{"nrhp_refnum":"84002540","name":"Jones, Nancy, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"NC 54","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cary","county":"Wake County","state":"NC","lat":35.799604862500075,"lon":-78.80285946789316,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-03-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture","Communications"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story frame Federal-style house on N.C. 54 west of Cary, Wake County, North Carolina, built around 1803, reportedly for Nathaniel Jones, on a sixteen-acre tract.","why_significant":"The house was the main stagecoach stop and tavern on the Raleigh-Chapel Hill route in the antebellum period, operated by Nancy Jones. It is tied by legend to the 1838 \"damn long time between drinks\" remark and hosted President James K. Polk in 1847. It is also a well-executed vernacular Federal hall-parlor house with rear shed rooms and intact early finish.","narrative":"Set among shade trees and pasture west of Cary, this two-story frame house was built around 1803 and served for decades as the main stagecoach stop and tavern between Raleigh and Chapel Hill. Nancy Jones ran the stop for years, mostly serving a midday meal to travelers. The house sat at the center of a 2,000-acre estate belonging to her husband, Henry Jones, and was a landmark for miles. Local tradition places an 1838 exchange between the governors of North Carolina and South Carolina here, producing a well-known quip about the long time between drinks. President James K. Polk and his party also stopped for a meal in 1847. Architecturally, the house is a vernacular Federal hall-parlor design with a rear shed, a double-tiered front portico, six-panel doors, paneled wainscot and reeded mantels. Later additions and siding have changed parts of it, but the original section remains largely intact.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Unknown","architectural_style":"Vernacular Federal","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Listed as in good condition, altered, on its original site, and occupied as a private residence.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:49.159303-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/41/7225/47722541/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/84002540.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002540/fad76641e8-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002540/fad76641e8-1600.webp","licence":"No restrictions","author":"State Archives of North Carolina","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nancy_Jones_House,_Cary_(22149206641).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">State Archives of North Carolina</a>, <a href=\"https://www.flickr.com/commons/usage/\" rel=\"license noopener\">No restrictions</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nancy_Jones_House,_Cary_(22149206641).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47722541","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Jones_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q20065312"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/wake-county/jones-nancy-house-84002540/"}