Beaver Dam Plantation House
Why it's listed
Beaver Dam is a two-story, single-pile frame plantation house set on a knoll overlooking Beaver Dam Creek southeast of Davidson. An inscription in a chimney indicates it was finished in September 1829 for William Lee Davidson, Jr., son of Revolutionary general William Lee Davidson. The house follows a plan typical of small Piedmont planters, with an asymmetrical four-bay front, Flemish bond end chimneys, nine-over-nine sash and simple Federal interior woodwork, including a fluted dining room mantel. In April 1835 a Concord Presbytery committee met here and selected a 469-acre tract belonging to Davidson for a new manual labor school, later named Davidson College in honor of his father. Davidson served as an original trustee and officer of the college. Later owners included Joseph Patterson, Rufus Barringer and the Hovis family. The property, once more than a square mile, now covers about 8.7 acres, and the house was extensively renovated in the 1970s.
Significance in brief: The house is tied to the founding of Davidson College: a committee of the Concord Presbytery met here in April 1835 and chose land belonging to William Lee Davidson, Jr. for the school. It was also the seat of a prominent planter family and is one of the oldest surviving Davidson-associated houses in the county.
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 79001735, listed March 19, 1979. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | SE of Davidson on NC 73, Davidson |
|---|---|
| County | Mecklenburg County |
| Listed | March 19, 1979 |
| Reference number | 79001735 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1800-1899 |
| Architectural style | Federal |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Education, Exploration/Settlement |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Occupied as a private residence, in good condition but heavily renovated by the present owner after years as a rental and periods of vacancy. |
| Acreage | 8.7 |
| Coordinates | 35.47561, -80.81770 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For a publicly owned building or structure, listing mainly matters when federal funds, permits or licences are involved: projects then go through Section 106 review so effects on the property are considered. Listing also strengthens applications for preservation grants and, for leased income-producing uses, can enable the federal rehabilitation tax credit.
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 79001735.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q19460425
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.