.

7. A brief historical sketch of the property: This report contains a brief historical sketch of the property.
8. A brief architectural description of the property: This report contains a brief architectural description of the property.
9. Documentation of why and in what ways the property meets criteria for designation set forth in N. C. G. S. 160A-400.5:
10. Special significance in terms of its history, architecture, and/or cultural importance: The Commission judges that the property known as Bethesda Schoolhouse does possess special significance in terms of Charlotte-Mecklenburg. The Commission bases its judgment on the following considerations:

1) The Bethesda Schoolhouse, a rural primary school for African Americans in Mecklenburg County, is significant as a rare surviving artifact of the early efforts by the county’s black residents to educate their children, a newly won privilege after the Civil War.

2) The Bethesda Schoolhouse is the oldest identified African American primary school in Mecklenburg County, and is significant as one of the county’s few surviving rural schoolhouses.

3) The Bethesda Schoolhouse is one of the earliest surviving non-residential African American buildings in the county, and is therefore important in understanding the broad patterns county’s history.

1. Integrity of design, setting, workmanship, materials, feeling and/or association: The Commission contends that the physical and architectural description which is included in this report demonstrates that the Bethesda Schoolhouse meets this criterion.
2. Ad Valorem tax appraisal: The Commission is aware that designation would allow the owner to apply for an automatic deferral of 50% of the Ad Valorem taxes on all or any portion of the property which becomes a designated “historic landmark.” The current total appraised value of the improvements is $700.00. The current appraised value of the lot is $23,800.00. The current total appraised value is $24,500.00. 
3. Portion of property recommended for designation: The exterior of the building and the property associated with the tax parcel are recommended for historic designation.

Date of preparation of this report: December, 2003

Prepared by: Stewart Gray and Dr. Paula M. Stathakis

Historic Statement and Context

 

Although North Carolina had developed a progressive system for public education by the eve of the Civil War, there was no guarantee that schooling would be available to everyone. Many poor whites could not attend school either because there was no school located conveniently near them or because their parents resisted the idea of general education for various reasons, the most significant of which was they needed their children home working in the fields. The upper classes, accustomed to the advantages of literacy, were not always comfortable with the extension of this privilege and power to the lower classes. Slaves were never educated.[1] Prior to the Civil War it was illegal to educate slaves in every state except Tennessee. Consequently, by 1860, ninety per cent of the Southern adult black population was illiterate.[2] By the war’s end, freedmen held high hopes for the meaning of freedom, and understood an education was the necessary first step in acquiring political and economic parity with whites.

The public school system in place in North Carolina in the ante-bellum period was non-existent by the end of the Civil War. By this time, the state was so impoverished that there were no funds to develop another school system. During this period the state’s black and poor white population were schooled by external agencies, most notably The Freedmen’s Bureau. An 1867 issue of the Western Democrat discusses the establishment of Freedmen’s Bureau Schools in the state noting that in Mecklenburg County there was at least one in each township. In North Carolina, over 20,000 children were enrolled in 400 Freedmen’s Bureau schools.[3] According to contemporary reports, adults and children enthusiastically attended these schools, desperately eager to learn to read and write. Many of the elderly wanted to learn to read to be able to read the Bible; others fully appreciated that literacy was central to economic advancement. Although The Freedmen’s Bureau was poorly funded and ultimately dissolved, newly-freed African Americans often pitched in to raise funds to buy land, build schools, and to pay teachers. Local funding came from various sources such as Northern benevolent societies and state governments as well as from initiatives within the freed black community.[4]

In spite of the great enthusiasm within the black community for the promise of education and the potential for opportunity therein, Southern white society was unreceptive to the idea of educating the large population of former slaves who had been previously held in check by enforced ignorance. The Freedman’s Bureau was able to mitigate only some of the harsh realities of freedom in a hostile society. The agency provided relief and assistance to both blacks and poor whites who found themselves bereft of advocates in the bleak and unsettled post-war period. In addition to economic stress, politically and socially explosive issues such as extending citizenship to all blacks and voting rights to black men tested the foundation of the southern social order as well as the Bureau’s ability to maintain it. In 1865, Freedmen’s Bureau officials recorded that Mecklenburg County Courts would not recognize changes in the status of the black population, and that a magistrate had recently beaten a black man on the street.[5] 

The dissolution of the Freedmen’s Bureau made life all the more difficult for Southern blacks. Without the bureau they had no advocates to help protect their newly acquired rights. Although the new state constitution established separate schools for blacks, funding was up to the discretion of local county boards. In general, public opinion regarding education remained apathetic, and any impetus for change and improvement during the post reconstruction period came from politicians, not from grassroots pressures. By 1880, the average school term was only nine weeks and only one-third of the state’s school age children attended school. Illiteracy was more prevalent in 1880 than in 1860, although within the black community, literacy rates were higher than they had been in 1860. In spite of this small gain, the statistics for North Carolina were bleak. The state population in 1880 was 1,399,750 and 463,975 were illiterates over ten years of age. Three-fifths of all illiterates were black, and blacks accounted for one third of the total population.[6]

In the 1870s, Mecklenburg County was beginning to rebuild its school system within the terms of the demands of the post-war era. D.A. Tompkins’s History of Mecklenburg claims that by 1874, there were 34 black schools and 46 white schools in the county. The first graded school for blacks in Charlotte was in an old tobacco barn in First Ward, and was later replaced by Myers Street School.[7] In addition to the surviving examples of Rosenwald Schools, the Reed School in Steele Creek and the Bethesda Schoolhouse are the only surviving rural African American school houses in the county.

Tom Hanchett writes that by 1882 the city established its first graded schools, “with separate buildings for black children and white.^”   The record of the establishment of rural schools is also imprecise. The state gave authority to the counties to operate schools, a plan that spared state funds, but gave free rein to county governance to determine where and how their limited funds were best spent. In some cases, the insufficient funding available to blacks was exhausted on building the schoolhouse leaving no money for teachers’ salaries.  Both black and white rural schools were often supported by contributions raised by local families.[8]

Even through the combined funding efforts of the county and local families, rural schoolhouses were generally little more than one-room cabins. Students walked to school, so schoolhouses enrolled as many who could get there on foot. Children who did not live within a reasonable walking distance to a school did not go to school. The terms were short and broken up so that children could help families with planting and harvesting, and black students’ school terms were shorter than that for white pupils. The average school term in North Carolina was 17 weeks for whites and 16.01 weeks for blacks. In addition to the difference of the school term, a greater proportion of whites than blacks were enrolled in school. In Mecklenburg County in 1903, nearly 70% of white school age children were enrolled in school, and nearly 60% of black school aged children were enrolled. These figures dropped for both groups in 1904 to 50% and 46% respectively.[9]

Public instruction seldom extended beyond the elementary grades for white children and never for blacks. The teachers, in many cases, were barely better educated than their students. State and federal oversight was practically nonexistent; and the quality of the buildings, classroom materials, and teachers was determined by the social and political whim of county authorities. It was standard practice to pay white teachers more than African American teachers. Funds were not evenly allotted to all schools. Affluent districts had good schools, but public resources rarely found their way into the impoverished areas. As most Southern rural areas were poor, the schools in poor locales tended to remain inadequate.[10]

Section 24 of the North Carolina School Law placed the appropriation of school funds under the control of the County Board of Education with only one restriction, the apportionment of these funds was to be made with an effort to provide equal term lengths for all schools under the board’s jurisdiction. In 1904, African American schools in North Carolina received $244,847.38 to pay teacher salaries, build schools and educate 221,545 children. In contrast, white schools received and spent $929,164.26 for the same purpose and to educate 462,639 students. The fact that blacks, one-third of the school population, received only one-fifth of the available funds constituted such an egregious disparity that the State Superintendent for Public Instruction castigated anyone who would complain that white tax dollars were put toward education for blacks:

 

…if any part of the taxes actually paid by individual white men ever reaches the Negro for school purposes, the amount is so small that the man who would begrudge it or complain about it ought to be ashamed of himself. In the face of these facts, any unprejudiced man must see that we are in no danger of giving the Negroes more than they are entitled by every dictate of justice, right, wisdom, humanity, and Christianity.[11]

 

Prospects for blacks and for poor whites improved somewhat in the late nineteenth century. During the 1880s and early 1890s, the county purchased a number of sites for black and white schools and probably provided some funds for construction, operating costs, and teacher salaries. In 1886 the Board of Aldermen acquired a lot in Second Ward from Col. W.R. Myers on which they built the two-story Myers Street Elementary School, a graded city school for African American children.[12]

Although educational opportunities for African Americans in Mecklenburg County by the turn of the century were inadequate compared to those available to whites, the county nonetheless subsidized black schools. The policy to support schools for both races was mandated in the state constitution. However, it was also part of a developing agenda that evolved to some extent under the leadership of Governor Charles B. Aycock and owed some of its advancement to the climate of dynamic economic growth experienced by and encouraged in the county in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Governor Aycock [1901-1905] was inspired by the abysmal fact that the state’s system of public education had steadily declined since the 1870s and that less than half of the state’s school age children attended school on a regular basis. An advocate of universal education, Aycock believed that education was an essential investment in the future. He argued that educated people were better workers, better citizens, better parents, and more prosperous than uneducated people. Under Aycock’s direction, increased and more efficient funding was appropriated by the General Assembly in an effort to raise standards in poor counties; high school education became more prevalent in rural and urban areas; and the concept of consolidating rural school districts was introduced. Part of Aycock’s underlying agenda was to provide equal educational opportunities for boys and girls, but primarily for boys who could grow up to become qualified voters; a privilege not available by law to women or in practice to African American men.

By the 1890s, racial segregation laws and disfranchisement practices effectively guided Mecklenburg’s social and political patterns, and segregated schools fell neatly into this new standard. Providing a limited education that was touted as separate but equal for the improvement of the local African American population was part of the important civic task of promoting the county’s significant assets, such as productive agriculture, a thriving textile industry, an educated population, and a law-abiding, peaceful citizenry both in the black and white communities. Local “boosters” were not interested in equal opportunities, but they understood that newcomers with capital would only invest it in places that were socially stable as well as economically viable. By the turn of the century, the majority of the county’s African American population was rural and had a limited education, but a strong middle and professional class was a highly visible part of the city population. Charlotte was promoted as a town where the races peacefully co-existed and where “the Negro is welcomed in the pursuits to which he is best adapted, and there is nothing of the race prejudice felt elsewhere and he is given every opportunity to better his own condition and that of his children.”[13]

In spite of Charlotte’s growth in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Mecklenburg retained a largely rural character until after the Second World War. By the close of the nineteenth century, Mecklenburg County led the state in cotton production; but although Mecklenburg County produced a significant amount of cotton, its dependency on the crop doomed the local agricultural economy to stagnation and deterioration. By 1920, American agriculture began a steady decline that was exacerbated by the Great Depression of the 1930s. Southern farmers who were dedicated to cotton production and mid-western farmers who were dedicated to wheat production had no recourse when the international market prices of these commodities plummeted in the 1920s and 1930s. The overarching response to the crisis was overproduction, which worsened the situation, leading to increased foreclosures and an increase in tenancy. Like many of their southern counterparts, Mecklenburg farmers were hampered by inefficient methods, such as one or two crop agriculture, and by crop liens. The consequences of this system were that the number of land owners, both white and African American, decreased over time; and that tenancy increased, swelling the ranks of poor rural whites and blacks. Rural African Americans already tended to be poorer than the majority of rural whites and more likely to be landless and bound to some form of tenancy.

Of the 4344 farmers identified in the 1920 Census of Agriculture for Mecklenburg County, 1647 were African American, and of these only 150 were farm owners, and 1497 were tenants, compared to the 2690 farms operated by whites, of which 1492 were owner-operated, and 1184 were operated by white tenants. This data not only illustrates the vast economic gaps between black and white farmers in the county in the early part of the century, and it also raises the perplexing question of why there were so few African American farmers of any type when the rural African American population in Mecklenburg in 1920 numbered over 12,000. Somewhere scattered around the county in unincorporated areas and in the small towns outside of Charlotte were approximately 10,000 African Americans, and slightly over half of them were over the age of twenty-one. They were likely employed as domestics, as skilled and unskilled workers in the small towns, on the railroad, and in processing jobs affiliated with agriculture such as cotton ginning.[14] An education was often the ticket to a job that paid cash wages and permitted some degree of social and economic mobility, and the only means for African Americans and poor whites to detach from the debilitating cycle of sharecropping and dependency.

The Bethesda Schoolhouse

 

In light of the inequities inherent in the public school system both in the state and in the county, rural schoolhouses that were accessible to either blacks or whites were invaluable assets in the development of the county’s children. The lucky ones who lived within a reasonable walking distance to a school could at least acquire a fundamental education, and this was usually the only hope of breaking out of the dead end of tenancy and rural poverty.

The Bethesda Schoolhouse was one small remedy to the pernicious effects of ignorance, poverty and dependency. Located at 13129 Alexanderana Road in the northern part of the county, Bethesda is the oldest extant school building for African Americans in the county. Officially designated as the Bethesda Colored School of Mallard Creek Township, School District # 3, it served the African American community of Mallard Creek  and Croft from approximately 1899 until the 1940s when it was closed as part of the state program of school consolidation.[15]  Historian Matthew Thomas, a UNCC graduate student, notes its significance as “the last remaining archetype of Mecklenburg’s rural black schoolhouses that were so important to advancing education among the county’s black farming communities.” Thomas found reference to the school in County deed records in which the one-acre of property where the school is situated was acquired by the County Board of Education under the directorship of W. M. Anderson, John McDowell and M. A. Alexander from Mr. Burwell Cashion on December 4, 1904 for the sum of fifty dollars.[16] Thus, Thomas contends the Bethesda schoolhouse pre-dates the Julius Rosenwald schools by approximately fifteen years. This information underscores the significance of the schoolhouse as an immensely important historical find for the County. To further illustrate the meaning of Bethesda’s survival into the twenty-first century, Thomas offers the evidence of what the county has lost in terms of rural African American schoolhouses, using a map of Mecklenburg, circa 1911, produced by civil engineers C. A. and J. B. Spratt which enumerates fifty-nine colored schools within the county’s jurisdiction. The Bethesda Schoolhouse is the last one known to remain in existence.[17]

                Mr. Merle King, owner of the building, believes it was built in 1899. Popular local legend is that the school was constructed in either 1898 or 1899 by a prosperous and well-liked black farmer of the area named John Young.[18]  A “Colored School No. 4” in Mallard Creek is listed in the Operating Budget for the Mecklenburg County Schools in 1899, which may have been the Bethesda School. Its allotted operating expenses for the year were $80.00.[19]

John Young’s actual role in the establishment of the school is vague, but his involvement with the schoolhouse is clearly a matter of record, and local accounts seem to tie him firmly to the establishment of the school. History shows that it was not uncommon for local community leaders to direct the promotion of necessary social improvements such as education. Young was listed in the Mecklenburg County Board of Education’s Operating Budget dated 1909-11, which authorized expenses paid to him for the annual delivery of firewood and for various repairs to the school. The Budget Records also show a Colored School in District #3, Mallard Creek, called the Youngsville School. This school had 46 students taught by two teachers, Lula Wood who instructed grades 1-3 and earned $55.00 a month, and Sarah Byers, a certified elementary teacher who was responsible for grades 4-7 and earned $70.00 a month.[20]

According to Mrs. Kathleen Harris, her husband Robert Harris attended the Bethesda School from around 1922 until 1930.  Mrs. Lucile Henderson Alison attended the school for two years starting in 1937, when she was in the second-grade.  At that point she recalls that it was a two-room building, heated by a woodstove. The daily routine at Bethesda would have been similar to that in the several other rural schoolhouses in the county. Louis Caldwell, who attended the Lawing School in Shuffletown, recalled that in the winter, the schoolhouse would be horribly cold and the first children to arrive were responsible for building a fire in the old coal stove.[21] All grades would have been taught in the same room, and the lives of the students revolved around the patterns and demands of the local agrarian economy.

According to Mrs. Harris the school was no longer in operation in the 1940’s, and county records show that the Board of Education sold the property to John and Bertie Young on July 10, 1946.[23]  Between 1938 and 1952, many small Mecklenburg County schools, both black and white, were closed as part of a statewide push to consolidate students into larger, more modern schools.  Even after the building had outlived its use as a school, it remained a focus for community social gatherings, with annual picnics held there until the 1960s.[22]    Long-time resident Robert Dixon, who lives a short distance from the school, reminisced that Mr. Young and his family hosted fish-fries at the school for as long back as he could remember and that local people, both black and white, would come from miles around to socialize there. Silas Davis remembered that the immensely popular fish fries started on the last Wednesday of August and lasted until Saturday night. The fish were gutted and “fried with the head, tail, bones and all” and were then “just slapped between two pieces of bread.” Mr. Dixon and Mr. Davis both believed that the fish fries ended sometime in the mid nineteen-sixties.[24]

 Lax county funding forced African Americans to find alternative sources of money from their own communities. There are several examples of this in Mecklenburg County.  Fish fries were not only popular ways to gather the community together for relaxed socializing, but were often used as fund raisers for local schools and community centers. For example, the Crestdale Community,  the historic African American neighborhood in Matthews, raised necessary funds to support its community school by having fish fries, and by assessing the parents $25.00. Farmer and neighborhood leader Logan Houston of Davidson organized many fundraisers selling ice cream, made with milk from his own cows to support the Davidson Colored School.  

The resourcefulness and determination of local African American community leaders to maintain their small schools in the face of municipal indifference is a powerful statement of their understanding of the implications of the significance of educating their children. Long denied the benefits of education, African Americans clung purposefully to the promises made possible by literacy. The unassuming rural schoolhouses such as Bethesda were able to provide a modicum of education to the surrounding population, and this basic schooling was but a  step in the improvements in education available to future generations. The small Bethesda Schoolhouse made possible by those who worked to build and support it helped improve the lives of the African American children of Mallard Creek, the descendants of slaves and the parents of children who would enjoy even greater educational opportunities. 

Architectural Description

The Bethesda Schoolhouse is a one-story, cross-gabled, frame building situated on a one-acre lot in northern Mecklenburg County, in the Croft Community south of the town of Huntersville.  The setting is rural.   The schoolhouse sits near the intersection of Alexanderana and Eastfield Roads.  Alexanderana runs north-south, 140’ west of the schoolhouse, and Eastfield runs roughly east-west, 65’ south of the building.  The site’s gently rolling landscape slopes down from a north-south Norfolk-Southern Railroad line that runs 80’ to the east of the schoolhouse.  Large open fallow farm fields extend eastward from the railroad tracks.  A modern metal church building neighbors the Bethesda School to the north, and the Maxwell House, a large 19^th century farmhouse, is located about one hundred yards to the south across Eastfield Road. 

Now a T-plan building, the Bethesda Schoolhouse features two-types of metal roofing and a distinctive row of five tall windows typical in school buildings.  The original building and the later addition were erected on brick piers that are now infilled with both bricks and cast concrete blocks.   The roughly 40’ by 20’ side-gabled original section of the building dates from around 1900.  Many of the building’s construction details help to date the building.  The standing seam metal roof on the original section is typical for late 19^th century and early 20^th century construction.  Framing is rough-sawn with cut nails visible in the framing and the siding.  While cut nail use in siding continued well into the 20^th century, cut nail use in framing usually indicates pre-1900 construction. 

Original brick pier with in-fill curtain foundation walls

Originally the side-gabled schoolhouse was oriented south with the entrance, now boarded-up, near the building’s southwest corner.  Though much of the original façade is now obscured by an early 20^th century addition, original paired windows close to the southeast corner survive.  The rear elevation of the principal section appears to be unaltered and features a row of five, tall six-over-six double-hung windows that are now covered with plywood.  The west elevation contains another tall six-over-six double-hung window centered in the wall, and a second, shorter window that was added later to accommodate a bathroom.  The east elevation, which faces the nearby railroad track, is blank.

Extending from the south elevation of the principal section is a substantial gabled wing that appears to date from the early years of the 20^th century.  The wing’s steeply pitched roof is covered with metal shingles, a typical late 19^th and early 20^th century roofing material.  With the addition of the wing, the schoolhouse’s orientation shifted to the west.  The wing’s west elevation features a shed-roofed porch protecting a five-panel door, and two tall six-over-six double-hung windows.  Like the principal section, the east elevation of the wing is blank.   The gabled south elevation is two bays wide, containing two windows and a louvered vent in the gable.  Patched-in siding indicates that some of the wing’s windows were originally taller, like those on the principal section.

The schoolhouse features small interior brick flues in both sections, and a block flue was added to the corner where the wing attaches on the east side of the original school building.  While basically intact, the building’s exterior is in poor condition, with some deterioration and loss of siding, and many damaged window sashes. 

The interior of the original building most likely consisted of a single large classroom, lit by natural light coming from the schoolhouse’s many windows.  The early 20^th century wing addition also served as a classroom.  The unadorned utilitarian design of the building’s exterior was reflected in the interior.  The trim around the doors and tall windows is simple square stock.  Walls and high ceilings were covered with tongue-and-groove beaded-board. When constructed, electricity would not have been available and original plumbing was limited to the hand pump still located to the northwest of the schoolhouse.

The schoolhouse’s interior reveals a lowered ceiling and  beaded-board behind the wall boards.	A beaded-board ceiling is intact above a later ceiling

The interior is now in poor condition, and has been divided into several smaller rooms.  The high ceiling has been lowered with framing and wallboard, supported by stud walls that divide the space and obscure the original walls.   It appears that some, if not all, of the original walls and ceilings are intact behind the newer interior walls.

The Bethesda Schoolhouse has retained a good degree of integrity, meaning that many of the historic building materials and features of the design of the building have survived.  While a major addition was constructed, it appears that the addition is of sufficient age and appears to have the requisite integrity to contribute to the significance of the property.  The building’s condition is poor, and if the deterioration of the building is allowed to continue, the integrity and the significance of the building could be negatively affected.

Architectural Context

A survey of Mecklenburg County’s African American historic resources conducted by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission in 2001-2002 identified only three pre-1900 rural building with structural integrity.  While more 20th century African American buildings were identified, most rural sites are now facing either neglect or pressure from development.  The vast majority of historic African American buildings in the county are homes, and all surviving commercial and institutional buildings are very important in understanding how the black communities in the county functioned.  While several Rosenwald School, such as the Huntersville Colored School, Billingsville, and McClintock, have been preserved and are relatively similar in size, setting, and construction, none is as old as the Bethesda Schoolhouse.

Croft Schoolhouse, 1890	Rural Hill School, 1890

All surviving rural 19th century and early 20th century school buildings in Mecklenburg County are so rare that any school building with a good degree of integrity in terms of setting, design, and/or material is a significant artifact, important for understanding the history of Mecklenburg County, which was largely rural until the Second World War.  While both the Bethesda Schoolhouse and the nearby 1890 Croft Schoolhouse are simple utilitarian structures, the much larger size of the Croft Schoolhouse may demonstrate the advantages offered white students.   Another northern Mecklenburg white schoolhouse, the 1890 Rural Hill School is similar in size and design to the original section of the Bethesda Schoolhouse. 

 

 

Bibliography for the Architectural Description:

Edwards, Jay D., and Wells, Tom. Historic Louisiana Nails: Aids to The Dating of Old Buildings.  Baton Rogue, Geoscience Publications, 1993.

 

Gray, Stewart. “Early 20^th Century Barns in North Carolina’s Southern Piedmont” Preservation Brief , Graduate Project, Department of Interior Architecture, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2001.

 

Jordan, Steve.  “Metal Shingles: Roofing in Victorian stamped steel and copper is still practical today” The Old House Journal, Restore Media, LLC, 2003.

[1] William S. Powell, North Carolina Through Four Centuries, [Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1989, pp, 418-419.

[2] Eric Foner, Reconstruction. America’s Unfinished Revolution 1863-1877,  (New York: Harper and Row, 1988), p. 96.

[3] Janette Greenwood, The Black Experience in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, 1850-1920, Charlotte Mecklenburg Historic Properties Commission, 1984, p. 3-31; Powell, North Carolina, p. 419.

[4] Foner, Reconstruction, pp. 97-98.

[5] Paul D. Escott, Many Excellent People. Power and Privilege in North Carolina, 1850-1900, [Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1985], p. 129.

[6] Powell, North Carolina,p. 420.

[7] Janette Greenwood, The Black Experience in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, 1850-1920, 3-31.

[8] Tom Hanchett, The McClintock Rosenwald School and the Newell Rosenwald School, 1987.

[9] Ibid; Biennial Report and Recommendations of the Superintendent for Public Instruction of North Carolina to Governor Charles B. Aycock  fo rthe Schoalstic Years 1902-1903, 1903-1904, [Raleigh, N.C.: E. M. Uzzell & Co., State Printers &Binders, 1904], pp. 16-17, 36, 96-97.

[10] Hanchett, The McClintock and Newell Rosenwald Schools.

[11] Biennial Report and Recommendations of the Superintendent for Public Instruction, pp. 73, 79.

[12] Ibid; Greenwood, The Black Experience in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, 3-31.

[13] The Greater Charlotte Club, Charlotte, [Charlotte, N.C.: 1913] “Charlotte’s Negroes.”

[14] U.S. Census of Agriculture, 1920; U.S. Census of the Population, 1920.

[15] Matthew Thomas, “Historical Sketch of the Bethesda Schoolhouse” 2003; Stewart Gray, “Bethesda Schoolhouse” 2002, survey file from The Survey of African American Buildings and Sites, Mecklenburg County 2002.

[16] Deed Book 195, P. 500, 29 April, 1905.

[17] Thomas, “Historical Sketch of the Bethesda Schoolhouse.”

[18] Thomas, “Historical Sketch”; Gray, “Bethesda Schoolhouse.”

[19] Operating Budget 1899, Mecklenburg Schools. Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County.

[20] Thomas, “Historical Sketch”; Mecklenburg County Board of Education Operating Budgets.

[21] Survey of  African American Buildings and Sites, 2002.

[22] Stewart Gray, “Bethesda Schoolhouse.”

[23] Deed Book 1200, P. 31, 10 July, 1946.

[24] Thomas, “Historical Sketch”; Gray, “Bethesda Schoolhouse.”

This report was written on May 5, 1976

1. Name and location of the Property: The property knom as the Berryhill House is located at 324 W. Ninth St., Charlotte, N.C.

2. Name, addresses, and telephone numbers of the present owners and occupants of the property:

The present owner of the property is: Berryhill Preservation, Inc.
c/o Mr. Gibson L. Smith
2500 Jefferson First Union Plaza
Charlotte, N.C. 28282

Telephone: 332-4525

The present occupant of the property is: Mr. David Roy Seymour
324 W. Ninth St.
Charlotte, N.C.

Telephone: 372-3672

3. Representative photographs of the property: Representative photographs of the property are included in this report.

4. A map depicting the location of the property: This report contains a map depicting the location of the property.

 5. Current Deed Book Reference To the Property: The most recent reference to this property is found in Mecklenburg County Deed Book 3822 at Page 462. The Parcel Number of the property is: 07803103. This report contains a Chain of Title from 1870 to the Present.

6. A brief historical sketch of the property:

The Berryhill House was erected in 1884 by John H. Newcomb. He and his brother, George E. Newcomb. had come to Charlotte in 1879. Brought from White Plains, NY, by Brown and Weddington, Inc., to establish a bellows factory, the Newcomb brothers supervised the construction of the plant on East Ninth St. along the western side of the railroad tracks just east of College St. From here blacksmith bellows were shipped by rail throughout the region. John Newcomb lived with his wife and two children in a house at the intersection of East Fifth and North Caldwell Sts. His wife, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. G. W. Moseman of Now York City, was Annie Augusta Newcomb. Commonly known as “Gussie” she had given birth to two children before coming to Charlotte. A son, George H. Newcomb, was born in 1869; and a daughter, Gussie Newcomb was born in 1871. They had no other children.

The Newcombs prospered in Charlotte. By 1884 John and his brother had acquired sole ownership of the bellows factory and had greatly expanded the scope of its operations. Now known as Newcomb Bros., it manufactured windows and sashes. Moreover, the brothers had entered the building construction business. Gussie Newcomb and her sister-law, Susie A. Newcomb, were also active in the local business community. One afternoon in 1881 they entered Miss Gray’s Millinery Store at 24 W. Trade St. to learn that Miss Gray, who was from Baltimore Md., had to leave the city immediately because of a death in her family. Consequently she wanted to sell the business, A sale was negotiated that very day and Gussie and Susie opened S. and G. Newcomb’s Millinery Store the next morning. It is reasonable to assume that the two ladies must have rushed to E. Ninth St. to obtain funds for the purchase. If so, John and George were wise to respond affirmatively. Gussie and Susie catered to the wealthier ladies of the community. Gussie would travel to New York City to acquire the finest material and ribbons. The making of the elaborate hats of that era, resplendent with ornamental trimming was done in the store by several milliners. To say that your hat came from Newcomb’s was enough said. The store was a resounding success.

On February 16, 1884, Gussie and Susie Newcomb jointly purchased two vacant lots to the northeast of the intersection of N. Pine and W. Ninth Sts. The price was $1400. This was expensive land for that day. No doubt the Newcomb families were ready to build homes which would reflect the status of their financial position in the community. The site was probably selected because it stood approximately midway between the manufacturing plant on E. Ninth St., and the millinery store on W. Trade St. On May 1, 1884, the families secured a loan of $3600 for purposes of building the two houses. John’s house stood on the corner lot. Both were occupied in the second half of 1884.

The early years of occupancy were for the most part uneventful. The routine of daily life proceeded normally. John and George were busy at Newcomb Bros. Gussie and Susie operated the store. From time to time Gussie would travel to New York City on buying trips. John and his family were active in St. Peter’s Episcopal Church. John was a mason and a member of the Royal Arcanum, a benevolent association in the town which met on the first and third Tuesdays of each month at City Hall. John celebrated his fortieth birthday on January 30, 1885. Gussie turned forty on September 13, 1890. The loan for constructing the houses was paid off on August 20, 1889.

In 1891 the stability which the Newcombs had known began to end. George and John sold the manufacturing plant. On August 8, 1891, common ownership of the two lots was terminated. Gussie now owned the corner lot; Susie owned the lot next door. Soon thereafter George and his family sold the house and lot next door and moved to Richmond, Va. John erected a bellows factory immediately behind his home. He was returning to the trade that he knew best. His son, George E. Newcomb, assisted his father in this new enterprise. But the greatest transformation in the life of the Newcombs came on July 27, 1892. John H. Newcomb died at the age of 47. The newspaper account of his funeral reveals that he had gained the respect and affection of his fellow citizens. “the funeral services over the remains of Mr. J. H. Newcomb,” the Charlotte Observer reported, “were held last evening at 6 o’ clock at his late residence by Rev. P. C. Reed. The house and yard were thronged with friends of the deceased, seldom there been a larger funeral in Charlotte. After reading several passages from scripture, Rev. Reed made a short talk, full of comfort to the bereaved, and of admonition to the living to ‘be ye also ready.'” Gussie Newcomb carried on with the millinery store until 1898, when failing health forced her to sell it to Miss Minnie Shuart of Baltimore, Md.

Happiness was not unknown to the Newcomb in the 1890s. Gussie’s son George E. Newcomb, operated the bellows factory to the rear of the house. In 1897 he married Mary E. Kendrick of Charlotte and established his residence on W. Fourth St. Shortly after her father’s death, Gussie Newcomb married Earnest Wiley Berryhill, whose parents had resided for many years in the 300 block of N. Poplar St. In 1894 Gussie gave birth to her only child, J. Newcomb Berryhill. In 1898 Mr. Berryhill purchased the grocery store at 401 W. Ninth St., and moved his family into the house with his mother-in-law. Only then did the name “Berryhill” become directly associated with the house.

In 1899 misfortune struck the Newcombs once more. An infant child was born dead to George H. Newcomb and his wife. In 1905 George’s wife died at the age of 34. In 1906 George lost one of his three sons, James K. Newcomb, to death at the age of 9. Not surprisingly, Mr. Newcomb’s ability to cope with life was lessened by the events. He returned to live with his mother and his sister’s family on W. Ninth St. He had to call upon his brother-in-law, S. W. Berryhill, to assist with the bellows factory. But life was never the same for George E. Newcomb. The bellows factory closed and was torn down in 1914. Shortly thereafter George left Charlotte. He died in 1925. He was survived by two sons, John and George, who resided in Detroit, Michigan.

Earnest Wiley Berryhill lived in the house until his death on February 7, 1931. For all these years he operated the store at 401 W. Ninth St. His wife, mother-in-law, and son had enormous respect for Mr. Berryhill. An honest and compassionate man, Mr. Berryhill had a heart of gold. His delivery wagon carried many a basket of groceries to the needy from whom he expected no money. He knew how to make friends and keep them. The most compelling illustration of Mr. Berryhill’s character and personality appears in an article by Mrs. Sam Presson in the Charlotte Observer of March 31, 1940.

 

The writer grow up with Mr. Berryhill, and shall never forget when as children we attended a Sunday school picnic at the Catawba River. I had the misfortune to slip and fall into the river where the water was over my head. When I came to the top, I yelled, “Save me! Save me!” Mr. Berryhill helped pull me out and after that I never saw him that he didn’t throw up his hands and with a twinkle in his eye, say: “Save me! Save me!”

Mr. Berryhill’s son, J. Newcomb Berryhill, worked along side his father in the grocery store. He married Miss Helenora Lanier on December 20, 1920. He moved out of the homeplace and established his residence on what is now N. Graham St. Amzi Rosman, a black man, also assisted Mr. Berryhill.

On February 9, 1931, the Berryhill House gave shelter to its second funeral. Earnest Wiley Berryhill had died two days before after an extended illness. Rev. W. W Peele, pastor of the First Methodist Church where Mr. Berryhill had been an active member, conducted the ceremonies. Mr. Berryhill had made his mark upon this community. In addition to the grocery business, he had served as a founder and director of the Citizens Savings Bank, an institution which specialized in loans to the so-called common man.

Annie Augusta Newcomb outlived her son-in-law. She had lived in the house for over 45 years. She had witnessed the death of her husband, her son, a daughter-in-law, and two grandchildren. Her brother-in-law, Henry L. Landridge, who had come to Charlotte with his wife to live in the Berryhill House had died in 1930. George and Susie Newcomb had died in Richmond, Va., some years earlier. One can imagine the serenity with which Mrs. Newcomb contemplated her own death. Ironically, she died on her 83rd birthday, September 13, 1933, Again, the funeral was hold in the house. At 4 o’clock on the afternoon of September 15, 1933, the ceremonies began. Rev. Edgar A.Dillard of the Tenth Ave. Presbyterian Church officiated.

Mrs. Newcomb’s sister, Mary M. Landridge, died in 1934, leaving Gussie Newcomb Berryhill alone in the house. J. Newcomb Berryhill continued to run the grocery store across the street however. In 1940 Gussie suffered a stroke. Her son was forced to place his mother in a nursing home. Her departure marked the end of occupancy of the house by members of the family. It was now transformed into a four unit apartment house. Having sold the grocery business but not the building itself, Mr. Berryhill devoted the majority of his time to managing the apartment house in the old homeplace. In the early 1950s he occupied the house to the immediate rear of the grocery store as his residence. Gussie Newcomb Berryhill died on September 7, 1956, at the age of 84. The grocery store on W. Ninth St. closed the same year. J. Newcomb Berryhill and his wife moved from N. Pine St. to Mamolake Dr. in 1958. The Berryhill House, continuing to serve as a four-unit apartment, could not escape the overall decline experienced by Fourth Ward in the 1960s. Its eventual destruction seemed certain. But on October 28, 1975, the Junior League of Charlotte purchased the house and made plans to renovate the structure. At this writing the renovation of the house is underway.

The Berryhill House promises to become a viable dwelling once more. But no future activity will overshadow the past events associated with the structure. Indeed, Elmwood Cemetery contains a number of graves which will stand as reminders of the joy and suffering of the family that built and occupied the Berryhill House.

John H. Newcomb (1845-1892)
Infant (1899)
Mary S. Newcomb (1871-1905)
James K. Newcomb (1897-1906)
George H. Newcomb (1869-1925)
Henry L. Landridge (1851-1930)
Earnest W. Berryhill (1865-1931)
Gussie A. Newcomb (1850-1933)
Mary M. Landridge (1855-1934)
Gussie N. Berryhill (1872-1956)

7. A brief architectural description of the property: This report contains an architectural description prepared by Jack O. Boyte, A.I.A.

8. Documentation of why and in what ways the property meets the criteria forth in N.C.G.S. 160A -399.4:

 

a. Historical and cultural significance: The historical and cultural significance of the property known as the Berryhill House rests upon three factors. First, it is one of the few structures which forms the domestic architecture of late nineteenth Charlotte that has not been destroyed. Admittedly, if Charlotte possessed a large number of Victorian structures, the Berryhill House would probably not be of outstanding architectural significance. Within the existing local context, however, the Berryhill House stands as a indispensable link in the architectural evolution of this community. Second, the Berryhill House possesses substantial cultural significance as a basic element in the overall ambiance of Fourth Ward. Third, the structure has associative value in that it reflects the lifestyle and values of a middle class Charlotte family of the late 1800’s.

b. Suitability for preservation and restoration: The Berryhill House is currently being renovated. While not being returned to its original condition, the structure will become a viable dwelling once more.

c. Educational value: The Berryhill House will become one of the best known houses in Charlotte. It will have enormous educational value, both as an example of historic preservation and as reminder of the early appearance of Fourth Ward.

d. Cost of acquisition, restoration, maintenance or repair: The Commission has no intention of purchasing this property. It assumes that all costs associated with renovating and maintaining the structure will be paid by the owner or subsequent owners of the property.

e. Possibilities for adaptive or alternative use of the property: The Commission concurs with the present owner’s intention to sell the property for use as a residence.

f. Appraised values: The current tax appraisal value of the structure is $720.00. The tax appraisal value of the land is $12,770.00 The Commission is aware that designation of the property would allow the owner to apply for a special tax classification.

g. the administrative and financial responsibility of any person or organization willing to underwrite all or a portion of such costs: As indicated earlier, the Commission has no intention of purchasing this property. Furthermore, the Commission assumes that all costs associated with the structure will be met by whatever party now owns or will subsequently own the property. Clearly, the present owner has demonstrated the capacity to meet the expenses associated with renovating the structure.

9. Documentation of why and in what ways the property meets the criteria established for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places: The Commission Judges that the property known as the Berryhill House does meet the criteria of the National Register of Historic Places. Fundamental to the Commission’s position is the following explanation of the nature of those criteria which has been provided by Dr. Larry Tise, State Historic Preservation Officer.

 

It is absolutely true that the National Register has undergone a significant change from its inception in 1966 to reflect a much broader preservationist philosophy. As long as there is an evolution of the meaning and use of the National Register criteria, there is likely to be a discussion of the merits of a broad or a restrictive approach to historic preservation.

With regard to the specific question of what meets National Register criteria, it is absolutely true that many properties meet the criteria today that would have been rejected in 1969 or even 1973. The criteria seem to operate much like the national Constitution in that different courts and different judges in different ages see different applications of the criteria.

(Letter of Dr. Larry E. Tise to Mr. James A. Stenhouse, May 3, 1976).

Also basic to the Commission’s judgment is its knowledge of the fact that the National Register of Historic places functions to identify property of local and State historic significance. The Commission believes that the property known as the Berryhill House is of local historic significance and thereby meets the criteria of the National Register of Historic Places.

10. Documentation of why and in what ways the property is of histroical significance to Charlotte-Mecklenburg: As noted earlier, the property known as the Berryhill House is of local historic importance for three essential reasons. First, it is architecturally significant as one of the few remaining examples of Victorian architecture in the City of Charlotte. “This building,” Mr. Boyte writes, “is significant locally because it is very nearly alone in illustrating the once widespread Eclectic Victorian residential design in Charlotte.” Second, it is significant to the overall ambiance of Fourth Ward. Mr. Boyte contends that “the work of various groups and individuals on the development of an environment of significance in Fourth Ward is greatly enhanced by the preservation of such structures as the Berryhill (or Newcomb) House” Third, it has associative value in that it reflects the middle class values and lifestyle of late nineteenth century Charlotte.

 

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Bibliography

An Inventory of Older Buildings In Mecklenburg County And Charlotte For The Historic Properties Commission.

Interview with Mr. J. Newcomb Berryhill (April 1976).

Charlotte City Directory (1879, 1882, 1889, 1893-94, 1896-97, 1897-98, 1899-1900, 1902, 1903, 1907, 1910, 1914).

Records of the Mecklenburg County Register of Deeds Office.

Records of the Mecklenburg County Tax Office.

Sanborn Insurance Maps (1885, 1896, 1900, 1905, 1911, 1929).

Charlotte Observer (February 8, 1931).

Charlotte Observer (September 15, 1933).

Charlotte Observer (May 5, 1935).

Charlotte Observer (March 31, 1940).

Charlotte Observer (September 8. 1956).

Daily Charlotte Observer (July 27, 1892).

 

Date of Preparation of this report: May 5, 1976

Prepared by: Dan L. Morrill, Director
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Properties Commission
139 Middleton Dr.
Charlotte, N.C. 28207

Telephone: 332-2726

 

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Chain of Title: 1870 to the Present

1. September 28, 1870 (Book 6, page 999).

Grantor: Robert F. Davidson & wife, Eliza B. Davidson
Grantee: Miss M. S. Alexander & Miss A. L. Alexander

2. February 16, 1884 (Book 36, Page 418).

Grantor: Mary Sophia Alexander & Alice L. Alexander
Grantee: Annie A. Newcomb & Susie A. Newcomb

3. May 1, 1884 (Book 37, Page 414).

Grantor: George E. Newcomb & wife, Susie A. Newcomb John H. Newcomb & wife, Annie A. Newcomb
Grantee: T. R, Robertson & the Mechanics Perpetual Building & Loan Association

4. August 8, 1891 (Book 81, Page 37).

Grantor: George S. Newcomb & wife, Susie A. Newcomb
Grantee: Mrs. Gussie Newcomb (wife of John H. Newcomb)

5. July 2, 1913 (Book 314, Page 180).

Grantor: Mrs. Gussie Newcomb (widow)
Grantee: Mrs. Gussie Newcomb, wife of B. W. Berryhill

6. June 29, 1923 (Book 498, Page 283).

Grantor: Mrs. Gussie Newcomb
Grantee: Mrs. Gussie N. Berryhill

7. March 24, 1949 (Book 1366, Page 327).

Grantor: Mrs. Gussie N. Berryhill (widow of E. W. Berryhill)
Grantee: J. N. Berryhill

8. March 22, 1961 (Book 222, Page 353).

Grantor: J. N. Berryhill
Grantee: J. N. Berryhill & wife, Leonora L. Berryhill)

9. October 28, 1975 (Book 2796, Page 798).

Grantor: J. N. Berryhill & wife, Lenora L. Berryhill
Grantee: The Junior League of Charlotte, Inc.

10. February 9. 1976 (Book 3822. Page 462).

Grantor: The Junior League of Charlotte, Inc.
Grantee: Berryhill Preservation, Inc.

 

An Architectural Description  

by Jack O. Boyte, A. I. A.

During the decades immediately following the Civil War Charlotte experienced, along with much of the country, a period of rapid and chaotic growth. Larger concentration of people and the accelerating growth of industry involved new conditions and new experiences. This increasing variety of circumstances found expression in greater diversity of building than had been known in the American past. A romantic mood lingered over the entire scene. Mark Twain called this the “Gilded Age”. Leading Architects drew inspiration from many sources for their exuberant new designs. Numerous new ideas were developed, usually with deference to a dominant theme such as Greek, Gothic, Tuscan, Egyptian, etc. Often they were combined in a single eclectic style known vaguely as ‘Victorian’. From R. M. Hunt, H. H. Richardson, A. J. Davis, Stanford White, and other leading architects came trend setting designs. Their work was published regularly and provided regional inspiration for widespread use of these new ideas.

In the carefully developed grid street pattern of Fourth Ward, well-to-do citizens purchased newly available lots, and built an astonishing variety of ‘Victorian’ houses. On the corner of West Ninth and Poplar Streets the brothers John and George Newcomb bought side-by-side lots and built identical houses in 1883-84. Today the house of John Newcomb remains on the corner, a well-preserved and remarkable example of Eclectic Victorian Architecture.

Basically the house is a two story square form with a classic center hall plan. Drawing strongly from the work of Charles Eastlake, the exterior ornamentation is highly elaborate and reflects the obvious fact that the Newcomb brothers operated a planing mill a few blocks from the house where Ninth Street met the North Carolina Railroad.

Variations in the form are achieved with a wide covered front verandah wrapping around each side of the house, a projecting front tower with a peaked roof added to the house in later years, and a low roofed kitchen wing on the left rear of the house. There are later additions at the rear which have no historical significance.

The house rests on uniformly spaced high, red brick piers on the exterior perimeter and at regular intervals under the interior first floor framing. These interior supporting piers were whitewashed, probably at an early date since they were exposed to view. Where the interior chimney foundations occur under the house arched brick alcoves were built into these masses to minimize their bulk. The foundation wall is now solid, having been bricked in at a later date.

Starting with a sill band with a molded drip, the exterior surfaces are horizontal square edged, narrow, lapped, siding rising two stories to a broad molded frieze. At close intervals on the frieze, heavy carved brackets form a console supporting a wide overhang and a molded facia which conceals a built-in gutter. The main roof surface was originally low sloped tin not visible from the ground. At the front and extending half way down each side, the covered verandah creates the dominant exterior feature. Set high above the ground, the verandah has a narrow wood strip floor, beaded ceiling, and a low tin covered roof supported by extraordinary columns and brackets. Fabricated of solid eight inch square posts, the columns rest on elaborate carved pedestals rising to rail height. Above this, chamfered edges have turned half round members with knob ends applied to each edge. At eye level there are molded capitals creating imposts for elaborate carved brackets which flare to the sides and front where they support a moderate overhang. Centered on the front an offset verandah section emphasizes the main entrance with even heavier bracketing.

The porch railing consists of closely spaced turned balusters– much like table legs – capped by a relatively simple rounded hand rail, molded at each edge. At the center front on Ninth Street a wide stair, originally wood and now concrete, rises five feet to the extended verandah platform. Above this platform the verandah roof is raised several feet and forms, at the house wall, a base for the center projecting tower bay. With four high narrow windows across the front and a square peaked roof this tower gives the front a strong Italianate flavor borrowed from Etruscan Villa designs. The tower roof rises from a pronounced overhang resting on small scroll brackets. The high tower surfaces are covered with small square edge slate tiles and terminate in a turned finial at the peak.

Windows are all full length double hung units rising from a sill near the floor to a height of nearly eight feet. Sash are glazed with two large lights and one center vertical muntin, conforming to the typical vertical lines of the period. Exterior window trim features pedimented heads with simple carved inserts. At the lower edges of the trim slightly flared blocks add a classical touch. All this is reminiscent of the Second Empire mode. The main entrance, centered under the tower, consists of nine foot high double doors of oak, half glazed with oval headed windows, and with lower molded panels. Two sets of double doors create a shallow entrance vestibule defined on the exterior by paneled side walls which flare outward. Above the doors delicately patterned transom windows extend up to the ceiling of the porch.

Inside the entrance a center hall forms a relatively narrow foyer at the front. The main stair begins at the right center of the hall. This stair was originally a single run, rising along one wall thirteen or more feet to the second floor. In recent years the stair was altered and now rises in two runs in the front section of the hall. At the rear, new bath rooms have been installed in the original hall areas on both floors. The stair features an unusually massive turned newell post at the first floor and two delicate turned balusters on each tread. A plain oval rail completes the balustrade. One might notice in the undisturbed first run of the stair curious triangular pressed tin dust shields at the juncture of treads and risers adjoining the closed strings.

Interior finishing trim is relatively simple and shows little of the rich decorative characteristics usually found in Victorian houses. The first floor entrance hall contains a heavy molded chair rail which has been recently replaced. There are no wood paneled wainscoted areas. Floors are all wide pine planks. Walls and ceilings are plaster on wood lath. From the foyer, double divided light doors open to a sitting room on the left. Here the walls have decorative panel molding applied at a later date over earlier wall paper. At the ceiling a narrow crown mold shows elaborate leaf carving said to have gilded originally. In this room an elaborate fireplace mantle provides the feature of most note. This mantle has classical detailing with small round Doric columns at each flank and molded trim under the mantle shelf with egg and dart motif. In the over mantle a fine beveled mirror is also surrounded with egg and dart molding. To the rear through another pair of divided light doors one enters the dining room. Here the trim is also very simple. There is a fireplace with milled mantle trim reflecting no classical influence. Adjoining the dining room at the back is a one story kitchen wing, showing little distinction in the finishing trim.

At the front right of the entrance foyer another pair of divided light doors open to a parlor. Here there was originally another fireplace which likely had a elaborate mantle and over mantle similar to that in the sitting room. This feature has been removed, however, and the opening plastered over. To the rear of this parlor is a smaller library or study trimmed with the simplest of millwork. In the original plan all first floor rooms opened to the central hall which extended from front to rear.

On the second floor there are four original bedrooms, and two rooms in a later addition. In these rooms the detailing is restrained. The four original bed chambers have small fireplaces finished with simple wood mantles showing little elaboration. At each fireplace on both floors, the hearths and fireplace opening surrounds are faced with small glazed marbleized tile.

At the front of the second floor hall the tower windows are set out from the main walls and create a shallow bay. Evidence of original window construction in the main wall confirms the fact that the tower was added subsequent to the original construction.

In Fourth Ward as well as in all other early neighborhoods in Charlotte, the list of remaining historic structures is distressingly limited. And, of course, the work of various groups and individuals on the development of an environment of significance in Fourth Ward is greatly enhanced by the preservation of such structures as. the Berryhill (or Newcomb) House. This building is significant locally because it is very nearly alone in illustrating the once widespread Eclectic Victorian residential design in Charlotte. The present commendable effort of the Junior League toward refurbishing the house demonstrates a growing community awareness of the need for saving Charlotte’s architectural past. This effort should be vigorously supported.

 

 

This report was written on October 2, 1985

1. NAME AND LOCATION OF THE PROPERTY: The property known as the William Henry Belk House is located at 200 Hawthorne Lane, Charlotte, N.C.

2. NAME, ADDRESS, AND TELEPHONE NUMBER OF THE OWNER OF THE PROPERTY:

North Carolina Medical Commission
Department of Human Resources
Box 12206
Raleigh, N.C., 27605

Telephone Number: 704/371-4119

3. REPRESENTATIVE PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE PROPERTY: This report contains representative photographs of the property.

4. A MAP DEPICTING THE LOCATION OF THE PROPERTY: This report contains a map which depicts the location of the property.

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5. CURRENT DEED BOOK REFERENCE TO THE PROPERTY: The most recent deed to this property is recorded in Deed Book 127, Page 3. The Tax Parcel Number of the property is 127-038-01.

6. A BRIEF HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE PROPERTY: This report contains a historical sketch of the property, prepared by Dr. William H. Huffman, Ph.D.

7. A BRIEF ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPERTY: This report contains a brief architectural description of the property, prepared by Mr. Thomas W. Hanchett.

8. DOCUMENTATION OF WHY AND IN WHAT WAYS THE PROPERTY MEETS THE CRITERIA FOR HISTORIC DESIGNATION SET FORTH IN N.C.G.S. 160A-399.4:

 

A. SPECIAL SIGNIFICANCE IN TERMS OF ITS HISTORY, ARCHITECTURE, AND/OR CULTURAL IMPORTANCE: The Commission judges that the property known as the William Henry Belk House does possess special significance in terms of Charlotte-Mecklenburg. The Commission bases its judgment on the following considerations 1) the house completed in late 1924 or early 1925, was the home of William Henry Belk, a merchant and philanthropist of local and regional importance; 2) the architect of the house was Charles Christian Hook, an architect of local and regional importance, who specialized in the Colonial Revival – Classical Revival tradition, of which this house is a striking examples and 3) the house is one of the few mansions which survives on Hawthorne Lane, which was once an elegant residential street in Elizabeth, one of Charlotte’s oldest suburbs.

B. INTEGRITY OF DESIGN, SETTING, WORKMANSHIP, MATERIALS, FEELING, AND/OR ASSOCIATION: The Commission contends that the architectural description included in this report demonstrates that the property known as the William Henry Belk House meets this criterion.

9. AD VALOREM TAX APPRAISAL: The Commission is aware that designation would allow the owner to apply for an automatic deferral of 50% of the Ad Valorem taxes an all or any portion of the property which becomes “historic property.” The current appraised value of the William Henry Belk House is $118,790. The property is zoned 06.

DATE OF PREPARATION OF THIS REPORT: October 2, 1985

Prepared by: Dr. Dan L. Morrill
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Properties Commission
1225 S. Caldwell St, Box D
Charlotte, N.C., 28203

Telephone: 704/376-9115

 

Historical Overview  

by
Dr. William H. Huffman
September, 1984

Sitting these days in the mammoth shadow of Presbyterian Hospital and surrounded by acres of parking, the Belk mansion on Hawthorne Lane, which used to be one of the most prominent structures overlooking the city, is now hardly noticed. Built in 1924 by William Henry (1862-1952) and Mary Irwin Belk (d. 1968), it was designed by one of the city’s greatest architects, C. C. Hook.

William Henry Belk’s rise from a farm boy in South Carolina who lost his father in the Civil War to the head of one of the South’s leading retail chains has been chronicled in LeGette Blythe’s William H. R. Belk: Merchant of the South. ¹ As a youth, he worked for twelve years in the B. D. Heath store in Monroe until, with $750 in savings, he opened his own dry goods business in the same town in 1888. After three years of operation, he persuaded his brother, Dr. John M. Belk (1864-1928) to become a partner in the business. Their marketing strategies, which were somewhat unusual at the time, resulted in success: selling good merchandise at moderate prices, for cash only; treating all customers with equal respect; and a no-questions-asked return policy. ²

After a few years, the brothers Belk decided it was time to branch out into that booming city of fifteen thousand, Charlotte, and they opened their first store here on September 25, 1895 in a rented store building just off the Square on East Trade Street. Despite predictions of some locals that these country merchants would never make it in the big city, the Belk Bros. store enjoyed a steady growth parallel to that of the city itself. ³ From the 1880s to the end of the Twenties, Charlotte experienced practically uninterrupted, rapid expansion driven by the prospering textile industry in the New South and the city’s strategic location as a rail hub, banking and distribution center.

In 1905, the business was doing so well the brothers bought a three-story building on East Trade to consolidate the store under one roof instead of having it operate out of several storefronts. The refurbished building with its fancy new facade opened in 1910 to live music at a gala grand opening. Fifteen years later, even greater expansion was called for, and in 1925, an adjacent building, destroyed by fire, was bought for that purpose. The new store built on the combined properties was double the width of the original, and five stories high, cost a quarter of a million dollars, and opened for business in 1927. ⁴ At the time, it was not only the largest department store in the Carolinas, but was also the flagship of an ever-expanding chain of forty-two Belk stores. The nay-sayers were no longer heard from. By the time of Henry Belk’s death in 1952, there were hundreds of Belk stores throughout the South, and of course, the chain continues to expand to this day. ⁵

Because of his preoccupation with making sure the business was successful, Henry Belk did not marry until he was fifty-three years old. On a Western excursion, he met Queens College graduate Mary Irwin, who was the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. John R. Irwin of Charlotte. They were married on June 9, 1915, at the bride’s home on N. Tryon Street. ⁶

A major force in the Belk’s lives was the Presbyterian Church. In addition to being very active in the church itself, a number of Presbyterian-related institutions were the recipients of their philanthropy; these included the Belk Chapel at Queens College, and Belk Hall at Davidson College. Thus it was that they also made possible the move of Presbyterian Hospital from Mint and West Trade Street to the site of the defunct Elizabeth College. About a year after settling in a house on N. Tryon near the Irwins, the Belks bought ten acres of the twenty-five-acre property (their tract included the president’s residence) for fifty thousand dollars, and endorsed a note for the remaining money needed by the hospital for the move. The main college building, located at the top of Elizabeth Avenue on the site bounded by Hawthorne, Caswell, East Fourth and East Fifth Streets was converted to Presbyterian Hospital, and the Belks took up residence in the former president’s home with their baby, William Henry, Jr. The campus setting was surrounded by middle and upper middle-class houses of the Elizabeth neighborhood, which had been developed originally from the 1880s to 1915. ⁷

Sometime in the early Twenties, a banker friend, Bob Dunn, suggested to Henry Belk that he ought to build a house on his spacious Hawthorne Lane property that was more suited to the excellent location (and presumably also to his position in the community) and promised that he would lend the money for the new place. Taking Dunn up on his offer, Belk hired one of Charlotte’s best-known architects, C. C. Hook, to design a large new house. Charles Christian Hook (1864-1938) began practicing architecture in 1893 after three years of teaching in the public schools. At various times he was in partnership with others in the city (Frank Sawyer, 1902-1907; Willard Rogers, 1912-1916; and with his son, W. W. Hook, 1924-1938). Beginning with design work for the new suburb of Dilworth in the 1890s, Hook went on to produce many of the city’s important landmarks, which included the old Charlotte City Hall, the Charlotte Women’s Club, the J. B. Duke mansion on Hermitage Road, and the Belk’s Trade Street facade of 1927. Among his many state-wide credits are the west wing of the state capital in Raleigh, the Richmond County courthouse, Phillips Hall in Chapel Hill and the State Hospital in Morganton. ⁸

Hook’s plans for the house were done by early 1924, and in March of that year, the builder, Thies-Smith Realty, took out a building permit and estimated the cost of construction to be $75,000. ⁹ The old residence was moved to the back of the property and turned to front on Caswell Road. (For many years, the Belks rented it to others; it was demolished in recent years. ¹⁰ ) After its completion in late 1924 or early 1925, the Belks moved with baby Henry into their grand new home. It certainly was a residence befitting the commanding location overlooking the city, and the social station of its owners. The 2 1/2-story, 16-room mansion had a laundry, playroom (with shower) and vegetable storage in the basement; on the first floor, a large entry vestibule led to a double ascending staircase, and also contained a living room, reception room, playroom, dining room, kitchen and two bedrooms; in addition to five more bedrooms, the second floor had 3 baths, a sewing and linen room, a maid’s room and a sleeping porch; the attic was a large open area that could be used for a number of purposes. ¹¹

During the remainder of their lifetimes, the Belks raised their six children, William Henry, Jr., Henderson, Irwin, Sarah, Tom and John at the Hawthorne Lane residence, all of whom lived at home until Irwin was married in 1948. The house was from beginning considered Mary Belk’s province, while the store was his, as she told it,

 

Mr. Belk told me soon after we were married that he’d make me a proposition – he would turn the house over to me entirely and I should run it as I thought best if I would agree to let him run the store in the same way. ¹²

Even the deed to the property was solely in her name, although this was a common practice for Charlotte businessmen, so that the home would not be lost if there were disastrous business losses. The Belks were a close-knit family in which traditional values were stressed, and the home was its focal point for over forty years. It was also the site of many social, philanthropic, church-related and civic gatherings during that time. After Mary Belk’s death in 1968, the house was donated to Presbyterian Hospital according to terms of her will, and it is now used for offices and receptions. ¹³

The Belk mansion is not only one of the city’s largest fine homes designed by the skilled and versatile C. C. Hook, but it is also associated with one of the area’s best-known families. For these reasons, its preservation would maintain a noteworthy legacy of a now-gone era.

 

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NOTES

¹ LeGette Blythe, William Henry Belk: Merchant of the New South (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1958).

² Ibid., p. 63 et passim.

³ Ibid.

⁴ Charlotte News, October 3, 1910, p. 4; Charlotte Observer, May 1, 1927, p. 11.

⁵ Blythe, pp. 257-263.

⁶ Ibid., p. 112.

⁷ Ibid., pp. 199-200.

⁸ Ibid., p. 200; Charlotte , Sept. 17, 1938, p. 1; copy of C. C. Hook’s drawings on file at Presbyterian Hospital.

⁹ Charlotte Building Permit No. 5031, 12 March 1924.

¹⁰ Blythe, p. 200.

¹¹ Hook’s drawings, note 8.

¹² Blythe, pp. 200-201.

¹³ Will 68-E-174, 14 February 1968.

 

Architectural Description  

by Thomas W. Hanchett

The W. H. Belk Mansion is a two story beige brick structure in the Colonial Revival-Neoclassical tradition which stands at the crest of Elizabeth Hill overlooking downtown Charlotte. It was built for the William Henry Belk family who were then gaining a reputation as the leading department store merchants in the Carolinas. Its architect was Charles Christian Hook, one of the city’s best designers. The house is neither massive nor ostentatious, but rather a well-detailed example of 1920s upper-class architecture. Today its grounds have been paved to provide parking for adjacent Presbyterian Hospital, and a few partition walls have been moved, but the Belk Mansion remains in a very good state of preservation.

C.C. Hook was not Charlotte’s first professional architect when he arrived about 1890, but he was the first to make his entire career in the city. From the late 1880s through the 1920s Charlotte underwent a massive boom period that saw it become the center of a new Piedmont textile manufacturing region, and move from sixth place to first among Carolina cities. Hook designed many of the growing town’s most important buildings, including the first buildings of Queens College, the Charlotte City Hall on East Trade Street, and the Duke Mansion. His most important contribution to the Piedmont was his introduction in 1894 of a new architectural style then gaining popularity in the Northeast — the Colonial Revival. Hook believed firmly in its relative simplicity and the elegance it derived from its roots in ancient Greece and Rome. He wrote:

 

The true classic style of architecture, which at one time predominated in the South … is being revived. The most striking feature of the house will be its simplicity of design and convenience of arrangement. The so-called “filigree” ornamentation will not be a consideration, and only the true design will be carried out and thus give Charlotte another new style ….

Most of Hook’s Colonial Revival dwellings shared similar massing. The Gautier-Gilchrist House (1896), the Villalonga-Alexander House (1900-1901). and the Walter Brem House (1902), all in Dilworth, as well as the Z. V. Taylor House (later expanded as the Duke Mansion) in Myers Park all were basically two-story rectangular blocks. The main entrance was in the center of the long side facing the street. Roofs were usually hipped and featured narrow dormers. At the rear would be a one-story kitchen ell.

The Belk Mansion is an elegant restatement in brick and stone of this theme that Hook had been working with, usually in wood, for a quarter of a century. The basic hip-roofed block is seven bays wide and five bays deep. It is enlivened on the north side by a two-story gabled bay and a flat-roofed porte-cochere, and on the south side by a one-story segmental bay. The rear kitchen ell has a low mansard-like roof. All roofs are of long-lasting terra cotta tile, green in color. Four dormers pierce the front roof, with the center pair joined in such a way as to produce a Palladian effect. The dormers have projecting gable cornices with returns, pilasters, and round-arched windows with keystone-like decoration. The four dormer arrangement is repeated on the rear roof, and there is one dormer on each side roof. The house’s five chimneys are placed on the side and rear roofs to reduce their visibility from the street.

Below the roof is a wooden modillion cornice. Second-story windows are rectangular six-over-six-pane double-hung sash units and have no sill or lintel trim except for a stretcher belt course that extends around the building at sill level. At the center of the front facade a three-part window framed by brick pilasters accentuates the main entrance below. On the rear facade the second-story windows are grouped more informally than on the front, reflecting the presence of baths and sleeping-porches inside. At the center of the rear facade is a full-fledged Palladian window above the back porch.

The first-floor front windows are all actually French doors. The twelve-pane double units open out onto the front terrace. Each is topped by a round-arched fanlight and surrounded by a band of corbelled brick surmounted by a keystone. The wide entry bay has an elliptical fanlight, twelve-pane sidelights, and a pair of twelve-pane doors, all surrounded by a band of corbelled brick. A heavy one-story porch shelters the entrance and the two flanking French doors. It has heavy brick posts supporting a flat roof crested by an iron railing. Four Doric columns add to the decorative effect. The porch floor is covered with figured green tile and extends out beyond the roofed area to form a terrace across the entire front facade. The terrace wraps around the north side under the porte-cochere, which continues the post and column motif of the main porch. It also wraps around the south side where it is sheltered by a smaller porch. Both the side porch and the port-cochere have iron railings that make them useful as second-floor balconies as well. At the center of the rear facade is a glass-enclosed back porch which includes a small greenhouse added for Mrs. Belk.

Inside, the house boasted seven bedrooms for the family plus six baths. The first floor was arranged for entertaining. The spacious stair and entry hall was crossed by a transverse corridor, dividing the downstairs into four quadrants. The two across the front of the house held the living room, entry hall, reception room, and library. These main public areas were all connected by large sliding doors that could be thrown open to create one continuous space. The southeast rear quadrant held the dining room and behind it the kitchen spaces. The northeast rear quadrant held a pair of bedrooms with a connecting bath.

One comes into the entry hall through a small tile-floored vestibule. The hall has a wide, simple cornice. Heavy cornices with carved scroll brackets surmount the doorways to the living room on the left and the reception room on the right. A chair rail and molded baseboard extend around the walls of the hall, and the floor is of blond wood with two inlaid bands of dark wood near the walls. Radiators are set into the wall on either side of the front door and are covered with iron doors pierced in a rectilinear motif. Coming through the front door one is confronted by the horseshoe-shaped grand stair which rises to a landing beneath the Palladian window at the rear of the house. The balusters are of iron with a carved wooden handrail and slender turned wooden newel posts. Under the stair landing to the rear of the entry hall is the play room sheathed in knotty pine paneling. French doors allow it to be closed off from the entry hall, but when the doors are open there is an unbroken flow of space from the front door to the back entrance, located at the rear of the playroom. It is likely that this space was often left unimpeded, for it provided the visitor a glimpse of the Belk’s rear gardens. The narrower transverse corridor crosses the entry hall at the base of the stairs. It continues the parquet floor, chair rail, and cornice of the entry hall.

The northwest quadrant of the first floor, to the left of the entry hall as one enters, held the living room. It is now the Presbyterian Hospital uniform salesroom, but the elaborate cornice and the thin strips of molding applied to the walls to create vertical panels survive in excellent condition. It is said that the original pink marble fireplace remains intact behind wallboard at the end of the room. The southwest quadrant of the downstairs, on the right of the entry hall, contains the reception room and the library. Both are in good original condition, especially the library with its dark wood paneling and small glass-fronted built-in bookcases topped with dentilled cornices.

The southeast quadrant holding the eating and food preparation areas of the household was the largest, for it extends back into the kitchen wing. Guests entered the dining room through an archway at the end of the transverse corridor. The arch has been filled with a glass partition and a door in recent years, but otherwise the dining room is in excellent original condition and remains the most ornate room in the house. The segmental bay on the side of the house means the room is a more interesting space than the standard rectangular box. A heavy molded plaster cornice, said to have been imported from Italy, accentuates the room’s shape. The cornice features dentil molding and ornate modillions. Below it, paired strips of molding break the wall surfaces into panels. Behind the dining room were a breakfast room, pantry, kitchen, and porch. This area has been heavily altered in recent years. Most interior walls have been removed and new ones added to create a corridor of small offices. Only the tile exterior wall in the old kitchen hints at what was there. A small service corridor off the dining room does remain intact. It leads to the tightly turning servants’ stair which is hidden next to the grand stair.

The final downstairs quadrant contains two bedrooms. Each has a wood and tile mantel, and a coved molded cornice. The bathroom between the two has its original pedestal sink and high tiled wainscot, though other early fixtures are gone. A partition has been added in the center of one bedroom to break it into two office spaces, but this appears not to have harmed the cornice or the wide molded baseboard.

Upstairs, bedrooms open off a transverse corridor similar to the one on the first floor. There are five bedrooms and a maid’s room. Each pair of rooms, including the maid’s, had a connecting bath in Hook’s original plans. The spacious maid’s room is on one’s right at the back of the house as one reaches the top of the grand stair. Next to it, at the northeast rear corner is bedroom one which features a sleeping porch. Adjoining it on the front of the house is bedroom two. It has a large carved mantel of gray-white marble. This is perhaps the most important piece of stonework in the house, and is a good indication that this was designed as the master bedroom. Next to it, at the center of the front facade, is bedroom three. Much like the downstairs living room and dining room, it has thin strips of molding which break its wall surfaces into panels. Adjacent to this room is a small sewing room, entered off the corridor. It has an entire wall of linen storage cabinets and drawers added after the dwelling’s construction at Mrs. Belk’s suggestion. Bedroom four at the southwest corner of the residence rounds out the front rooms and has its own fireplace. Bedroom five is at the southeast rear corner. It has its own bathroom done in pink tile with a laundry chute hidden behind the medicine cabinet. This space is shown as a closet on Hook’s plans, and may have been added some time after the house was built.

A small service corridor is nestled between bedroom five and the grand stair. It contains the service stair, closets, and the stairway to the attic. The attic is a large low-ceiling room with painted rough-plaster walls. The dormer windows give plenty of natural light, and small closets line the room under the eaves. One of the closets holds an immense wooden crate full of spare pieces of plaster molding from the living room and dining room. The three-part front center dormer window provides a grand view through the trees toward downtown. Standing here it is not hard to imagine the time sixty years ago when William Henry Belk built the finest house on Elizabeth Hill and had it sited so that he could look out toward his growing department store.

Today Elizabeth Hill has changed greatly. The grassy campus of Elizabeth College has been replaced with the crowded brick buildings of Presbyterian Hospital. The Belk grounds have been paved for parking. Most of the houses that once lined the Elizabeth Avenue trolley line on its way up the hill from downtown have given way to business buildings. Yet one can still see some of the grandeur in the Belk Mansion, and in the nearby St. John’s Baptist Church (1925)and the James Staten Mansion (1912c). All use the same yellow brick and share similar stylistic use of motifs from ancient Greece and Rome. Each possesses individual architectural and historic significance, and together they remind us of those textile boom years when Charlotte became a leading city.

This report was written on May 30, 1976

1. Name and location of the property: The property known as Beaver Dam is located on N. C. Highway 73, east of Davidson, N.C., in the northern portion of Mecklenburg County.

2. Name, address, and telephone number of the present owners and occupants of the property: The present owner of the property are:

Dr. Chalmers Gaston Davidson
c/o Davidson College
Davidson, N.C. 28036

Telephone 892-8021 ext. 331

The present occupants of the property are:
Dr. and Mrs. Chalmers G. Davidson
Concord Rd.
Davidson, N.C. 28036

Telephone Unpublished

3. Representative photographs of the property: Photographs of the property are included in this report.

4. A map depicting the location of the location of the property: This report contains a map depicting the location of the location of the property.

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5. Current Deed Book Reference to the property: The most recent reference to this property is found in Mecklenburg County Deed Book 9531 at Page 14. The Parcel Number of the property is 00727206.

6. A brief historical sketch of the property: This report contains an historical sketch prepared by Dr. Chalmers G. Davidson.

7. A brief architectural description of the property: This report contains a brief architectural description of the property prepared by Jack O. Boyte, AIA.

8. Documentation of why and in what ways the property meets the criteria set forth in NCGS 160A-399.4:

 

a. Historical and cultural significance:
The historical and cultural significance of the property known an Beaver Dam rents upon two factors. First, the house has strong associative ties with events and individuals of local and regional historical importance. It was erected by William Lee Davidson, II, the son of General William Lee Davidson who was killed in the battle of Cowan’s Ford on the Catawba on February 1, 1780. Major John Davidson, a signer of the controversial Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, lived in the house for several years. It served as the location for the meeting of the committee of the Concord Presbytery on May 13, 1835, which decided to locate nearby what later became known an Davidson College. Second, the house has architectural significance as one of the finer Federal Style plantation houses extant in Mecklenburg County.

b. Suitability for preservation and restoration: The house is in a state of excellent repair, having been restored to serve as the residence of the present owner.

c. Educational value: The house has educational value as an example of restoration, as an architecturally significant structure, and as a site of substantial associative historical value.

d. Cost of acquisition, restoration, maintenance or repair: The Commission has no intention of purchasing this property. Nor is it aware of any intention of the present owner to sell. It assumes that all costs associated with renovating and maintaining the structure will be paid by the owner or subsequent owners of the property.

e. Possibilities for adaptive or alternative use of the property: The Commission concurs with the present owner’s use of the property as a residence.

f. Appraised Value: The current tax appraisal value of the structure is $41,750. The tax appraisal value of the land is $7,380. The Commission is aware that designation of the property would allow the owner to apply for a special tax classification.

g. The administrative and financial responsibility of any person or organization willing to underwrite all or a portion of such costs: As indicated earlier, the Commission has no intention of purchasing this property. Furthermore, the Commission assumes that all costs associated with the structure will be met by whatever party now owns or will subsequently own the property. Clearly, the present owner has demonstrated the capacity to met the expenses associated with restoring the structure.

9. Documentation of why and in what ways the property meets the criteria for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places: The Commission judges that the property known as Beaver Dam does meet the criteria of the National Register of Historic Places. Basic to the Commission’s judgment is its knowledge of the fact that the National Register of Historic Places functions to identify properties of local and state historic significance. The Commission believes that the property known as Beaver Dam is of local and regional historic significance and thereby meets the criteria of the National Register of Historic Places.

10. Documentation of why and in what ways the property is of historical importance to Charlotte and/or Mecklenburg County: As noted earlier the property known as Beaver Dam is of local historic importance for two reasons. First, the house has strong associative ties with events and individuals of local and regional historic importance. Second, the house has architectural significance as one of the finer Federal Style plantation houses extant in Mecklenburg County.

 

 

Bibliography

An Inventory of Older Buildings in Mecklenburg County and Charlotte For The Historic Properties Commission.

Records of the Mecklenburg County Register of Deeds Office.

Records of the Mecklenburg County Tax Office.

Date of Preparation of this report: May 30, 1976

Prepared by: Dr. Dan L. Morrill, Director
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Properties Commission
139 Middleton Dr.
Charlotte, N.C. 28207

Telephone: 332-2726

 

 

Historical Overview  

Dr. Chalmers G. Davidson

The historical significance of the 1829 house on Beaver Dam plantation derives from its connection with the Revolutionary War and Davidson College. The house was built by William Lee Davidson, II, the son of General William Lee Davidson who was killed in the battle of Cowan’s Ford on the Catawba on February 1, 1780, attempting to slow the progress northward of Lord Cornwallis. William Lee, II, was only one month old at the time of his father’s death. He acquired the original acreage (451 acres) by purchase in 1808 (Mecklenburg Deed Book 19, p. 538) a part of which had been a grant from the King to his mother’s uncle Robert Brevard. The plantation was later expanded to 785 acres. Davidson’s first home at this location was an unclapboarded log house, traditionally three stories high. In September of 1829, according to markings on the east chimney, he built the present house. On October 30, 1805, he had married Elizabeth Davidson, the youngest daughter of Major John Davidson of Rural Hill plantation in Mecklenburg County. No children were born from this union. Major John Davidson made his final home with his daughter Betsy and son-in-law William Lee Davidson. He was the last surviving “signer” of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. When further evidence of this controversial event was being collected in 1830, Major Davidson was called upon for testimony. Then in his 95th year, Major Davidson dictated and signed a lucid account of the events of fifty-five years previous stating that “I am confident that the Declaration of Independence by the people of Mecklenburg was made public at least twelve months before that of the Congress of the United States.” The letter was dated “Beaver Dam, October 5, 1830” and the original is now in the Mecklenburg Declaration MSS. in the Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Major John Davidson died at Beaver Dam on January 10, 1832, and was taken back to the family burying-ground at Rural Hill for interment beside his wife.

Beaver Dam is also intimately connected with the founding of Davidson College. William Lee Davidson, II, was a Presbyterian elder and a member of the committee of Concord Presbytery whose purpose it was to select a site for the “Manual Labour School” to be founded by the Presbytery. At the meeting of this committee on May 13, 1835, at the home of “William Lee Davidson, Esq., in north Mecklenburg … at candlelight after solemn and special prayer to Almighty God for the aid of his grace” they decided to purchase 469 acres from Mr. Davidson for $1521. This tract was not a part of his Beaver Dam plantation but some two miles east of it, lying partly in Mecklenburg and partly in Iredell County. As yet the “Manual Labour School” had no name. At a later meeting of Presbytery, August 26, 1835, it was decided to name the institution “Davidson College”

 

… as a tribute to the memory of that distinguished and excellent man, General William Davidson, who in the ardor of patriotism, fearlessly contending for the liberty of his country, fell (universally lamented) in the Battle of Cowan’s Ford.

There is no recording of a deed of sale in the Mecklenburg or Iredell courthouses, and the tradition is that the land was given by William Lee Davidson after the college was named for his father. Whether true or not, there is a record of the gift of $2000 by William Lee Davidson for the endowment of a professorship at Davidson College in 1839, so if he took the money originally it is obvious that he later gave it back. Davidson was much interested in the infant institution and served as one of the vice-presidents of its first Board of Trustees and as treasurer of the college. There are many references to his activities in the minutes of the Board of Trustees now preserved at the College. In his old age, he removed to the state of Alabama selling his North Carolina property. He died in Alabama on November 13, 1862, and in his will left the College eight thousand dollars, one thousand each, in addition, to the two literary societies, and one fourth interest in his estate after the special legacies were paid. The Board of Trustees adopted a testimonial of thanks for “his liberal pecuniary contributions and for many years of personal service rendered to the institution while he resided in its vicinity and now for the munificent bequest of which the board has just received official information.”

William Lee Davidson invested heavily in the production of silk while operating his Beaver Dam plantation. He planted mulberry trees and built silk houses. But the experiment was not a financial success and he abandoned it when he removed from North Carolina to Alabama. According to the Census of 1830, he was the owner of 25 slaves in Mecklenburg County. He owned 65 in Alabama in 1860. In politics, he was an old line Whig and served as state senator for Mecklenburg in 1818 but did not pursue a political career.

The most interesting account of the domestic life at Beaver Dam during the antebellum period comes from the pen of Mrs. “Stonewall” Jackson who was a great niece of Elizabeth (Mrs. Wm. Lee) Davidson and a frequent visitor. Mrs. Jackson’s father was President Robert Hall Morrison of the College.

 

Architectural Description  

by Jack O. Boyte, A.I.A.

During the middle years of the Eighteenth Century an early North Mecklenburg settler, Robert Brevard, received a land grant from the King of some 800 acres at the headwaters of Rocky River and lying along the Salisbury Post Road just north of the present Cornelius. In 1808 a large section of this land along Beaver Dam Creek was purchased by William Lee Davidson, II. Here this son and namesake of the renowned Revolutionary hero built a homestead for his bride of three years, Betsy Davidson (his second cousin). The young couple’s first house was a simple log structure said to be three stories high but probably two with a finished garret. For some twenty years they lived in this log house as their fortunes improved. Finally, in 1829, they built a new two story plantation manor house. This house stands today on a knoll beside the Concord Road just outside the village of Davidson essentially as it was when first erected and still called ‘Beaver Dam’ after 150 years.

The main body of the house is a two story rectangular log structure facing south. Interior and exterior finishes were smooth wood paneling and clapboard siding nailed to wood strips applied to the log surfaces.

A reconstructed one story lean-to wing covers the full width at the rear and a balancing porch with a shed roof spans the width of front. The front facade includes four bays on each floor. The front entrance door occurs in the right center first floor bay. Original strap hinges have been retained. The rear facade original balanced four windows on the second floor. At each gabled end original hand made brick chimneys rise from stone bases to single shoulders over second floor fireplaces. Above these shoulders the chimneys set out from the gable siding and extend to corbelled caps high above the ridge. Brickwork in both chimneys is remarkably well preserved. Laid in Flemish bond, the coursing shows typical queen closures at each corner. High in the brickwork of the east chimney the date of original construction, Sept. 1829, is cast in clear relief in one brick.

Exterior surfaces of the house were originally water sawn clapboard featuring fine hand beaded lower edges. This siding has been replaced with new work, fabricated to precisely match the original. Under the front porch roof, wall surfaces are covered with flush, tongue and grooved siding all of which is original.

The house rests on large corner foundation stones 12 to 18 inches above the ground. Originally open, the foundation walls have in recent years been filled in solidly with additional field stone, original massive hand hewn joists supported both floors and the second floor ceiling.

Initially the roof covering was probably hand split shingles smoothed with a draw knife. These have been replaced with new hand split cedar shakes. Windows on both floors were originally 9 over 9 light. These units have all been replaced with new sash closely matching the original. All windows now have louvered wood blinds.

While the exterior of the house has been carefully reconditioned with close attention to original materials, it is on the interior where one finds relatively undisturbed original construction with remarkably preserved and restored hand crafted wood finish work.

Inside the six panel front entrance door a wide hall connects all first floor rooms and features a carefully crafted open stair. The hall forms a wide foyer at the front with an original six panel pine door at the rear. This door has recessed flat panels on the hall side and beaded panel edges opposite. The hall a fine chair rail, molded crown mold and base. Wall and ceiling surfaces are wide, flush pine boards.

From the foyer one enters a large parlor on the left through a reproduced six panel pine door with original strap hinges. The parlor is dominated by simple yet skillfully detailed mantle. Narrow paneled pilasters rise at each side to a shallow multi-mitered mantle shelf, with a molded lip. A flat panel insert with beaded edges is centered over the fireplace opening.

Walls are all wide, smooth, tongue and grooved boards. At window stool height a molded chair rail surrounds the room. Below this rail removal of later paint revealed original stenciling on all four walls. Above a small crown mold the ceiling is wide boards, matching the walls. Door and window trim consists of planted three inch casing edged with a molded back bank. Floors are original six inch wide pine planks carefully cleaned and waxed. Molded base boards are applied to lower wall surfaces. To the right (east side) of the entrance hall another six panel door opens to a smaller dining room. This room also features a fine mantle similar to that in the parlor, but with fluted pilasters and center panel. Elsewhere, this room is trimmed in a manner like the parlor. To the left rear of the entrance hall the simply detailed stair rises in three runs to a wide second floor landing at the front. This stair has four inch square chamfered newel posts and two delicate, angular balusters on each tread.

A simple rounded rail with molded edges completes the balustrade. Under the stair an original closet with a small two panel door retains many of the early interior characteristics including aged pine surfaces, mortised and pegged shelving and exposed cut nail heads. At the rear of the stair hall and the dining room doors open to the lean-to wing. This wing has been reconstructed. However, records and tradition tell us that this wing contained two rooms opening from the rear hall. There is evidence that each room had a side wall fireplace and secondary chimneys occurred at the sides of the wing.

From the second floor stair landing an original low six panel door opens to the west into a large bed chamber. As with the first floor rooms, the chamber is dominated by a large carefully proportioned mantle. Chair rails and other trim are similar to those below. In this room two windows face the front, two flank the fireplace on the side wall, and two face the rear. A smaller bed chamber opens from the east side of the second floor hall. In this room the original fireplace has been closed. Trim and finishes are later additions. One window to the front, two at the side, and one at the rear provide light and ventilation here.

Beaver Dam is a vivid reminder of the earliest plantation days of Piedmont Carolina. The house exhibits little sophistication if compared to coastal towns of the Federal Period. But, in the context of place and time it was a fine house and represented a successful effort on the part of William and Betsy Davidson to add elegance to their lives.

The site for Davidson College, 469 acres belonging to William Lee Davidson two miles west of his resident plantation, was chosen by a committee of Concord Presbytery meeting in the living room of the Beaver Dam place in 1835. The 469 acres, according to family tradition, was given to the college by Davidson when the institution was named for his father.

During the years when the plantation flourished, William Lee and Betsy Davidson had a brick walled garden to the rear ornamented with rows of boxwood which “exceeds anything of the kind” to be seen according to the Charlotte Democrat of July 11, 1871. A rare feature of the plantation was an attempt by Davidson to grow and market silk. Even now there are mulberry trees here and there on the place to remind us of those days.

Title to the property passed through many hands over the years and finally in 1936 it was acquired by collateral descendants of the first owners. In recent years the house and grounds have been carefully restored and adapted for contemporary use. It represents an exceptional example of adaptive use for a significant part of Mecklenburg architectural heritage.