{"nrhp_refnum":"90001032","name":"Bolick Historic District","other_names":["Bolick Buggy Shop","Bolick Family Houses"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"First Ave. S. between US 64/70 and 12th St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Conover","county":"Catawba County","state":"NC","lat":35.69787564300006,"lon":-81.21984219183096,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1990-07-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A district at the southern edge of Conover, Catawba County, North Carolina, made up of the remaining Jerome Bolick & Sons Company buggy and vehicle-body works and four family houses with outbuildings, built from 1883 through the 1930s.","why_significant":"The district is significant for industry as the site of a buggy maker that shifted to truck and school bus bodies and closed in 1978. It also has architectural value in its 1883 brick-and-stone buggy shop and the Colonial Revival and bungalow houses, one designed by architect R. L. Clemmer. It is also tied to Jerome Bolick, called the 'Father of Conover Industry'.","narrative":"Bolick Historic District, at the southern edge of Conover, groups the surviving buildings of a family buggy works with four houses built by the founder's sons. The oldest building is the 1883 buggy shop, a one-story structure with a lower third of cut stone and brick above. Jerome Bolick built it, and he patented a steel spring wheel in 1888. His firm made buggies until demand fell after 1919, then moved to truck bodies and, from 1929, school buses, becoming one of the larger bus builders in the South before closing in 1978. The houses date from about 1905 to 1938 and include a gambrel-roofed Colonial Revival dwelling, a 1920 bungalow, and two brick Colonial Revival houses. One of these, from 1936, was designed by Hickory architect R. L. Clemmer and has a rustic cabin, bowling alley and barbecue shelter. The district was recognized for industrial history, architecture and its link to Jerome Bolick.","period_of_significance":"1883-1939","architect_builder":"Jerome Bolick; R. L. Clemmer, architect; Herman & Sipe Builders","architectural_style":"Colonial Revival; Bungalow/Craftsman","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"The 1883 buggy shop is not in use. The later factory buildings are used as warehousing, and the houses remain dwellings.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:50.358185-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/57/7174/47717457/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/90001032.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47717457","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolick_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18149039"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/catawba-county/bolick-historic-district-90001032/"}