{"nrhp_refnum":"79003332","name":"Crowell House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"504 Watts St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Durham","county":"Durham County","state":"NC","lat":36.006223790000035,"lon":-78.91105891899997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-11-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story, six-bay Shingle Style frame cottage at 504 Watts Street in the Trinity Park neighborhood of Durham, North Carolina, dominated by a two-story octagonal tower with a conical roof. The form records its construction as 1891 by T. S. Christian, builder.","why_significant":"The form argues the house is significant for its association with John Franklin Crowell, president of Trinity College from 1887 to 1894, who directed the college's move to Durham in 1892 and is credited with introducing intercollegiate football and the college's Yale blue color. The house is also noted for its distinctive decorative stick trim and Queen Anne style windows.","narrative":"A two-story Shingle Style frame cottage at 504 Watts Street in Durham, North Carolina, was built in 1891 by the builder T. S. Christian. Its painted yellow exterior is marked by a two-story octagonal tower with a conical roof, a steeply sloping overhanging roof, scalloped shingles on the upper story, German siding below, and Queen Anne style windows with multi-pane sashes. The house is associated with John Franklin Crowell, who served as president of Trinity College from 1887 to 1894. During that time he directed the college's move in 1892 from Randolph County to Durham, oversaw the construction of its new campus, and expanded its curriculum. He is credited with introducing intercollegiate football and with the adoption of Yale blue as the college color. Crowell later taught at Smith College and worked as an economist and statistician in Washington and New York, and he died in 1931.","period_of_significance":"1891-1894","architect_builder":"T. S. Christian (builder)","architectural_style":"Shingle Style","criteria":["B"],"status_note":"Marked as altered and moved on the form; a modern carport is at the rear.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:42.263419-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/29/7177/47717729/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/79003332.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79003332/c877c460b7-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79003332/c877c460b7-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Tpudlik","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:View_of_Crowell_House_from_the_southwest.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Tpudlik</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:View_of_Crowell_House_from_the_southwest.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47717729","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crowell_House_(Durham,_North_Carolina)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q19461224"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/durham-county/crowell-house-79003332/"}