{"nrhp_refnum":"82004608","name":"Thompson, George Oscar, House","other_names":["Sam Ward Bishop House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"U.S. 604","address_restricted":false,"city":"Tazewell","county":"Tazewell County","state":"VA","lat":37.07215306650005,"lon":-81.55578040258872,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-06-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story, T-shaped frame farmhouse in Thompson Valley, about five miles south of Tazewell, Tazewell County, Virginia, built in 1886-87 by master builder Thomas Mastin Hawkins for George Oscar Thompson. The 17-acre property also holds two earlier dwellings and farm outbuildings.","why_significant":"The house is a well-documented work of Thomas Mastin Hawkins, whose details and composition surpass the quality usually found in this remote county. Together with a late 18th- to early 19th-century log house and a frame farmhouse built in stages from 1831 to 1851, it forms a rare architectural continuum of nearly two centuries in southwestern Virginia. It is also tied to the Thompson family, early settlers of the area.","narrative":"Set in Thompson Valley south of Tazewell, this farm property centers on a two-story, T-shaped frame house built in 1886-87 for George Oscar Thompson. Master builder Thomas Mastin Hawkins constructed it on a limestone ashlar foundation, with a standing-seam metal roof, corbeled chimneys, deep bracketed cornice and a three-bay facade whose center bay receives special detailing. A pencil inscription found on a door pilaster plinth dated July 4, 1887, links Hawkins to the work. Inside, a center passage holds two curved Victorian stairs set back to back. Two older dwellings also survive: a log house from the late 18th or early 19th century and a frame farmhouse enlarged between 1831 and 1851. A limestone spring house and farm outbuildings complete the group. Descendants of the Scotch-Irish Thompson family held the land for almost a century. The three houses together show nearly two centuries of cultural development in southwestern Virginia.","period_of_significance":"1886-87","architect_builder":"Thomas Hawkins","architectural_style":"Late 19th-century blend of traditional and popular styles, with a variation of the Georgian plan and Victorian stairs","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied as a private residence; the form lists the property as occupied and in its original location.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:56.45688-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/48/6839/41683948/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/82004608.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82004608/9151dfdd19-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82004608/9151dfdd19-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:George_Oscar_Thompson_House_site.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:George_Oscar_Thompson_House_site.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41683948","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Oscar_Thompson_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15221537"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/tazewell-county/thompson-george-oscar-house-82004608/"}