{"nrhp_refnum":"00001425","name":"Averasboro Battlefield Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly bounded by Cape Fear R., NC 1780, the Black R., NC 1801","address_restricted":false,"city":"Erwin","county":"Harnett County","state":"NC","lat":35.25842634600005,"lon":-78.66166052202385,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2001-05-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Military","Social History","Historic - Non-Aboriginal"],"significance_levels":["national","state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A rural battlefield historic district of over 4,000 acres in Harnett and Cumberland counties near Erwin, North Carolina, between the Cape Fear and Black Rivers. It covers the land of the Smith family farmsteads where the Battle of Averasboro was fought in March 1865.","why_significant":"The district is significant for the Battle of Averasboro, fought March 15-16, 1865, when Confederate forces under Hardee delayed Sherman's Union army. The battle was the prelude to Bentonville, the largest and final battle in North Carolina. The landscape, three plantation houses that served as field hospitals, the Chicora Cemetery and an 1872 memorial marker keep the battle readable today.","narrative":"Between the Cape Fear River and the Black River, a strip of farmland in Harnett and Cumberland counties preserves the ground where the Battle of Averasboro took place on March 15 and 16, 1865. Confederate Lt. Gen. William Hardee arranged a defense in depth here to delay Union Gen. William T. Sherman, giving Gen. Joseph Johnston time to concentrate his forces for the Battle of Bentonville days later. The district covers over 4,000 acres of fields, pine stands, creeks and ravines once held by the Smith family. Three plantation houses, Oak Grove, Lebanon and the William Smith House, served as field hospitals and still stand. Chicora Cemetery holds the graves of fifty-six Confederate soldiers, and a marker was placed there in 1872. Modern roads follow several historic routes, and development is limited, so the battlefield remains easy to interpret.","period_of_significance":"1865 - 1872","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Georgian, Federal, Greek Revival, Bungalow, No style","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Landscape remains largely agricultural and retains integrity; the three field hospital houses remain in their original locations. Many noncontributing modern houses and outbuildings are present.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:52.704919-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/50/7207/47720750/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/00001425.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47720750","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Averasboro_Battlefield_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q19460323"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/harnett-county/averasboro-battlefield-historic-district-00001425/"}