{"nrhp_refnum":"95001396","name":"Sunny Side Inn","other_names":["Sunny Side Oyster Bar"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1102 Washington St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Williamston","county":"Martin County","state":"NC","lat":35.84226076700003,"lon":-77.06267393899998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1995-11-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Social History","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A double front-gable, frame Craftsman-style building at 1102 Washington Street in Williamston, Martin County, North Carolina, begun in 1929 as a market by Theodore Roberson and expanded into a cafe and oyster bar.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is an authentic, well-preserved early twentieth-century eastern North Carolina oyster bar, and the only survivor of roughly sixteen such bars that operated in the region between 1931 and 1950. It is also a good example of a small-town cafe/oyster bar from before franchise restaurants. It qualifies under Criterion C for architectural integrity and Criterion A for its link to the history of oyster bars.","narrative":"At 1102 Washington Street in Williamston, a double front-gable frame building in the Craftsman style preserves an uncommon type of eastern North Carolina eatery. Theodore Roberson built it in 1929 as the Sanitary Service Market. In early 1931 he added a lunch room, the Sunny Side Inn, and between 1935 and 1940 a rear oyster bar was added with his sons. After his death in 1940 the market space was absorbed into the restaurant, and since 1945 it has been called the Sunny Side Oyster Bar. Original features include wooden booths, oak floors, beaded-board walls, a U-shaped bar with many original stools, and a steamer used since the 1940s. Of about sixteen oyster bars that operated in eastern towns between 1931 and 1950, it is the only one known to survive. Its architectural integrity and its place in regional oyster-bar history led to its listing under Criteria A and C.","period_of_significance":"1929-1945","architect_builder":"Unknown","architectural_style":"Late 19th & Early 20th Century American: Craftsman","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still operating as a restaurant (oyster bar); a rehabilitation restored the U-shaped bar and the steaming outbuildings were replaced in 1993.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:49.50666-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/21/7212/47721221/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/95001396.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95001396/0d76070631-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95001396/0d76070631-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Ser Amantio di Nicolao","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sunny_Side_Inn,_side_view.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Ser Amantio di Nicolao</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:Sunny_Side_Inn,_side_view.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47721221","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunny_Side_Inn","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q24041068"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/martin-county/sunny-side-inn-95001396/"}