West Union Street Historic District
Also known as: See Also:Mountain View; Riddle, Dr. Joseph Bennett, House; Tat
Why it's listed
West Union Street, Montrose Street and Riverside Drive in Morganton form a residential district of 75 buildings, 62 of them contributing, built between about 1815 and 1940. West Union Street grew from the Asheville Highway and was an early residential area outside the original town grid. The first major wave of building came in the 1890s, when prosperous citizens built large Queen Anne houses on landscaped lots. A second wave in the 1920s and 1930s made the area a showcase of Colonial Revival architecture. Notable examples include the Kistler-Stoney House, designed by Charlotte architect M. R. Marsh, and the stone Franklin P. Tate House, designed by New York architect Electus Litchfield. Bungalows, Tudor Revival houses and the ca. 1815 Mountain View Plantation House add variety. Garages built to match the houses form a distinctive group of secondary buildings. Some modern houses and a 1970 church complex are noncontributing, but the district retains its historic character.
Significance in brief: The district holds Morganton's most stylistically sophisticated collection of residential architecture, including Queen Anne and Colonial Revival houses built for the town's most prominent citizens. It reflects the 1890s wave of development and the 1920s-30s Colonial Revival building boom. Several houses were designed by architects from Charlotte and New York.
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 87001931, listed November 9, 1987. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Roughly parts of W. Union St., Montrose St., & Riverside Dr., Morganton |
|---|---|
| County | Burke County |
| Listed | November 9, 1987 |
| Reference number | 87001931 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | ca. 1815-ca. 1940 |
| Architect / builder | Various (including M. R. Marsh and Louis Asbury of Charlotte, and Electus D. Litchfield of New York) |
| Architectural style | Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, bungalow, Tudor Revival and vernacular Victorian |
| Areas of significance | Community Planning and Development, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Houses are generally well maintained; condition marked excellent/good. Nearly all historic properties remain single-family residences, and one house is used by the First Baptist Church. |
| Acreage | 32.5 |
| Coordinates | 35.73947, -81.69629 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
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 87001931.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q18159222
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.