Elizabeth City Historic District (Boundary Increase)

This residential area on the west side of Elizabeth City, North Carolina, extends an existing historic district beyond the town's original 1793 limits. Bounded roughly by Cedar, West Grice, Elliott and Ashe streets, it was largely farmland before 1891, though a small community of free Black residents lived along what is now Culpepper Street in the 1850s. Most of the 424 contributing resources are frame houses built between the 1890s and the early 1940s. Queen Anne dwellings with Colonial Revival finishes dominate the earlier period, followed by American Foursquare, Craftsman Bungalow and Tudor Revival houses. Victorian millwork decorates many porches and gables. The oldest and most notable buildings include the ca. 1793 Shirley-Armstrong House and the ca. 1849 Greek Revival Charles-Hussey House, whose brick dairy and winery are described as the only known brick antebellum outbuildings in the Albemarle region. Garages record the growing role of the automobile. Dogwood-lined streets and picket fences add to the setting.