Forney, Jacob, Jr., House
Why it's listed
Built of Flemish bond brick in Burke County, the two-story Jacob Forney, Jr., House was begun on May 4, 1825, and completed by December 1826, according to a journal kept by Forney. Its four-bay east facade has twin entrances with rectangular transoms, flat brick arches and a five-step corbeled cornice. The interior originally followed a Quaker plan, and the cellar includes an ice pit with a chute. A log smokehouse, grainery and double-pen log building stand nearby. Forney, born in 1754, was the son of a Lincoln County pioneer and settled in Burke County around 1780. The house is regarded as a significant example of its related group of plantation houses, and its documented construction date is important because the county's records were burned in 1865. It remained in the Forney family through descendants.
Significance in brief: The house is argued to be a representative member of a related group of Catawba Valley plantation houses, sharing twin central entrances, Quaker plans and Flemish bond brickwork. Its documented 1825-1826 construction date is considered especially important to that group because the county records were destroyed in 1865. The Forney family also has local ties to iron making and the Revolutionary era.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 76001309, listed October 14, 1976. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | NW of Morganton on SR 1440, Morganton |
|---|---|
| County | Burke County |
| Listed | October 14, 1976 |
| Reference number | 76001309 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1800-1899 |
| Architectural style | Federal and later Victorian elements, with Quaker influence and added Eastlake elements |
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | The house is occupied by a family descendant, and the form describes later porch, sunroom and window alterations. |
| Acreage | 9.9 |
| Coordinates | 35.80045, -81.71919 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 76001309.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q18150240
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.