{"nrhp_refnum":"80004883","name":"Cary, Lott, Birth Site","other_names":["Lott Cary House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"NW of Charles City on VA 602","address_restricted":false,"city":"Charles City","county":"Charles City County","state":"VA","lat":37.38432220200008,"lon":-77.08104515599996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-07-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Black","Religion","Social History"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A much-altered late 18th-century vernacular farmhouse on a four-acre site along Route 602 northwest of Charles City in Charles City County, Virginia, traditionally identified as the birthplace of Lott Cary.","why_significant":"Local oral tradition holds for over 150 years that this house is where Lott Cary was born in 1780. Cary became the first black American missionary to Africa and one of the founders of Liberia. The house is the only visible remnant of the John Bowry plantation where he was born and lived, and it is the focus of local sentiment. It also represents the contribution of black Virginians in the early national period.","narrative":"This small farmhouse in Charles City County, Virginia, is identified by long-standing local tradition as the birthplace of Lott Cary. Built in the late 18th century on the plantation of John Bowry, it began as a two-story hall-parlor dwelling and was later enlarged with one-story additions. Asbestos shingles and tar paper now cover much of the exterior, and little original material survives apart from a worn architrave and an east-end chimney with Flemish bond brickwork and a corbeled cap. Cary was born enslaved in 1780, moved to Richmond in 1804, bought his freedom in 1813, and became a Baptist minister. In 1821 he sailed to Liberia, where he founded a church, started schools, served as a physician and helped defend the colony before dying in 1829. No document proves he was born in this house, and he was probably born in slave quarters that no longer stand. The house is the surviving remnant of the plantation and the local focus of his memory.","period_of_significance":"late 18th century","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Late 18th-century Tidewater vernacular, hall-parlor plan","criteria":[],"status_note":"Marked as occupied, in good condition and altered; used for agriculture and as a private residence. Little original fabric remains.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:57.480719-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/33/6800/41680033/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/80004883.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80004883/ae769773f0-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80004883/ae769773f0-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"JERRYE &amp; ROY KLOTZ, M.D.","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LOTT_CARY_BIRTH_SITE,_CHARLES_CITY_COUNTY,_VA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">JERRYE &amp;amp; ROY KLOTZ, M.D.</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LOTT_CARY_BIRTH_SITE,_CHARLES_CITY_COUNTY,_VA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41680033","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lott_Cary_Birth_Site","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14712749"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/charles-city-county/cary-lott-birth-site-80004883/"}