{"nrhp_refnum":"73001368","name":"Richmond Temperance and Literary Society Hall","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1 mi. SW of Wagram on SR 1405","address_restricted":false,"city":"Wagram","county":"Scotland County","state":"NC","lat":34.887104598000064,"lon":-79.39310201899997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-04-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small one-story brick meeting hall on a grassy knoll in a pine forest at Spring Hill, a Highland Scots settlement near Wagram, Scotland County, North Carolina. It was built in 1860 for a temperance and literary society.","why_significant":"The hall is presented as a historical and architectural landmark. It housed a society that was a moral force in northern Scotland County for over forty years as part of the national temperance movement. It is also a small vernacular version of the octagonal building mode, with a distinctive wine glass and Bible finial.","narrative":"Built in 1860 at Spring Hill near Wagram, this small one-story brick hall served the Richmond Temperance and Literary Society, founded in 1855 by local Highland Scots. Members pledged not to make, sell, buy or use intoxicating drink, and held meetings alternating between debates and readings of members' compositions. The eight-sided building has a hip roof of wood shingles and a finial shaped like an upside-down wine glass resting on a closed Bible. Inside is a single plastered room with recessed bookshelves, a lectern platform and a stove. The ceiling was painted blue, with a star added for each member. Local tradition holds that members fired the bricks nearby and raised the walls themselves. Troops under General Sherman damaged the hall in early 1865. The society met until the 1890s, after which the hall served as a school, then for farm storage. A commission acquired it in 1959 and restored it as a museum. It is valued for its role in the temperance movement and as a modest vernacular example of octagonal design.","period_of_significance":"19th Century","architect_builder":"Plumer (lowest bidder for the building contract, per society minutes); local tradition says society members built it","architectural_style":"Vernacular version of the octagonal mode","criteria":[],"status_note":"Restored and operated as a museum; condition marked excellent, altered, on its original site.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:56.591581-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/49/7222/47722249/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/73001368.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47722249","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richmond_Temperance_and_Literary_Society_Hall","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q19946157"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/scotland-county/richmond-temperance-and-literary-society-hall-73001368/"}