Pigford House
Why it's listed
Built about 1850 near the county seat of Clinton, this one-story, center-hall frame house is a vernacular Greek Revival dwelling with a center gable front porch carried on Doric-style pillars and pilasters. Its board-and-batten siding is unusual in Sampson County, where weatherboard was the common finish, and it is considered the only significant board-and-batten dwelling of its kind surviving in the county. Local tradition links the site to Maryborough, the plantation of James Sampson, nephew of Col. John Sampson, for whom the county was named. The house was associated with the Pigford family, who farmed the land in the late nineteenth century, and it was sold to William Sampson in 1909. Its significance rests on its rare siding, its well-preserved porch form, and its typical place in the county's farm-based history.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the house is one of the county's finest surviving examples of the bold gable front porch form of the Greek Revival, popular in Sampson County from about 1850 to 1900. Its board-and-batten siding is described as rare locally, and it is presented as the county's only significant surviving board-and-batten dwelling. It is also said to be a representative nineteenth-century family farm house.
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 86000574, listed March 17, 1986. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | SR 1751 S of US 701, Clinton |
|---|---|
| County | Sampson County |
| Listed | March 17, 1986 |
| Reference number | 86000574 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | ca. 1850 |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Acreage | 9.5 |
| Coordinates | 35.04460, -78.32445 (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 86000574.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q19987551
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.