Wimbish, Lewis, Plantation
Why it's listed
Built around 1850 on a rise above Grassy Creek in Granville County, North Carolina, the plantation house is a two-story Greek Revival dwelling with a heavy timber frame, a T-plan and a portico of four fluted round columns and two fluted pilasters. Lewis Wimbish bought the 736-acre tract for $7,000 in 1850 and died a year later at 36, and the house is thought to be his. Its interior has a wide central hall, seven-panel doors with bull's-eye cornerblocks, and marbleized stairs and mantels. A plaster-walled privy, dating from before the Civil War, and several early twentieth-century tobacco-era outbuildings sit around the house. A one-room dwelling, locally called the overseer's house, predates the main house and keeps much of its original finish, including a cut stone chimney and a transitional Georgian/Federal mantel. The property is important mainly as an intact example of a larger plantation and later tobacco farm.
Significance in brief: The house is regarded as one of the most finely finished and complete Greek Revival properties in Granville County, with a notable portico and marbleized interior woodwork. Together with the earlier overseer's house, the privy and the surrounding streams and fields, the property is said to evoke plantation life before the Civil War, and its outbuildings evoke a later bright leaf tobacco farm.
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 88000418, listed April 28, 1988. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | NC 1443, Grassy Creek |
|---|---|
| County | Granville County |
| Listed | April 28, 1988 |
| Reference number | 88000418 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | c. 1850-1937 |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Agriculture, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | The property has been used as a bright leaf tobacco farm within the past 50 years; the former overseer's house is described as vacant. |
| Acreage | 31 |
| Coordinates | 36.52360, -78.58864 (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 88000418.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q18711692
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.