{"nrhp_refnum":"08000891","name":"Shook-Welch-Smathers House","other_names":["Shook House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"178 Morgan St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Clyde","county":"Haywood County","state":"NC","lat":35.531869579000045,"lon":-82.91834793099997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2008-09-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story-with-attic weatherboarded frame house at 178 Morgan Street on the southwest edge of Clyde, Haywood County, North Carolina. It was built in three periods of the nineteenth century and is now a local history museum property under rehabilitation.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is architecturally significant under Criterion C, as it is described as the earliest known frame dwelling surviving in Haywood County and as a building of outstanding character for its place and period. Its later enlargements in the mid and late nineteenth century reflect the ownership history of the Shook, Welch and Smathers families and the late-century building boom in the county. It is also associated with prominent local men and with early Methodist visitors.","narrative":"Two-story-with-attic weatherboarded frame house on the southwest edge of Clyde, Haywood County, built in three phases: about 1810-1820, enlarged about 1840-1860 with a full-facade double-tier porch, and further expanded about 1890-1900 with a double-pile bedroom tier and an L-shaped turned-post porch. Early interior finish includes beaded pine sheathing, Georgian woodwork and arch-headed fireplaces. Jacob Shook, a Haywood County settler, owned the original house. William Welch, son of a prominent pioneer, bought the property at 1840 auction, and in 1850 Levi Smathers, a German-American farmer, acquired it and held it until 1896. Smathers' family occupied the house into the twentieth century. The house is regarded as the earliest known surviving frame dwelling in the county and is valued for its layered construction. Visitors recorded pencil inscriptions in the attic, including one referencing a Methodist conference at Clyde in 1895, linking the house to local church history.","period_of_significance":"ca. 1810-1900","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Georgian; Late Victorian","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Unoccupied from 1981 until 2003 and deteriorated; rehabilitated around 2005 with intent to use as a local history museum; a 1940 garage was demolished.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:41.517958-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/58/7207/47720758/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/08000891.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/08000891/2e42ebc2ff-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/08000891/2e42ebc2ff-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Warren LeMay from Cincinnati, OH, United States","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shook_House,_Clyde,_NC_(32820465158).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Warren LeMay from Cincinnati, OH, United States</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shook_House,_Clyde,_NC_(32820465158).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47720758","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shook-Welch-Smathers_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q23041569"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/haywood-county/shook-welch-smathers-house-08000891/"}