Potts Plantation
Why it's listed
Potts Plantation is a 510-acre farm district between the towns of Cornelius and Davidson in northwest Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. The land is what remains of a 636-acre tract acquired by John Potts in 1753 and has stayed in the family ever since. The core is the plantation seat, a two-story weatherboarded log house built in 1811 for Robert Potts, Jr., and enlarged with one-story wings in 1947. Around it are a log barn, a smokehouse, tenant houses, farm outbuildings, a family cemetery and a slave cemetery. The district contains 27 contributing and nine noncontributing resources dating from 1811 to 1996. Its significance lies in how the buildings, ruins, fields, pastures and woodlands show successive eras of farming: plantation work with enslaved labor, tenant farming after the Civil War, gentleman farming from 1961, and modern cash-crop operations. The rural character survives despite nearby towns and lakeside development.
Significance in brief: The property records 244 years of continuous occupation by a single family, from its 1753 acquisition through plantation, tenant farming, gentleman farming and modern cash-crop periods. The 1811 plantation seat is an important example of Federal/Colonial Revival architecture in the county, and the log barn and smokehouse are typical early log construction in the Piedmont. Ruined outbuildings, two cemeteries and the field patterns also record agricultural change.
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 97001561, listed January 5, 1998. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | S of Davidson, SW of Cornelius, between NC 2693 and NC 115, Cornelius |
|---|---|
| County | Mecklenburg County |
| Listed | January 5, 1998 |
| Reference number | 97001561 |
| Resource type | District |
| Architect / builder | Robert Potts, Jr. (built the 1811 plantation seat for himself); Clifton Eugene Smith (1947 renovation) |
| Architectural style | Federal; Late Victorian; Colonial Revival; traditional farm building patterns |
| Areas of significance | Agriculture, Archeology, Historic - Non-Aboriginal, Social History, European, Black |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Some buildings are occupied or in fair condition. Many outbuildings are abandoned, ruined or storm-damaged, with some damage dating from Hurricane Hugo in 1989. About 102 acres are still cultivated. |
| Acreage | 510.7 |
| Coordinates | 35.47948, -80.84564 (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 97001561.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q19987656
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.