{"nrhp_refnum":"83001892","name":"Ellington-Ellis Farm","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"SR 1004","address_restricted":false,"city":"Clayton","county":"Johnston County","state":"NC","lat":35.67232477700006,"lon":-78.4790813596992,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-07-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Agriculture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A historic farm complex on the north side of SR 1004, about one mile northwest of Clayton in Johnston County, North Carolina. It centers on a two-story, T-plan Greek Revival house built in the mid-to-late 1830s for John F. Ellington, with antebellum outbuildings and later farm structures.","why_significant":"The house is an early and important example of Greek Revival architecture in Johnston County, with modest Victorian changes from a mid-1850s remodeling. Its smokehouse with a 22-foot belltower, ladies' privy and playhouse form the finest group of antebellum outbuildings in the county. The farm is also tied to three prominent men and to the county's agricultural history, including a large cotton gin, from the 1830s to the 1950s.","narrative":"Built in the mid-to-late 1830s for planter John F. Ellington, this farm near Clayton centers on a two-story, T-plan Greek Revival house. In the mid-1850s Ellington turned the house to face the newly built North Carolina Railroad, adding a Victorian porch and enlarging the base of the T. Three antebellum outbuildings survive: a smokehouse topped by a 22-foot belltower considered unique in North Carolina, a four-seat ladies' privy, and a small playhouse. Together they are described as the finest such group in Johnston County. The farm later passed to Joseph C. Ellington, a Civil War officer, State Librarian and state senator, and in 1886 to Charles Penny Ellis, a progressive farmer who ran the area's largest cotton gin, a grist mill and a sawmill. His cotton and cantaloupe crops and his early investment in electric lines reflect the farm's long role in local agriculture. About 58 acres remain, with a washhouse, barn, tobacco barn, tenant houses and a probable Black cemetery.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899, 1900-","architect_builder":"Unknown","architectural_style":"Greek Revival","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Occupied and still in agricultural and private residential use, remaining in Ellis family ownership; some outbuildings, such as the old tenant house, are abandoned and deteriorated, and several others are lost.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:57.883773-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/58/7209/47720958/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/83001892.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83001892/03ba1d5714-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83001892/03ba1d5714-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"LikeGrantTookRichmond","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ellington-Ellis_Farm.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">LikeGrantTookRichmond</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:Ellington-Ellis_Farm.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47720958","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellington-Ellis_Farm","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q19461573"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/johnston-county/ellington-ellis-farm-83001892/"}