Terrell Historic District
Why it's listed
Terrell is a small crossroads settlement in the southeast corner of Catawba County, North Carolina, where NC 150 meets Sherrills Ford Road. It grew in the 1880s to serve prosperous surrounding farms and centers on a two-story general store and post office built in the early 1890s that still serves its original purposes. Nearby are an early twentieth-century grist mill, a 1932 cotton gin with its machinery intact, cotton storage buildings, and several farmhouses. The oldest, built about 1854, shows simple Greek Revival influence. The T. F. Connor House, a Stick style dwelling of 1886, was designed by Charles H. Lester, the county's earliest known architect. Rehobeth Methodist Church, organized before 1791, and its cemetery lie at the south end. The district was listed as the most intact crossroads community left in the county, reflecting local farming, commerce and the families who shaped them. The creation of Lake Norman in the 1960s brought seasonal visitors, yet the historic buildings remain largely intact.
Significance in brief: The nomination calls it the most intact crossroads community remaining in Catawba County and representative of the general-store settlements that dotted rural North Carolina. It contains a vernacular Greek Revival farmhouse from about 1854 and an 1886 Stick style house designed by early county architect Charles H. Lester. It is also tied to the postbellum agricultural and commercial growth of the area and to locally prominent families.
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 86001685, listed July 15, 1986. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | NC 150 and SR 1848, Terrell |
|---|---|
| County | Catawba County |
| Listed | July 15, 1986 |
| Reference number | 86001685 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | late 19th-early 20th centuries |
| Architect / builder | Charles H. Lester (architect of the T. F. Connor House); other buildings see individual inventory entries |
| Architectural style | Vernacular Greek Revival influence, Stick style, late Victorian vernacular |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Commerce, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Still an active community: the Connor Store and Post Office continue their original functions, the church is in use, and the grist mill is used for private storage. The cotton gin closed in 1960 but its machinery remains. |
| Acreage | 150 |
| Coordinates | 35.54094, -80.97522 (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 86001685.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q18158688
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.