Smith, William G., House
Why it's listed
Standing at the head of a gravel road in Granville County, the William G. Smith House is a two-story central block flanked by one-story wings, a plan the nomination calls the only true tripartite dwelling in the county. The house was probably raised in the quarter century before 1816, the year of the death of its first known owner, William G. Smith, a planter who bought 23 tracts of land between 1760 and 1815. Much of the Georgian and transitional Georgian/Federal interior survives, including raised-panel doors, a boxed stair, original three-part surrounds and wainscoting in the hall. Its exterior resembles a small group of houses built in North Carolina's border tobacco counties around 1790 to 1810. The property is significant for its architecture and its link to the county's plantation era, which ended in 1865. An unusually tall mortise-and-tenon smokehouse survives at the rear of the lot.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the house is the only true tripartite dwelling in Granville County and that its interior Georgian and transitional Georgian/Federal finish is among the finest and most complete in the county's late eighteenth and early nineteenth century properties. It is presented as representative of the wealth of the county's planters in the plantation era, and its form is linked to a regional group of houses in North Carolina's border tobacco counties.
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 88000417, listed April 28, 1988. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | NC 1527, Bullock |
|---|---|
| County | Granville County |
| Listed | April 28, 1988 |
| Reference number | 88000417 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | 1790-1816 to 1865 |
| Architectural style | Georgian; transitional Georgian/Federal |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Agriculture, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Acreage | 1 |
| Coordinates | 36.53969, -78.51726 (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 88000417.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q18711656
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.