{"nrhp_refnum":"97000487","name":"Hite Store","other_names":["Riverview","VDHR Inventory No. 5-58"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"0.25 mi. S of jct. of VA 778 and VA 666","address_restricted":false,"city":"Lowesville","county":"Amherst County","state":"VA","lat":37.71840386700006,"lon":-79.06688375699997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1997-06-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture","Politics/Government"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick general store with attached living quarters, built c. 1869 in the hamlet of Lowesville, Amherst County, Virginia. It stands with outbuildings on a small parcel beside the Piney River.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the Hite Store is an unusually large and stylish rural general store for its date, with Greek Revival detailing and a compact plan that holds both the sales room and storekeeper's residence. Comparable brick rural stores of this age are described as relatively rare in Virginia. It was also the center of community life, serving as the Lowesville Post Office from about 1876 until the early 1990s and housing the Lowesville Academy around 1890.","narrative":"Built around 1869, the Hite Store is a two-story brick building on a raised basement in the center of Lowesville, Amherst County. Its L-shaped plan places the sales room in a wing facing Route 778, with living quarters for the storekeeper at the rear. Greek Revival elements include a hipped roof, a boxed cornice, simple mantels and a second-floor front entrance with sidelights and a transom. Henry Loving and Nathan C. Taliaferro bought the land in 1869 and probably built the store soon afterward. The building also served as the Lowesville Post Office from about 1876 until the early 1990s, and the Lowesville Academy met there around 1890. The nomination describes it as larger, more stylish and more costly than the typical small frame rural store of its period. Three outbuildings from the later nineteenth century contribute to the property, including a double-pen log barn. Two relocated outbuildings do not contribute. Today the building houses an arts and crafts shop.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Probably built by Henry Loving and Nathan C. Taliaferro","architectural_style":"Greek Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Currently used as a specialty arts and crafts store; the present owner has restored parts of the building and added a rear porch and bathroom addition.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:00.939313-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/37/6795/41679537/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/97000487.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/97000487/50336f304a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/97000487/50336f304a-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hite_Store_at_Lowesville.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hite_Store_at_Lowesville.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41679537","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hite_Store","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14712543"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/amherst-county/hite-store-97000487/"}