Speed Farm
Why it's listed
Speed Farm covers about 600 acres of rolling fields, pasture and pine woods in northeastern Franklin County, North Carolina. Its buildings sit in two groups on the west side of SR 1436: a domestic compound and a larger agricultural compound. The main house was built around 1847, probably for Archibald Taylor, as a one-and-a-half-story dwelling. Robert Alexander Speed bought the farm in 1857, and his son Henry Plummer Speed raised the house to two full stories in 1900. Nearby are a kitchen, smoke house and milk house of the same period, along with a small cemetery. The farm complex includes a heavy-timber barn from the 1840s or 1850s, corn cribs, a granary, tobacco barns, a ram tower and a 1930s tenant house. The farm has stayed with one family for three generations and records the shift from slave-based agriculture to tenant farming, the Depression and tobacco price supports, which is why it was listed as a historic district.
Significance in brief: The farm has been owned by three generations of the Speed family since 1857 and holds domestic and agricultural buildings from the antebellum period through the mid-twentieth century. Its heavy-timber barn, tobacco barns, tenant house and other outbuildings reflect the changes in North Carolina farming, from slave-based agriculture to tenant farming and tobacco price supports.
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 91001907, listed December 27, 1991. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | W side NC 1436 between NC 1432 and NC 1434, Gupton |
|---|---|
| County | Franklin County |
| Listed | December 27, 1991 |
| Reference number | 91001907 |
| Resource type | District |
| Architect / builder | Archibald Taylor (presumed builder of the ca. 1847 house); Henry Plummer Speed (1900 remodelling) |
| Architectural style | No Style; Other: I-House |
| Areas of significance | Agriculture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Still a working farm producing hay, grains, livestock, and tobacco, with the house in domestic use; some outbuildings are used for storage. |
| Acreage | 596 |
| Coordinates | 36.18511, -78.19216 (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 91001907.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q24436219
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.