{"nrhp_refnum":"85002414","name":"Bissette-Cooley House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"N. First & E. Washington Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Nashville","county":"Nash County","state":"NC","lat":35.974539193000055,"lon":-77.96550090299996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-09-19","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story frame Neoclassical Revival house at the southeast corner of North First and East Washington Streets in Nashville, Nash County, North Carolina, built in 1911 for merchant George N. Bissette.","why_significant":"The house is a textbook example of early Neoclassical Revival architecture, attributed to Rocky Mount architect John C. Stout. It is also associated with George N. Bissette, a leading Nashville businessman and civic figure, and with Harold Dunbar Cooley, long-time U.S. Representative and House Agriculture Committee chairman, whose family lived there until 1981.","narrative":"Commanding the head of Washington Street in Nashville, this large white-columned frame house was completed in 1911 for George N. Bissette, a self-made merchant who expanded into cotton ginning and real estate. Its design is attributed to Rocky Mount architect John C. Stout. A full-height pedimented portico with Ionic columns overlaps a curving wraparound veranda with Tuscan columns, and the interior has a central hall plan with a three-run staircase. Harold Dunbar Cooley bought the house in 1945 and added Federal style details around 1950. Cooley represented the Fourth Congressional District from 1934 to 1966 and chaired the House Agriculture Committee from 1949, the longest tenure in congressional history. His family lived in the house until 1981. The property is significant both as a polished example of early twentieth-century Neoclassical Revival design and for its link to these two prominent figures. It is now being renovated as offices.","period_of_significance":"1900-","architect_builder":"John C. Stout (attributed)","architectural_style":"Neoclassical Revival","criteria":["B","C"],"status_note":"Undergoing extensive renovation for conversion to offices, following the Secretary of the Interior's standards; a two-story rear wing is being added.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:49.330463-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/90/7214/47721490/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/85002414.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85002414/786ea1b390-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85002414/786ea1b390-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bissette-Cooley_House.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bissette-Cooley_House.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"87001185","name":"Nashville Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/north-carolina/nashville-historic-district-87001185/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47721490","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bissette-Cooley_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q19460538"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/nash-county/bissette-cooley-house-85002414/"}