{"nrhp_refnum":"86000407","name":"Buckland","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"NC 37 at SR 1220","address_restricted":false,"city":"Buckland","county":"Gates County","state":"NC","lat":36.47178411650003,"lon":-76.76880672542865,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-03-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Agriculture","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A large frame two-story plantation house with finished attic, built about 1795, on the west side of N.C. 37 at Buckland, Gates County, North Carolina, on a 97-acre remnant of a former plantation.","why_significant":"The house is argued to be an excellent example of late eighteenth-century Albemarle plantation houses and a rare early double-pile center-hall plan, with transitional Georgian/Federal woodwork. It is tied to William Baker, a large planter and legislator who introduced the bill creating Gates County. Its later ownership by Charlie and Ida Smith, a Black couple who were tenants and then owners, gives insight into post-Civil War relationships.","narrative":"Buckland is a large frame plantation house of about 1795 in Gates County, North Carolina, now standing on 97 acres of a plantation that once exceeded three thousand acres. It has five bays, two stories, a finished attic and paired exterior end chimneys, with carved modillion cornice work blending Georgian and Federal styles. Inside, the double-pile center-hall plan survives, thought to be the earliest remaining example in the Albemarle region, although much interior woodwork was sold in the early twentieth century. William Baker, probably the builder, was a legislator who introduced the 1778 bill creating Gates County and one of its largest slaveholders, with 108 enslaved people at his death in 1805. Later owners included the Harvey and Smith families. In 1914 the property was bought by Charlie and Ida Smith, a Black couple who had long been tenants, and their heirs still hold it. The house is unoccupied and declining, and preservation plans were being explored.","period_of_significance":"ca. 1795","architect_builder":"Unknown; probably built by William Baker","architectural_style":"Transitional Georgian/Federal","criteria":["A","B","C","D"],"status_note":"Unoccupied and deteriorating, with severe damage to the porch and exterior. Plans to preserve and restore the house were reported underway.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:49.655683-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/23/7204/47720423/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/86000407.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86000407/9d575a5590-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86000407/9d575a5590-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Buckland_abandoned_house.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Buckland_abandoned_house.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47720423","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckland_(Buckland,_North_Carolina)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18711539"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/gates-county/buckland-86000407/"}