{"nrhp_refnum":"82004842","name":"Benbow, Charles, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"S of Oak Ridge on NC 150","address_restricted":false,"city":"Oak Ridge","county":"Guilford County","state":"NC","lat":36.161393372500044,"lon":-79.98879457577655,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-08-19","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Agriculture","Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick vernacular house with a one-story wing near Oak Ridge in northwestern Guilford County, North Carolina, built for Charles Benbow, a Quaker, after his 1814 inheritance of family land. The house is set in farmland and includes five outbuildings.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is a highly significant example of Quaker plan brick construction in Guilford County, with an unusually ambitious and individualistic decorative program combining Georgian, Federal and Greek Revival elements. It also links to the Benbow family's role in early textile manufacturing in Fayetteville, the founding of local schools, and the antebellum Quaker abolition movement.","narrative":"Built near Oak Ridge in northwestern Guilford County, the Charles Benbow House is a two-story, three-bay brick dwelling with a one-story wing, laid in Flemish bond and set on a farm that once covered 148 acres. Benbow, a Quaker, had it erected around 1814 or shortly after, drawing on land inherited through his wife's family. Its interior follows a Quaker plan, and its parlor carries Greek Revival doorway surrounds and a Federal mantel, while the rest of the house combines Georgian, Federal and Greek Revival detailing in a way the nomination regards as unusually inventive for the county. Benbow was also a partner in Benbow and Co., which ran the Cross Creek Manufacturing Company, a cotton mill in Fayetteville, and he was a trustee of New Garden Boarding School. Two of his sons helped found Oak Ridge Institute in 1852. The house is also associated with the North Carolina Manumission Society, of which Benbow was a member.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Transitional finish incorporating Georgian, Federal and Greek Revival elements; Quaker plan vernacular brick construction","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Surviving with a minimum of alteration; the house is still owned by Benbow descendants and was occupied in the early 1960s; the document describes the farm as declining after John T. Benbow's death.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:41.199618-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/76/7204/47720476/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/82004842.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47720476","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Benbow_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q19460471"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/guilford-county/benbow-charles-house-82004842/"}