{"nrhp_refnum":"02000965","name":"Smith Jr., Isaac H., House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"605 Johnson St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New Bern","county":"Craven County","state":"NC","lat":35.110389492000024,"lon":-77.04316833499996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2002-09-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Black","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story Craftsman style frame house with a brick basement at 605 Johnson Street in New Bern, Craven County, North Carolina, built about 1922-1924 for Isaac H. Smith, Jr. and his wife Annie Day Shepherd Smith.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is locally significant under Criterion A for Black ethnic heritage and social history as the home of a financially successful African American businessman in early twentieth-century New Bern. It is also described as an intact example of vernacular Craftsman style practiced by urban African Americans, with refined interior finishes compared to other local African American houses of the period.","narrative":"Built between 1923 and 1924 on Johnson Street in New Bern, this two-story side-gable frame house with a brick basement was constructed for Isaac H. Smith, Jr., a real estate agent, insurance seller and banker, and his wife Annie Day Shepherd Smith. A carpenter known only as Mr. Rhem built it after the Great Fire of 1922 destroyed the family's earlier home nearby. The house has Craftsman features including a raised front-gable porch with exposed rafter ends and knee bracing, and a shed dormer with paired casement windows. Later changes include a two-story rear extension and side bay added between 1935 and 1940, and aluminum siding installed in the 1950s. Interior details such as brick mantelpieces, a stair with a Colonial Revival newel post, and an Art Deco bathroom survive. The house is significant as a visible sign of the financial and social success possible for African Americans in New Bern under Jim Crow.","period_of_significance":"ca. 1923-1952","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Craftsman","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Still owned by the family; the house was rented for some years after 1975 and descendants are restoring it.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:42.743816-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/78/7197/47719778/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/02000965.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02000965/27004be98d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02000965/27004be98d-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Cecouchman","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:IsaacHSmithHouse_5422.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Cecouchman</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:IsaacHSmithHouse_5422.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"03000965","name":"New Bern Historic District (Boundary Increase) (Additional Documentation)","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/north-carolina/new-bern-historic-district-boundary-increase-additional-documentation-03000965/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47719778","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_H._Smith_Jr._House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18158100"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/craven-county/smith-jr-isaac-h-house-02000965/"}