{"nrhp_refnum":"76002120","name":"Preston House","other_names":["Palmer House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"VA 107","address_restricted":false,"city":"Saltville","county":"Smyth County","state":"VA","lat":36.871022690000075,"lon":-81.76165720999995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1976-07-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Exploration/Settlement","Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A large, rambling two-story frame house on a knoll overlooking Saltville, Smyth County, Virginia. Its earliest section was built about 1795 for Francis Preston, with Francis Irby as builder and Jesse Dungan as mason.","why_significant":"The house is reported to be the first frame dwelling in Saltville and an unusually fine example of Early Republican building for its time and place. It is also tied to the Preston and Campbell families, prominent in the early history of the region. The form acknowledges extensive alterations but finds enough original structure remains.","narrative":"Overlooking the town of Saltville, this large frame house began about 1795 as the home of Francis Preston, a Virginia congressman who lived at the salt works. Francis Irby served as carpenter and Jesse Dungan as stone mason. The central block is a five-bay I-house with limestone end chimneys, later flanked by plain two-story wings built in the second quarter of the nineteenth century. Early in the twentieth century it was remodeled into apartments. The property is reported to be the first frame dwelling in Saltville. It descended from land granted to Colonel Charles Campbell in 1753 and is linked to the Preston and Campbell families, who controlled much of the salt-producing land that supported the town. Demolition began in January 1976, removing upper stories of the later wings and much original woodwork, but local interest led to plans for preservation and rehabilitation, with the stored woodwork to be returned.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Francis Irby, builder; Jesse Dungan, mason","architectural_style":"Early Republican (I-house core with later Georgian Revival interior stair)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Dismantling began in January 1976 but was halted; arrangements were made for preservation and rehabilitation. The form lists it as unoccupied, with removed woodwork in storage to be returned.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:57.860174-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/62/6836/41683662/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/76002120.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76002120/5672d7bf1d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76002120/5672d7bf1d-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Madison_Street_houses_in_Saltville.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Madison_Street_houses_in_Saltville.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41683662","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_House_(Saltville,_Virginia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15268561"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/smyth-county/preston-house-76002120/"}