Winston, Obediah, Farm
Why it's listed
Obediah Winston Farm is a 38-acre tobacco farm along State Road 1638 near Creedmoor. Its centerpiece is a two-story, one-room-deep timber frame house with beaded weatherboards, built probably in the 1850s by Obediah and Permelia Bullock Winston. The Greek Revival finish includes octagonal porch columns, six-over-six windows, two-panel doors and post-and-lintel mantels. The plan is unusual for the county, which favored center-hall I-houses. East of the house stands a square-notched log building that was probably a slave house and may have served as a kitchen. Census records show the family's land value and slave holdings rising sharply between 1850 and 1860. Later outbuildings include a packhouse, tobacco barn, stable, smokehouse, potato house and tenant house, which reflect bright leaf tobacco farming after the Civil War. The farm stayed in the Winston family until 1962. A marker memorializes the family graves, now plowed under.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the house is an intact, finely finished and unusually planned example of an antebellum Greek Revival dwelling in rural Granville County. The log outbuilding may be one of the few surviving slave houses in a county that was about half enslaved at the Civil War. The remaining outbuildings and fields illustrate life on a bright leaf tobacco farm through 1937.
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 88001261, listed August 31, 1988. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | NC 1638, Creedmoor |
|---|---|
| County | Granville County |
| Listed | August 31, 1988 |
| Reference number | 88001261 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | 1850s-1937 |
| Architect / builder | Unknown; the house is said by local tradition to have been built by Obediah Winston |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Agriculture, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | The property continues as a single dwelling and working farm, rented to tenants who farm it and keep it in excellent condition. |
| Acreage | 38 |
| Coordinates | 36.13955, -78.66569 (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 88001261.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q23073832
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.