{"nrhp_refnum":"05000435","name":"Kenworth Historic District (Boundary Increase)","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly along Fifth St. SE, Fifth Ave. SE, third Avenue Dr. SE, and Second Ave. SE","address_restricted":false,"city":"Hickory","county":"Catawba County","state":"NC","lat":35.72695324350005,"lon":-81.32953678902796,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2005-05-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A residential historic district boundary expansion of 13.09 acres in southeast Hickory, Catawba County, North Carolina, part of the Kenworth subdivision platted in 1913. It holds houses built from 1915 to 1981 south of the original district.","why_significant":"The expansion is argued to be significant under Criterion C for its mix of nationally popular styles and vernacular house forms typical of early twentieth-century North Carolina suburbs, including a 1915 house by Charlotte architect Louis Asbury. It is also significant under Criterion A for community planning and development, as part of Hickory's first planned subdivision, laid out by the Charlotte firm Blair and Drane. Most contributing buildings date from 1945 to 1952.","narrative":"This 13.09-acre residential area in southeast Hickory extends an earlier historic district within the Kenworth subdivision, platted in 1913. The Charlotte firm of Blair and Drane designed the neighborhood with curving streets that broke from the grid of older downtown areas. Houses here date from 1915 to 1981, though most contributing buildings were built between 1945 and 1952, when the area developed heavily after World War II. The collection includes a few Craftsman bungalows, Colonial Revival houses, brick and stone Period Cottages, Minimal Traditional homes and modest Ranch houses. The 1915 Willard House, a two-story brick Foursquare designed by Charlotte architect Louis Asbury, is among the earliest and most imposing buildings. The area was recognized for its architecture and for its role in Hickory's planned suburban growth, which responded to a housing shortage as the city's population doubled in the early twentieth century. Of the 40 resources counted, 83 percent contribute to the district's character.","period_of_significance":"1915-1952","architect_builder":"Louis Asbury (architect of the Willard House); Blair and Drane (subdivision planners); Arthur Thomas Morentz (builder of one house)","architectural_style":"Bungalow/Craftsman, Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival (Period Cottage), Minimal Traditional, Ranch","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Twenty-eight primary and twelve secondary resources, eighty-three percent contributing; the district is still in residential use.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:52.80962-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/17/7195/47719517/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/05000435.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05000435/826c6d3f58-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05000435/826c6d3f58-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Tylerg","credit_html":"Tylerg, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:House_in_Kenworth_Historic_District_Hickory_North_Carolina.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47719517","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenworth_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18153104"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/catawba-county/kenworth-historic-district-boundary-increase-05000435/"}