{"nrhp_refnum":"72000925","name":"Harmony Hall","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"W of White Oak on SR 1351","address_restricted":false,"city":"White Oak","county":"Bladen County","state":"NC","lat":34.737109521000036,"lon":-78.74586006499999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1972-03-24","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Military","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Harmony Hall is a two-story frame plantation dwelling on a high brick foundation, west of White Oak on SR 1351 in Bladen County, North Carolina. It was probably built soon after 1773 by Colonel James Richardson.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is a typical late eighteenth-century plantation house of the lower Cape Fear area, with distinctive double porches enclosing an exterior stair. It also has local historical value through its owner, Revolutionary War figure Colonel James Richardson, and a local legend that his wife overheard Cornwallis's plans.","narrative":"Harmony Hall is a two-story frame house three bays wide on a high brick foundation, set west of White Oak in Bladen County. A low gable roof extends over two-tier porches on the front and rear, a feature of lower Cape Fear plantation houses. Colonel James Richardson, a militia officer in the Revolution, probably built it soon after acquiring land in 1773. Local tradition holds that Cornwallis lodged there on his march to Wilmington and that Mrs. Richardson overheard his plans from the attic and warned her husband. The house was altered over time: siding types vary, the north chimney was rebuilt in the twentieth century, and a Greek Revival partition created a center hall. The roof line dates from about 1810. The Richardson family kept the house until 1870. It later passed to the Bladen County Historical Society, which has been restoring it. Its significance rests on its architecture and its local historical associations.","period_of_significance":"18th Century","architect_builder":"James Richardson (named as architect/master builder on the data sheet)","architectural_style":"Vernacular Colonial","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as in good condition, partially restored, with preservation work in progress; owned by the Bladen County Historical Society and not open to the public.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:58.403571-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/87/7190/47719087/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/72000925.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72000925/6f930ccb5c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72000925/6f930ccb5c-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"JERRYE &amp; ROY KLOTZ MD","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HARMONY_HALL.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">JERRYE &amp;amp; ROY KLOTZ MD</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:HARMONY_HALL.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47719087","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmony_Hall_(White_Oak,_North_Carolina)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5659520"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/bladen-county/harmony-hall-72000925/"}