{"nrhp_refnum":"70000444","name":"Fort Defiance","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"N of Lenoir on NC 268","address_restricted":false,"city":"Lenoir","county":"Caldwell County","state":"NC","lat":36.01288253400003,"lon":-81.50428182999997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1970-09-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Landscape Architecture","Military","Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Fort Defiance is a two-story frame house near Lenoir, Caldwell County, North Carolina, built 1788-1792 by Thomas Fields for General William Lenoir on the site of an early frontier fort.","why_significant":"It was the home of Revolutionary War leader and state political figure William Lenoir. The nomination also cites the prominence of the Lenoir family, the extensive Lenoir family papers, and the house's unusual four-room plan and structural features. The boxwood on the grounds are described as among the most impressive in the state.","narrative":"Fort Defiance, near Lenoir in Caldwell County, is a two-story frame house built between 1788 and 1792 by Thomas Fields for General William Lenoir. It takes its name from an early frontier fort that once occupied the site. Lenoir was a Revolutionary War captain at King's Mountain and Haw River, later a major general of the state militia, a legislator, president of the state Senate, and first president of the University of North Carolina's board of trustees. The house has an unusual four-room plan on each floor, a small entrance-stair hall instead of a full center hall, and separate stairs serving each side of the second floor. Walls were filled with brick nogging. A wing added in 1823 was later moved and has since been restored to its original position. Remnants of a boxwood garden, the fort site and the family graveyard remain on the grounds. The Lenoir family owned it until 1965, when it passed to the county historical society, which is restoring it.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Thomas Fields (builder); brickmasons John Goldsmith and T. Anthony","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition good; altered, on original site. Owned by the Caldwell County Historical Society, which is carrying out a restoration; the west wing has been restored to its original position. Used as a museum.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:56.890258-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/91/7193/47719391/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/70000444.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/70000444/68bd275ccc-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/70000444/68bd275ccc-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Ken Thomas","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fort_Defiance-27527.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Ken Thomas</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fort_Defiance-27527.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47719391","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Defiance_(Lenoir,_North_Carolina)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18150263"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/caldwell-county/fort-defiance-70000444/"}