{"nrhp_refnum":"80002813","name":"Beam, Joshua, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"NE of Shelby","address_restricted":false,"city":"Shelby","county":"Cleveland County","state":"NC","lat":35.34859613900005,"lon":-81.48105567250397,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-06-04","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story Greek Revival farmhouse about four miles northeast of Shelby in Cleveland County, North Carolina, built between 1841 and 1845 (given as ca. 1845) for planter and businessman Joshua Beam, on a nominated 30-acre parcel with three outbuildings.","why_significant":"The house is described as one of the most prominent antebellum residences in Cleveland County and a significant example of vernacular Greek Revival architecture in the region. It is tied to Joshua Beam, a planter, slaveowner and iron manufacturer, and to the prosperity of the western Piedmont's planter and business class before the Civil War. Its intact rural setting is also noted.","narrative":"Northeast of Shelby, on pasture and woodland, stands a two-story Greek Revival house built between 1841 and 1845 for Joshua Beam. Beam was a planter, slaveowner and businessman who ran an iron-making operation and held mining interests. The gable-roofed house rests on fieldstone foundations and has a symmetrical five-bay front, a two-story pedimented porch, modillion cornices and massive stepped brick chimneys on the gable ends. Inside, a center-hall plan and transitional Federal-Greek Revival woodwork survive, including molded mantels with roundel corner blocks. Beam's widow lived there until 1902, after which tenant farmers occupied the property for decades and it declined. A great-granddaughter of Beam and her husband restored it from 1950. Three early twentieth-century frame outbuildings remain. The house was valued as a prominent antebellum residence, as a regional example of vernacular Greek Revival design, and for its association with Beam and the planter economy of the period.","period_of_significance":"ca. 1845","architect_builder":"Unknown","architectural_style":"Greek Revival (vernacular), with vestigial Federal elements","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Described as in excellent condition and occupied as a private residence; restored by descendants of Joshua Beam beginning in 1950.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:58.406626-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/66/7196/47719666/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/80002813.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80002813/12a107eafb-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80002813/12a107eafb-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Upstateherd","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Joshua_Beam_House.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Upstateherd</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:Joshua_Beam_House.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47719666","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Beam_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18148376"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/cleveland-county/beam-joshua-house-80002813/"}