Oates, Livingston, Farm
Why it's listed
Northeast of Clinton in Sampson County, this farmstead centers on a one-story frame house built around 1875 for Livingston Oates, a local planter and farmer. The house is described as the county's finest example of the bold gable front porch form of the Greek Revival, with an engaged porch carried on six pillars, turned balusters, a lattice frieze, and battered door and window surrounds with peaked lintels. Around it stands an unusually intact group of frame outbuildings: a commissary, a large center-aisle barn and stable measuring 42 by 55 feet, a tractor shed, a two-story packhouse, an early gas pump, and a half-dovetail log root cellar. The 1880 census recorded about 60 cultivated acres, with corn, cotton, swine, sheep and dairy cows. The property stayed in the Oates family until 1978. It was listed for its representative farm layout, its Greek Revival house, and its potential archaeological value.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the farm keeps one of the county's more complete sets of late-19th-century outbuildings, reflecting traditional farmstead layout. The house is described as the county's finest example of the bold gable front porch form of the Greek Revival. A half-dovetail log root cellar is noted as one of the finest log outbuildings in the county, and the site may yield archaeological information.
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 86000572, listed March 17, 1986. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | SR 1748 W of NC 403, Clinton |
|---|---|
| County | Sampson County |
| Listed | March 17, 1986 |
| Reference number | 86000572 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1800-1899 |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival (bold gable front porch form) |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Agriculture, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Condition marked excellent and altered; the house interior was undergoing remodeling at the time of the form. The property was marked as a private residence and agriculture use, occupied. |
| Acreage | 5.8 |
| Coordinates | 35.07016, -78.25750 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
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 86000572.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q19987364
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.