Oak Avenue Historic District

Oak Avenue is a small residential district of seven frame houses on a ridge southwest of the Southern Railroad, roughly three-quarters of a mile from downtown Jefferson. The oldest houses date from about 1890 and were built on farm properties by O. K. Hood and Henry Silman. Others followed between about 1900 and 1920, including houses built by the Rev. Sam Kelly, who was a pastor and carpenter. The group includes saddlebag, central hallway, Queen Anne cottage, New South cottage and Queen Anne house types, with modest Colonial Revival and Craftsman detailing. Open lawns, large hardwood trees, stone retaining walls and a lack of sidewalks give the area a rural feel. The district was listed for architecture, because so many intact house types survive in a small area, and for agriculture. Two former tenant houses and several large tracts of fields and woods recall the area's farming past and its gradual change to residential use. One tenant house was moved across the street in the 1960s.