Vernon Place
Also known as: Cowper-Taylor House
Why it's listed
Set about five hundred feet north of the highway, east of Como in Hertford County, Vernon Place is a two-story frame house with a T-shaped plan, begun in the late 1820s by planter Richard Green Cowper. Its central-hall interior, Greek Revival woodwork and brick chimneys mark the shift from Federal to Greek Revival taste in the region. Cowper, a major cotton producer who owned about seventy slaves by 1860, served as county sheriff for seventeen years and sat in the state senate several times. The house later passed to lumber magnate Paul Douglas Camp and then to the Taylor family in 1900, who added the Colonial Revival porch and mantels. Its surviving pecan-lined approach, magnolias and early twentieth-century outbuildings are cited as evidence of a prosperous nineteenth-century cotton plantation.
Significance in brief: The house is significant as a representative antebellum plantation dwelling reflecting the cotton-based prosperity of Hertford County and the stylistic shift from Federal to Greek Revival architecture. It is also associated with Richard Green Cowper, a large cotton planter and long-serving state politician, and briefly with lumber magnate Paul Douglas Camp. The surrounding outbuildings may yield information about nineteenth-century plantation life.
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 82003469, listed April 29, 1982. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | N of Como off US 258, Como |
|---|---|
| County | Hertford County |
| Listed | April 29, 1982 |
| Reference number | 82003469 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1800-1899 |
| Architectural style | Transitional Federal to Greek Revival |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Agriculture, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Recently renovated and in good repair, remaining a working farm of about 108 acres. |
| Acreage | 100 |
| Coordinates | 36.50689, -77.00311 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary: it recognises significance and does not restrict what a private owner may do without federal money or permits. It unlocks the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit for income-producing buildings, state credits in many states, and Section 106 review when federal agencies are involved. See what listing means in practice.
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 82003469.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q18749724
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.