Foust-Carpenter and Dean Dick Farms
Why it's listed
Along Mt. Hope Church and Carpenter House Roads near Whitsett, a 325-acre farm district preserves a working rural landscape in southeastern Guilford County. It includes six dwellings and thirty outbuildings, among them a circa 1898 I-house built for John C. Foust, tenant houses, a nineteenth-century log house, frame barns, corn cribs, pack houses and equipment sheds. Eighteen irregular fields, some terraced, and a network of dirt farm roads follow patterns visible in aerial photographs from 1937. The land was held continuously by the Foust, Carpenter and Dick families, and the Carpenters still grow corn, barley, wheat, tobacco and hay and raise cattle. The Dean Dick farm, started by an African American farmer who bought land in 1905, adds a log dwelling, milk barn and icehouse. Surrounding farms have been subdivided for housing, which makes this the most intact agricultural landscape in Jefferson Township and the reason for its listing.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the district is the most intact agricultural landscape in southeastern Guilford County's Jefferson Township, kept together by continuous family ownership while surrounding farms were subdivided. It preserves farmhouses, tenant houses, barns and sheds, field patterns and farm roads that have changed little since 1937. It also documents the farm of Ernest "Dean" Dick, an African American landowner, alongside the larger Foust and Carpenter farms.
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 09000504, listed July 1, 2009. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | E. and W. sides of Mt. Hope Church Rd., N. and S. sides of Carpenter House Rd., Whitsett |
|---|---|
| County | Guilford County |
| Listed | July 1, 2009 |
| Reference number | 09000504 |
| Resource type | District |
| Architectural style | Other: Two-story frame I-House |
| Areas of significance | Agriculture, Black |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Farming continues, with corn, barley, wheat, tobacco and hay grown and cattle raised. The John C. and Barbara Foust House has served as a tenant house since 1918 and was repaired in 2009. The log house served as a rental until about 2005. |
| Acreage | 325.2 |
| Coordinates | 36.02979, -79.62615 (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 09000504.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q19461817
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.