{"nrhp_refnum":"80002825","name":"Nobles, Dr. A. B., House and McKendree Church","other_names":["Chosumneda"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"NW of Mercer on SR 1224","address_restricted":false,"city":"Mercer","county":"Edgecombe County","state":"NC","lat":35.86723668800005,"lon":-77.65584974106642,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-06-19","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Agriculture","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick Gothic Revival cottage and farm northwest of Mercer, Edgecombe County, North Carolina, built about 1865-1875 for Dr. Allen B. Nobles, together with the nearby McKendree Church, a frame country church of about 1875.","why_significant":"The house is a well-preserved, rare example in North Carolina of a patternbook-inspired Gothic cottage executed in brick, and in a rural setting. It is also tied to Dr. Nobles, a prominent physician, Methodist layman and progressive farmer. The church is a modest, little-altered post-Civil War country church linked to the house by history and land.","narrative":"Northwest of Mercer in Edgecombe County, a brick Gothic Revival cottage anchors a large working farm. Built shortly after the Civil War for Dr. Allen B. Nobles, a physician, Methodist layman and enterprising farmer, it draws on the patternbooks of Calvert Vaux and A. J. Downing. Steep gables, dormers, ogee-arched windows and curving sawn trim give it a picturesque look. Few brick examples of the style survive in rural North Carolina, and a similar house stands in Tarboro. The builder may have been Thomas Coats, though this is not certain. Nobles applied improved farming methods, producing 65 bales of cotton on 52 acres in 1882. Across the road, the small frame McKendree Church was built about 1875 on land he donated. It was named for Bishop McKendree, who reportedly stayed in a room kept for him in the house. The church has been little altered and is still used. The nominated property covers about 391 acres of farmland.","period_of_significance":"ca. 1875","architect_builder":"Possibly Thomas Coats (builder, not certain); design derived from patternbooks of Calvert Vaux and A. J. Downing","architectural_style":"Gothic Revival cottage","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Farmland remains in active agricultural use; the house is occupied as a private residence and the church is still used. The house is in good condition, with some alterations.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:58.388487-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/90/7200/47720090/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/80002825.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47720090","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._A._B._Nobles_House_and_McKendree_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5303943"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/edgecombe-county/nobles-dr-a-b-house-and-mckendree-church-80002825/"}