Tate, Franklin Pierce, House
Why it's listed
Built in 1928 on a nearly three-acre lot along West Union Street in Morganton, this two-story house combines Georgian and Federal-era design with 1920s conveniences. New York architect Electus D. Litchfield designed it, and it is faced in rock-cut granite from the Mount Airy quarry of the North Carolina Granite Corporation. Its features include a slate roof, a five-bay front with a semicircular columned portico, an elliptical fanlight over the entry, and a cantilevered oak staircase in the center hall. It was built for Franklin Pierce Tate, a Morganton banker, real estate figure and cotton-mill president, and his wife Martha Thomason Tate, who served as principal of the North Carolina School for the Deaf. West Union Street was the town's leading residential address, and this house is described as its most architecturally sophisticated Colonial Revival example. A rehabilitation in 1983-85 added landscaping and altered some interior materials while keeping the overall character.
Significance in brief: The house is presented as one of the finest and most sophisticated Colonial Revival buildings in Morganton, the style favored by the town's 1920s entrepreneurial class. It is also associated with banker and mill president Franklin Pierce Tate and his wife Martha Thomason Tate, a principal of the North Carolina School for the Deaf.
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 86001171, listed May 21, 1986. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 410 W. Union St., Morganton |
|---|---|
| County | Burke County |
| Listed | May 21, 1986 |
| Reference number | 86001171 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1900- (built 1928) |
| Architect / builder | Electus D. Litchfield, Architect |
| Architectural style | Colonial Revival (Georgian Revival) |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Private residence in excellent condition; restored and rehabilitated in 1983-85 by the then owners, with some altered interior features and new landscaping. |
| Acreage | 2.9 |
| Within district | West Union Street Historic District |
| Coordinates | 35.74072, -81.69443 (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 86001171.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q18158637
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.