Craig Farmstead
Why it's listed
Craig Farmstead is a 19.20-acre farm complex in southeastern Gaston County, North Carolina, where rolling pasture and woodland still surround a cluster of farm buildings. The farm dates to 1852, when William Moore Craig bought land and built a modest two-room frame house. In 1886 the family completed a two-story Italianate farmhouse built by local house-builder Lawson Henderson Stowe, with bracketed eaves, decorated porches, a center stair hall and eight mantels. Surviving lumber and millwork bills document its construction. Around the houses stand a privy, meat and well house, poultry houses, corn crib and a barn combining log and frame construction. Four generations of Craigs farmed here between 1852 and 1965, and the last family resident left the main house in 1998. The property is recognized locally for the intact Stowe-built house and for the farmstead as a whole, which preserves its arrangement of domestic and agricultural buildings.
Significance in brief: The farmstead has local significance in architecture. The 1886 house is an intact, well-preserved example of work by local house-builder Lawson Henderson Stowe, who fitted bracketed Italianate detail onto the traditional two-story Piedmont farmhouse. Together with the earlier dwelling and the log and frame outbuildings, it is an important surviving Gaston County farmstead that was home to four generations of farmers from 1852 to 1965.
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 06000292, listed April 19, 2006. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 118 Craigland Ln., Gastonia |
|---|---|
| County | Gaston County |
| Listed | April 19, 2006 |
| Reference number | 06000292 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architect / builder | Lawson Henderson Stowe (builder of the 1886 house) |
| Architectural style | Italianate; also single-pen log barn, double-pen barn, double-pen crib |
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Listed as vacant/not in use; the last family resident left the main house in 1998, though the owners maintain it well and the outbuildings are in varying states of deterioration. |
| Acreage | 19.2 |
| Coordinates | 35.18084, -81.10708 (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.
Noted as vacant in the nomination. Nomination documents can be decades old; current status may differ. If you are considering buying an empty listed property, read the due-diligence checklist.
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 06000292.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q19461185
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.