North Green Street-Bouchelle Street Historic District

Northwest of downtown Morganton, this neighborhood of 40 buildings lines parts of North Green, Bouchelle and Patterson streets. Its houses date from about 1876 to about 1935. The earliest is the Avery-Summersette House, an Italianate-influenced brick residence built for attorney and jurist A. C. Avery. Around 1890 it was joined by large frame Queen Anne and Victorian houses, including the Perkins, Howard and Connelly houses. Later, lots were subdivided and filled with more modest Craftsman bungalows, cottages and Colonial Revival homes. Bouchelle Street also includes a small black neighborhood tied to the Avery family, whose members helped found the St. Stephen's mission of Grace Episcopal Church and sold the land for the present church, built about 1948. The district was recognized as an example of Morganton's pattern of early substantial houses followed by smaller infill housing, and for its collection of Victorian and bungalow architecture. Commercial pressure is greatest along North Green Street, a major traffic route near downtown.