Morrison, Robert Harvey, Farm and Pioneer Mills Gold Mine

Cedarvale, the Robert Harvey Morrison Farm near Midland in Cabarrus County, is a 27.7-acre property combining a restored antebellum plantation house with the remains of a gold mine. The two-story, weatherboarded Greek Revival house has a central hall plan, a porch across the front, and nine-over-nine windows. It was probably built after Morrison inherited the land in 1846. It is among the best preserved of thirty-five Greek Revival houses in the county. Nearby are a c.1846 log smokehouse and a two-story double-pen log barn, along with later farm buildings. About 600 feet southwest lie the Pioneer Mills Gold Mine shaft site, an ore mill mound, and a ruined miner's cabin. Mining began around 1832 and apparently ended by about 1860, and the shaft reached a depth of 147 feet. The property was recognized for its architecture and for the archaeological potential of the mine remains, which could show how small antebellum gold mines operated.