Greenville Life in the East - Summer 2021 by APG Eastern NC

Greenville LIFE in the EAST

SUMMER 2021

HISTORY SPEAKS Enthusiasts preserve the past for the future at home and in the community

INSIDE:

VILLAGE & FARM MUSUEM, GREENVILLE MUSEUM OF ART, LOCAL LANDMARKS, OLD HOUSE MAFIA

TRUTH

HONOR

INITIATIVE

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Greenville: Life In The East

Summer 2021

contents Publisher Robin L. Quillon Editor Bobby Burns Contributing writers Donna Davis, Karen Eckert, Kim Grizzard, Deborah Griffin, Pat Gruner Photographers Bobby Burns, Deborah Griffin Pat Gruner Regional Advertising Director Craig Springer

Advertising representatives Tom Little, Christina Ruotolo, Ken Rhodes & Rubie Smith Creative services director Jessica Harris Creative services Lora Jernigan, Emily Leach Layout design Jasmine Blount Greenville: Life in the East is a publication of The Daily Reflector and Adams Publishing Group ENC. Contents may not be reproduced without the consent of the publisher.

04 IT TAKES A VILLAGE

ARTISTIC ABODE

ANOTHER FLANAGAN HOUSE

LOCAL LANDMARKS

34 OLD HOUSE MAFIA

FROM THE EDITOR Take a look around Greenville and it seems like every month a new shopping center, retail outlet, apartments or a housing development is underway. This is a good thing in many ways for sure. Too many towns in eastern North Carolina have the opposite problem: blight and decay. But sometimes, maybe too often, that development takes place at the expense of history. When a new building goes up, older ones may have to come down. Recent examples include the old College View Apartments on 10th Street, a community of duplexes built after World War II, and the bungalows amid the treelined streets of the Glen Arthur neighborhood. Both were bulldozed to make way for large student housing complexes. Fortunately, there are dozens of locations in the city and surrounding countryside where property owners, community groups and preservationists have managed to keep the structures that help give us a sense of time and place and a knowledge of who we are. This issue of Greenville Life in the East features just a few of those efforts. One of the most far reaching is the designated landmark program managed by the city’s planning department and its Historic Preservation Commission. Read inside about the latest site added to the list, the Flanagan-Wagner House on Fifth Street. The city gives substantial tax credits to owners who maintain historic features of their properties. There are now more than 30 landmarks and listings on the National Register of Historic Places in the city. You can find them all listed inside. Additionally, you can learn about the efforts of the volunteers who operate the Eastern Carolina Village and Farm Museum south of town, and how the Greenville Museum of Art incorporates the history of its home, the Flanagan House on Evans Street, with its artistic mission. Last but not least, read about a group of people so devoted to restoring their old homes that they have formed a bond with each other that one property owner refers to as the Old House Mafia. What we have published here only scratches the surface of what’s happening in

Eastern Carolina Village and Farm Museum board members Joanne Honeycutt and Roger Kammerer stand outside Eagle’s School building at the museum property on County Home Road in Greenville.

Summer 2021

the area to preserve its history. Hopefully it’s enough to kindle some interest and encourage everyone to learn more.

— Bobby Burns Greenville: Life In The East

An early Pitt County church is among the assortment of vintage structures that make up the Eastern Carolina Village and Farm Museum at 4570 County Home Road south of Greenville. The pews, above right, made from large pine planks like the floor, date from the 1700s and were discovered underneath the building when it was moved.

Volunteer and village board member Joanne Honeycutt stands in the restored Eagles School building, named for her father, Connor Eagles, one of the village founders. Murals by Roger Kammerer on the walls depict historical views from across Pitt County.

It takes a village

Devoted volunteers keep Eastern Carolina Village and Farm Museum running By Donna Davis

veryone has seen it. If you have

Bobby Burns

hidden in plain sight.

adopted a pet, taken a load of

It began when Connor Eagles and Lester

trash to the dump, or bought

Turnage, along with some other men in the

“I have lived in eastern North

homegrown vegetables at the

American Legion, brainstormed a way to

Carolina for 40 years and

Leroy James Farmer’s Market, you were

commemorate the country’s 200th birthday.

witnessed first-hand how

right beside it. Walkers on the trails at

“Somebody came up with the suggestion

farms are disappearing with

Alice Keene Park couldn’t miss it if they

that they put together a collection of old

the collapse of the tobacco

glanced across the road. Parents dropping

tools and put them in the exhibit hall of

industry and the increasing

off children at Wintergreen Primary pass

the fairgrounds,” board member Joanne

pace of economic and urban

right by it.

Honeycutt explained. That’s Joanne Eagles

development. Without the

The assortment of vintage buildings

Honeycutt. She has reason to know a little

efforts of the museum, many

and barns known as The Eastern Carolina

something about the museum’s origins …

of these increasingly rare tools

Village and Farm Museum blends into the

Conner Eagles was her father.

and technologies might be lost

landscape like a Norman Rockwell painting on County Home Road. But even those

to history.” A VILLAGE IS BORN

who have been around long enough to

The old tool display generated so much

remember its former name and location —

excitement in 1976 among fairgoers that

Village and Farm Museum board

“Village of Yesteryear” at the Pitt County

the two realized they couldn’t stop there.

member

Fairgrounds — may not realize the origin

“These two men put all this together in

and significance of the historical gem

seven years,” Honeycutt said. Donations

Summer 2021

Greenville: Life In The East

Holly Hoag, Eastern Carolina

came in and a village was born, with hundreds of artifacts and old

of these old farmers. They ooh and ah because of all the farm

farm structures added to a site at the fairgrounds.

equipment we have. You wouldn’t believe how excited they get,”

Local historian, artist and board member Roger Kammerer became involved with the museum when Eagles commissioned him to paint murals of significant Pitt County buildings that now hang in the

Kammerer said, re-enacting convincingly. It is purported to be the most impressive collection of farm equipment south of the Smithsonian.

1903 Eagles School building on the museum property. “Here we have the first administration building at ECU, the old

LABOR OF LOVE

Austin building,” Kammerer said, gesturing toward his rendering

Holly Hoag, chair of the grants committee and board member,

displayed high on the wall. “It was torn down around 1967. But did

said she became involved with the museum when her son, Wesley,

you know there was a secret base upstairs?”

was looking for an Eagle Scout project.

His voice takes on an energetic lilt of excitement that can only

“He was interested in history and wanted to do something for

come from a fascination with history. “Communications system

the museum,” Hoag said. “He came up with the idea of installing a

during the cold war? There was a secretary who worked there for

flagpole in front of the historic Eagles School.”

30 years who didn’t know anything about it. Eventually when the

Hoag has now been a member of the board for 10 years.

government let it go, they donated all that equipment to ECU and

She said that several scouts have assisted with projects,

it became the ECU radio station.”

ranging from the construction of picnic tables, benches and waste

The village includes the triad common in most eastern Carolina communities: a school, a church, and store/post office combination,

receptacles to planting trees and even constructing and installing the split rail fence surrounding the property.

along with numerous out-buildings and homes. Honeycutt and

Describing herself as a cultural anthropologist with an interest in

Kammerer are excited to point out details such as original church

historic preservation, Hoag and her husband, Ron, restored a home

pews dating from the 1700s found underneath a church in the

built in 1820 and conducted a lot of research on the architectural

county, hewn out of enormous slabs of pine.

history of eastern North Carolina.

School groups often come to tour the museum. “We have as many out of town schools to come, as local,” Honeycutt said.

“I was so impressed that this small group of volunteers had assembled such an amazing collection of early buildings and

“We’re connected with the visitor’s bureau and we’re on a historic

artifacts representing the history of farm life in the county that I

trail. We’ll have tour buses pull up, and you wouldn’t believe some

wanted to be part of their work,” she said. “I have lived in eastern

Scales in the Satterwaite store would have been used to weigh customer purchases before the store was relocated from the Pactolus area.

Greenville: Life In The East

Summer 2021

Historian and village board member Roger Kammerer shows off a hand-cranked churn, one of many artifacts at the Satterwaite store that fascinate guests when they tour, he said.

Reproductions of canned goods sold at the store line a shelf behind the counter. The store carried everything customers needed, Kammerer said. “If they didn’t have it, you didn’t need it.”

Pictures in the Satterwaite store shows former owners.

The Eagles School Budiling stands proximately on the museum grounds.

The back of the store doubled as a post office and a game room.

North Carolina for 40 years and witnessed

and Jo Allison Smith foundation and the

American cabinet maker of the 1850s. The

first-hand how farms are disappearing with

Covington Foundation provided funding. The

virtual presentations are also recorded and

the collapse of the tobacco industry and

result was restoration of the Savage House,

archivable so they can be shared on the

the increasing pace of economic and urban

the Eagles school and the Satterwaite store.

museum’s website for others to view.

development. Without the efforts of the

“We have just received a grant to restore our

museum, many of these increasingly rare

log buildings on site,” Hoag said.

tools and technologies might be lost to history.”

What lies ahead? Plans are to use a mix of virtual and on-site, activity-based

Yet, the champions of the museum point

events. One event on the horizon is to

out that they must raise all the funds used

have a blacksmith come and talk while

When the museum had to be relocated

for programming and have no regular source

using the blacksmith shop and equipment

from the fairgrounds north of Greenville, the

of support or full-time director. Their efforts

on site to do a demonstration of the art of

county provided the land for the new site

depend on volunteers.

blacksmithing. Plans are also afoot to create

south of town. “It was part of the original

Many events are hosted at the museum

a Family Farming Heritage Award, Hoag

farm that serviced the Pitt County Home for

including an annual Fall Festival for families

said, to recognize eastern North Carolina’s

the Aged and Infirmed, which stood across

and Christmas candlelight tours. A Classic

farming families.

the street on County Home Road,” Hoag

Car Show fundraiser was held June 5 and a

Tim Britton, current board president,

said.

cocktail reception at Myrtle Grove Plantation

said, “We are honored to help preserve a

is planned as a fundraiser in October.

treasure of eastern North Carolina history.

Hoag explained that in recent years her colleague, archaeologist Charles Ewen, has

The organization’s “History Speaks”

Each of our buildings are full of wonderful

led student teams to excavate the area.

lecture series has been held for the past five

stories of times past. As we come out of

“The old barn on the property is original

years, and when the pandemic restricted in-

this pandemic, our hope is to open more

to the home. Board members Jack Taft

person events, they kept the series going

frequently to the public and offer more

and Bob Newton were able to locate and

virtually.

programs to educate our visitors of what

purchase the original farm bell which has

“The use of a virtual, online platform

been restored. In addition, the poor farm

increased attendance and also enabled us

cemetery stands at the back of the site.”

to attract speakers from outside the area,” Hoag said.

HISTORICAL TREASURE

One held in April featured Diana Bell-

Both Honeycutt and Hoag were quick to

Kite, curator at N.C. Museum of History,

express appreciation for financial support.

who spoke on the history of quilts. Another

The Perkins, Wells and West trusts, the Eddie

focused on Thomas Day, a prominent African

Summer 2021

Greenville: Life In The East

life was like for our grandparents and great grandparents living in the area.”

To stay apprised of upcoming events, follow the museum on their website, https://easterncarolinavillage.org/ and on Facebook. 9

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Artistic abode

Once home to a prominent family, the Flanagan House has been Greenville’s art museum for more than 60 years

By Karen Eckert

Archival, staff and contributed photos

he current resident of the

Home movies filmed during the first half

a stately structure in the Colonial Revival

Flanagan House at the corner of

of the 20th century (available at www.gmoa.

style — is not the same house that the

Eighth and Evans streets enjoys

org) show that the original occupants of the

Flanagans first occupied at the turn of the

entertaining visitors for special

house enjoyed hosting parties as well —

20th century.

events.

and playing in the snow on the front lawn.

In 1901 Edward and Rosa Flanagan built

That resident is the Greenville Museum

Those homeowners were Edward Gaskill

a Victorian-style house at 802 S. Evans St.

of Art, and those events include the First

Flanagan and his wife, Rosa Mildred Hooker

on property they inherited from Rosa’s

Friday Art Walk, Breakfast with Santa, Family

Flanagan.

mother.

Fun Days, the Fine Arts Ball and ARTinis to name a few.

In her presentation, Porter revealed how

The couple lived in that home for over

the home of one prominent Pitt County

30 years, bringing up their family of four children.

“We just celebrated our 48th A nnual Ball

family eventually became home to a visual

a few weeks ago,” said Trista Reis Porter,

art center and the twists and turns that each

executive director of the GMoA, who spoke

encountered along the way.

recently at a Pitt County Historical Society webinar, “60 Years of Art at the Flanagan House.”

Edward Flanagan (1875-1942) was an important figure in the history of both Greenville and North Carolina, according to

BUILDING A FAMILY HOME, TWICE The Flanagan House as it stands t oday —

Porter and local historian Roger Kammerer. Flanagan was the owner of a buggy

The Greenville Museum of Art today occupies what once was the home of Edward and Rosa Flanagan at 802 S. Evans St.

Rosa Flanagan

Edward Flanagan

company that had previously belonged to his father, John Flanagan. With the onset of automobiles, it became a successful Ford dealership. The buggy company also sold coffins, and Flanagan became an embalmer and funeral home director. He also was a banker and a leader in local and state government. “It is difficult to find much information about Rosa Flanagan (1877-

The Flanagans’ house once was among many large and historical homes that lined Evans Street in what was known as Forbestown.

1963), but she was known to have a love for oil painting. Because of this, it seems fitting that the Flanagan home eventually became the site of the Greenville Museum of Art,” Porter said. In 1934 a fire completely destroyed the interior of the Flanagans’ Victorian-style home, according to Porter. However, everyone present in the house at the time of the fire was able to escape, she said. The Flanagans chose to rebuild the home at the same location, but this time in the Colonial Revival style, Porter said. A Wilson-based architect, Thomas Herman, worked with the Flanagans on the design of the house, she said. The Flanagans were very influential in the city of Greenville, and that influence included architecture, according to Kammerer. “This Colonial Revival style was indicative of wealthier families at the time and resurrected a lot of the architectural details found in earlier 18th century colonial houses. It contains brick details, rhythmic porch columns supporting a sweeping cornice, Palladian windows, black iron railings and a grand interior spiral staircase that opens (onto) the two main floors of the home. “The Flanagan home is one of the few structures of its type and historical significance still standing in this neighborhood of Greenville, though the street was once lined with them,” Porter said. The neighborhood was known at the time as “Forbestown,” named after Alfred Forbes, who owned the expanse of land that was developed for the building of the homes, according to Kammerer. “The house deed was given to daughter Rosamond Flanagan Wagner in 1944 following the death (in 1942) of her father, Edward,” Porter said. FINDING A HOME FOR THE ARTS Like the Flanagan House, the Greenville Museum of Art has

East Carolina students spruce up the old carriage house in 1965, a few years after the Greenville Art Center occupied the home. The carriage house was destroyed by Hurricane Matthew in 2016.

undergone its own transformation over the years. Summer 2021

Greenville: Life In The East

Groundfloor rooms in the house were converted into galleries, often incorporating features like shelving, fireplaces and mantels. Windows were covered to protect the artwork.

In 1939, just a few years after the Flanagans’ home was destroyed and rebuilt, the museum was getting its own start elsewhere in the city, according to Porter.

in some historical records it is sometimes referred to as the Greenville Art Center, Porter said. This arrangement lasted for many years, but that location, too,

In the years leading up until then, Greenville had shown an interest in the arts in the form of festivals and exhibitions sponsored by the Greenville Woman’s Club, but these events had been temporary.

would prove impermanent as the library eventually needed space for its own expansion, Porter said. In 1955 citizens in Pitt and surrounding counties formed a new nonprofit organization, the East Carolina Art Society, that would take

In 1939, local citizens partnered with the federal Works Progress Administration to establish a more permanent art facility, Porter said.

a fresh approach to supporting the arts in the region. The society dissolved the Community Art Center and appointed a committee to find a facility where a new art center, to be called

The WPA Art Gallery was established and located in a storefront

the Greenville Art Center, could be housed, Porter said.

at the corner of Fifth and Cotanche streets, today the home of Kings

On Dec. 30, 1959, the society was able to purchase the Flanagan

Deli, she said.

House from Rosamond Flanagan and her husband, T.I. Wagner,

“(It) was one of seven galleries in North Carolina to receive federal funds,” Porter said.

Porter said. “The house had actually been vacant for a number of months,

“None of this would have been possible without the leadership

and the rumored price for the property was over $30,000. They

of one important woman, Rachel Maxwell Moore,” she said. “Moore

ended up negotiating a purchase price of $22,000, which had yet

had a genuine enthusiasm for the arts that inspired the artistic

to be raised at that point, but happened eventually, of course,”

interests of all who knew her.”

Porter said.

While the WPA Art Gallery provided a base for art exhibitions and classes for several years, it would not remain a permanent location.

Rosamond Flanagan Wagner (1904-1982) was known to be a patron of the arts, according to Kammerer.

Upon the closing of the WPA Gallery, Sheppard Memorial Library furnished space for an art center, allowing it to use the second floor for art exhibits and the basement for classes, according to Porter. It was known predominantly as the Community Art Center although

CONVERTING A HOUSE INTO AN ART CENTER Once purchased, the Colonial Revival structure needed to be converted into a place appropriate for exhibiting works of art.

Greenville: Life In The East

Summer 2021

The Greenville Museum of Art incorporates furniture and lighting found in the house with the painting, photography, sculpture, pottery and other exhibits it displays.

The society sought to maintain the architectural integrity of the exterior as well as the architectural details of the interior, Porter said. Volunteers, including professionals and laypersons, worked together to transform the home. People and organizations from

“This change better reflected its status as an institution with a permanent collection of art objects,” Porter said. By then the museum housed a significant collection of pottery, lithographs and many other works of art, she said.

Greenville and beyond donated money and materials, Porter said.

“In 1986, the GMoA received accreditation by the American

The home’s garage, or carriage house, was converted into a ceramics

Association of Museums, the highest honor that can be bestowed

workshop and the roof of the house was repaired.

on any museum,” Porter said.

“At the time, the first floor was arranged for exhibition galleries, an office, a reception hall, a kitchen and a small auditorium. The

THE MUSEUM TODAY

second floor was used for private studies, lecture rooms and

Structural changes to the house have continued over the years.

textile weaving with looms. The third floor, now the location of

The Flanagans and their guests would have used the home’s front

the building’s HVAC system and storage, was used for children’s

door that faces Evans Street, according to Sim Asher, the museum’s

exhibitions and activities,” Porter said.

communications and events coordinator.

The Greenville Art Center officially opened in its new home — the Flanagan House — 61 years ago on May 1, 1960, Porter said. The exhibit at the gala opening consisted of roughly 30 Old Master

Upon entry into a large foyer, guests would have been met by the grand spiral staircase and would have found a parlor off to the right, he said.

paintings on loan from various New York galleries. Art enthusiast and

The spiral staircase and the parlor still exist today, but the main

supporter, Dr. Robert Lee Humber, was able to secure these works

entrance to the museum for visitors now is through a door on the

through connections he had with art dealers and collectors, she said.

south side of the museum that opens into an addition that was

“The opening reception brought 700 guests from across the state

built in 1991.

... and was considered a ‘howling’ success by the East Carolina Art

The 7,000 square-foot expansion more than tripled the original

Society. The exhibition attracted more than 5,000 guests in its first

size of the Flanagan’s home, which museum staff estimate at

two weeks,” Porter said.

approximately 3,000 square feet.

The Greenville Art Center would grow and flourish in its new home, and in 1981 it was renamed the Greenville Museum of Art. Summer 2021

As a result, the total square footage of the facility t oday i s just over 10,000 square feet, they said.

Greenville: Life In The East

A courtyard to showcase sculptures was added after Hurricane Mathew destroyed the old carriage house in 2016.

“The most recently refinished gallery (March 2021), The Parlor, celebrates the history of the building, incorporating furniture and lighting that have lived at the museum for decades, but with new track lighting and light-filtering window shades that make it more suitable for the display of art. “It includes a display of recently acquired sculptures by Outer Banks artist Annie Hooper, alongside many of our other examples of North Carolina Pottery and four works in the collection by Wilmington artist Minnie Evans,” Porter said. Other rooms on the first level of the house serve as galleries as well. Turning the home’s dining room and other living areas into safe places for displaying art required windows to be covered with drywall to prevent damage from sunlight, according to Porter. The second floor today houses museum offices. Outside, along the south side of the museum, visitors t oday w ill find a courtyard that was created in 2019 to replace the carriage

The front entrance to the Flanagans’ house opened to a large foyer that featured a grand spiral staircase, left. The staircase remains today, below, but visitors now enter the museum through a 7,000 square-foot expansion.

house that was destroyed by Hurricane Matthew in 2016, Porter said. Looking to the future, Porter said she sees the museum as playing an important role in the revitalization of Uptown Greenville and the need for the it to remain in the Flanagan House and in the area. “Because of all these restoration efforts, both recent and historical, the house continues to remember the influential Flanagan family within Greenville’s history, and in its new role as an art museum, it continues to provide a link to Greenville’s past,” Porter said.

For more information about the Greenville Museum of Art visit www.gmoa.org. The presentation “60 Years of Art at the Flanagan House” is available at www.pittcountyhistoricalsociety.com/events.

Greenville: Life In The East

Summer 2021

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The Flanagan-Wagner House, built in the 1930s, is considered by a local historian to be the finest example of Tudor Revival architecture in Greenville. The home was named a local landmark in May.

The original windows, and their shuttering, are highlighted by the brickwork.

The jutting “A” shaped roof and the intricate brickwork are also Tudor Revival hallmarks.

Another Flanagan House City’s latest designated landmark is a jewel in College View By Pat Gruner

raveling on Fifth Street, with its view of East Carolina

By Pat Gruner — the Flanagan-Wagner House.

University’s campus and a direct route to the Uptown

The home at 903 E. Fifth St. was named a landmark on May 17

District, it’s possible that those with an eye for

by the Greenville City Council. A number of homes in the historic

architecture might note the prominence of patterned

College View neighborhood — known to students as part of The

brick homes with gable roofs and wooden shingles.

Grid — share that distinction, to including the neighboring Walter

The Tudor Revival style of the 1920s and 30s is still alive in

Lancaster Harrington House at 905 E. Fifth St.

the College View neighborhood, and local historians say the best

Roger Kammerer, a Greenville artist and local historian, said that

example of that style is seen at Greenville’s newest local landmark

the home is not the only example of the Tudor Revival style on Fifth

Greenville: Life In The East

Summer 2021

Street. It is, however, the best. It also has ties to what Kammerer said is one of the most important family in the city’s history. “The Flanagans owned the Flanagan Buggy Company, the biggest employer in Greenville for decades,” Kammerer said. “They were legislators, business owners and they had money to buy lots and hire architects.” Edward G. Flanagan, perhaps the most prominent of the family, The home’s chimney and other brickwork contain elaborate designs, a staple of Tudor Revival Architecture.

was responsible for the Flanagan Buggy Company’s success in transitioning to the automobile age when it became Greenville’s first Ford dealership. He also consolidated the Flanagan Coffin Company with his automobile business, served as a director for the Standard Realty Company, and a director of the Wachovia Bank and Trust Company. “I don’t know how the man had time to go to the bathroom,” Kammerer said of Flanagan’s enterprising nature. “We are talking about 12 meetings a night. He was always in meetings.” His home on Evans Street eventually would become the Greenville Museum of Art. The lot where the Flanagan-Wagner House stands is believed to have been a wedding gift to Flanagan’s daughter, Rosamond Flanagan Nicholson, and her second husband, Tyrus Irvin Wagner.

For historical purposes, the back wall of the original home is still displayed. An addition was added by the current homeowners in the early 2010s.

In November of 1937, Wagner obtained a building permit payment on a house valued at $9,000.18, and a year after that, Flanagan gifted the couple the land. “It makes you think that they paid for the home as a big wedding gift,” Kammerer theorized. “Wagner was a baseball player with ties to the Olympics. He was also a car salesman.” At that time, Fifth Street was seen as the home for Greenville’s aristocracy. Kammerer said that the area was home to doctors, lawyers and heads of business. The popularity of the Tudor Revival architecture style meant that it was popular in the area. Kammerer told the board of the State Historic Preservation Office in a submission to get the house landmark status that, despite its small size compared to other homes, it best represents the

The original door of the Flanagan-Wagner House remains intact and in use. The wood has not been replaced since the home was built in the 1930s.

architecture’s prominence in Greenville. “The house is one of the smaller houses built on East Fifth Street among the larger homes, but it is exceptionally well crafted and is the finest example of its style on Fifth Street. Built in 1938, the one-and-one-half story brick house has numerous features on the exterior and interior which exemplify the Tudor Revival style,” Kammerer said in an abstract to SHPO. According to Kammerer, the home’s architect is not confirmed, but is believed to be Thomas Herman, a draftsman for the Benton and

See All Of Greenville’s Landmarks On Pages 22-30 Angular, jutting parts of the ceiling on the home’s second floor are contrasted by arched doorways.

Summer 2021

Greenville: Life In The East

Benton Architectural firm, who did other work for the Flanagans.

The homeowner said that the setting is like having a park across

Herman was responsible for the remodeling of Edward Flanagan’s

the street. Fittingly enough, the house also faces ECU’s Flanagan

home on Evans Street.

Building.

The Flanagan-Wagner House features a hip and multiple gable

The interior’s arched doorways are considered to be a prominent

roof, reaching up in a steep “A” fashion. That is reflected in the

piece of Tudor Revival, opening into wide rooms. The original brick

home’s interior as well, where angles are prominent on both floors.

from the back of the home remains as well, though it is now an

That roofing style, Kammerer said, is one of the things that makes

interior wall incorporarted into the expansion. Initially, the house’s

the home so tied to the English influence it represents.

backyard would have expanded another 30 feet or so. The spacious

The current homeowners, Ernest and Sara Larkin, undertook a refurbishing of the home in 2011. That project took about a year

area would be perfect for some of the Flanagan family’s favored pastimes — parties and togetherness.

and left the home largely unchanged aside from its rear where an

While another place that was home to Greenville’s most

addition was built. The lot on which the home was built sits on the

prominent family has been adapted in a museum, the purpose

highest point on Fifth Street between Biltmore Street and Rotary

for the home of Edward’s daughter and son-in-law will remain the

Avenue as well, giving it a prominent view of the university.

same as it always has — to be lived in and enjoyed.

The mantle of the home’s fireplace retains the same carvings that make it a shining example of the architecture of the time.

Greenville: Life In The East

Summer 2021

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Greenville: Life In The East

Local Landmarks City designation aims to preserve historically significant structures The Flanagan-Wagner house is the latest property listed by the City of Greenville as a local landmark, a designation that aims to preserve historically significant structures. There are 25 local landmarks and six properties on the National Register of Historic Places, indicated with an asterisk. The properties include:

Descriptions are from the City of Greenville.

Greenville Commercial National Historic District

Pitt County Courthouse, 100 W. Third St. Built in 1911 after the previous courthouse was destroyed in a fire that burned much of downtown Greenville near the turn of the 20th century. It has a three-story hip roof and resembles the Neo-Classical Revival style. *

Federal Courthouse, 201 Evans St. Formerly Greenville’s U.S. post office, the structure was built in 1913-14 and is a wellpreserved example of the Florentine Renaissance Revival style, rare in eastern North Carolina. * Greenville: Life In The East

Summer 2021

3 Summer 2021

James L. Fleming House, 302 S. Greene St. built during the city’s first major growth period, the 3,400-square-food Queen Ann style home was constructed in 1901-02 with a slate roof, wrap-around porch with cast iron columns and railing, and a polyoganal tower. It currently is home to the Greenville-Pitt County Chamber of Commerce. * Greenville: Life In The East

William H. Long House, 200 E. Fourth St. The house is representative of the Neo-Classical Revival style built in the state by prosperous businessmen and community leaders in the first quarter of the 20th Century. *

Skinner Building and Grounds, 123 W. Third St. The building sits on a lot that is part of the original layout for the city and one of only two documented antebellum buildings still standing in the central business district. It may also be one of the oldest residences in the city. The main block of the home was erected around 1845-50.

Robert L. Humber House, 117 W. Fifth St. Built in 1885 for Humber Sr. it was the home of Robert L. Humber Jr., a lawyer, legislator, business executive, cultural leader and founder of the Movement for World Federation. *

Hassel-James Building and Grounds, 115 W. Third St. Built between 1911-16 by physician Stark Hassel and attorneys Fernando Godfrey James and son James Burton James, mayor in 1913 and county attorney 1920-32.

Greenville Municipal Building, 201 W. Fifth St. Formerly City Hall, it was built in 1939 by Frank W. Benton of Wilson, one of the region’s leading architects, in the Art Deco style.

Sheppard Memorial Library, 530 Evans St. Built in 1930 as a memorial to William Henry Haywood Sheppard, longtime Clerk of Court, with substantial financing from his son, Harper Donelson Sheppard, founder of Hanover Shoe Inc. in Pennsylvania.

Greenville: Life In The East

Summer 2021

The Proctor Hotel, 301 Evans St. The hotel was erected during a massive rebuilding effort after the downtown fire that included the courthouse, post office and smaller brick buildings nearby and anchors one of the few remaining historic blocks downtown.

The Blount-Harvey Building, 330 Evans St. Completed in 1923 in the heart of downtown, the building is a standard of early 20th century commercial buildings with stylized stone detailing encompassing the structure.

Frank Wilson Store, Fourth and Evans street. The present building was constructed in 1899 after a downtown fire. J.B. Cherry & Co., contracted with Hill C. Linthicum, architect and builder. The upstairs served as the Greenville City Hall from 1899 to 1905 and the offices of the Pitt County Department of Education.

Summer 2021

Frank Wilson Office, 106 East Fourth St. The J.B. Cherry & Co.-Frank Wilson Office Building, was constructed in 1899. It exemplifies Greenville’s shift from frame to masonry commercial structures following devastating fires. It is associated with prominent businessmen of the late 19th and early 20 centuries and is a rare example of a modest commercial building designed and built by architect/builder Hill Carter Linthicum, of Henderson and Durham. Greenville: Life In The East

Skinnerville - Greenville National Heights Historic District

Third Street School, 600 W. Third St. constructed in the 1920s, the school was built in the Northern Italian Renaissance Revival style popular during the period.

E.B. Ficklen House, 508. W. Fifth St. The most sophisticated and elaborate Queen Anne style dwelling in Greenville was built in 1902 by Edward Ficklen of E.B. Ficklen Tobacco Company. It currently is home to a sorority. *

Greenville: Life In The East

Summer 2021

Glenn-Pender-Moore House, 510 W. Fourth St. Wellpreserved and neatly detailed example of vernacular Italianate style of the 1880s. It is one of the first to be built in the subdivision platted by Harry Skinner and may be the oldest surviving house in Skinnerville and one of the oldest in Greenville.

J.R. Moye House, 408 W. Fifth St. Built in 1902, the home is an elegant Queen Ann style with Colonial Revival details, defined by its wrap-around porch and three-sided bay windows. *

Alfred M. Moseley House, 310 S. Pitt St. The building has modest Colonial Revival detailing and more pronounced Craftsman-Prairie schools of architecture fashionable during the early 20th century.

Albion Dunn House and Grounds, 707 W. Fourth St. One of the city’s finest early 20th Century residences, the house also is one of two surviving dwellings designed and built by William Bertrand Baker, who designed commercial and residential buildings in the city prior to World War II.

Charles O’Hagan Horne House, 706 W. Fourth St. Built 1916 during the heyday of Skinnerville Neighborhood in west Greenville, the home reflects the Colonial Revival and Craftsman styles.

Kinchen Cobb House, 400 S. Pitt St. Built in 1934 by Kitchen W. Cobb, the Colonial Revival dwelling has a distinctive Craftsman-style eave overhang and a full basement. It’s an example of homes built in the Depression era near the commercial district.

Summer 2021

Greenville: Life In The East

Dickinson Avenue National Historic District

Tobacco Warehouse National Historic District

Patrick-Author House, 300 W. 14th St. The two-story L-shaped house is typical of simple Victorian houses constructed in the late 19th century. It was part of a 135-acre farm at what is now 14th and Charles. It was moved west to its current location near South Pitt Street in 1988 to make room for a shopping center.

15 21 28

Jacob W. Higgs House, 1112 Dickinson Ave. Built 1903-05, the house is one of the most intact examples of the Queen Ann/Colonial Revival structures surviving from that time in the city. It has an elaborate and embellished double stair and tin ceilings in a paneled hallway. The house is associated with Jacob W. Higgs, a prominent businessman and developer of the Higgs neighborhood.

King Simmons Lodge and Grounds, 505 W. Fifth St. Erected in 1911, the structure is significant for its association with the city’s African-American community. It was the local chapter of the Knights of Gideon, a Norfolk, Virginia-based benevolent organization that provided health and burial services, business and social assistance. The second floor served as the lodge room until the organization dissolved in the 1930s. Greenville: Life In The East

Summer 2021

Rotary Building, 809 Johnston St. Completed in 1921, it is Rotary International’s first club-owned building. Clubs generally “rotated” among meeting places but local club leaders built a facility with a dining room, kitchen, reading room and a 40-by-40 foot gym on the second floor.

Skinner House, 803 E. Fifth St. Built in 1927 for prominent physician L.C. Skinner and wife, Daisy Minor Skinner, it represents one of the more architecturally ambitious homes in a neighborhood dominated by bungalows and is one of the finest examples of the Colonial Revival Style. The Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority purchased the home in 1961.

Dr. William I. Wooten House, 403 Maple St. Built in 1934-35, the house is a handsomely detailed, representative example of the Colonial Revival style and one of a handful of buildings constructed in Greenville during the height of the Colonial Revival’s development.

College View Local and National Historic District

26 Summer 2021

Tar River Navigational Locks, located in the river at the north end of Ash Street and along the south banks of the river. The locks were started in 1853 and completed in 1856 and consist of a series of approximately 16 cribs constructed of 12-inch squared timbers. Each crib is now filled with sediment and partly covered by trees. They are best seen when low water conditions exist. Greenville: Life In The East

Harrington House, 905 E. Fifth St. Built in 1924, the Walter Lancaster Harrington House is a significant example of the brick bungalow style in the College View neighborhood. The large one-and-one-half-story house, built with blonde bricks, was thoroughly modern in appearance when it was built, unlike any other style of home built on Fifth Street. It was built for Walter Lancaster Harrington (1902-1978), who co-owned and developed much of College View.

28 30

Flanagan-Wagner House, 903 E. Fifth St. Built in 1938, the house is a fine example of the Tudor Revival style in the College View district. See story.

Many more properties across the city could qualify as landmarks but are not-designated. Owners are eligible for up to a 50 percent annual deferral on property taxes. Email tparker@greenvillenc.gov for information.

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Kim and Garreth Kenyon restored Pitt County’s oldest home, Greenwreath,

Old-House ‘Mafia’

Members of unofficial homeowners association preserve history, friendships

By Kim Grizzard

Archival, staff and contributed photos

hen Kim and Garreth Kenyon moved into

that know what we’ve been through.”

their historic home eight years ago, they were

Though they had not moved into a neighborhood, the Kenyons

surprised at the neighborly reception, especially

had become part of a community that they jokingly referred to as

considering that there wasn’t another house in

the Old-House “Mafia.”

sight.

While the phrase may conjure up images of hit men, tax evasion

Although they didn’t know it at the time, the purchase of

and racketeering, members of this group came armed with nothing

Greenwreath, Pitt County’s oldest surviving residence, had placed

more dangerous than a paint scraper. For them, “protection” means

them in an unofficial homeowners association of sorts.

preventing wood rot.

“Everyone else who owns an old house in this area showed up

The Kenyons found themselves the newest members of a small

on our doorstep immediately and just welcomed us into this kind

but powerful group dedicated to the cause of historic preservation.

of group,” Kim said. “It’s such a nice, wonderful group of people

Today, more than two decades after some members first met, their

Greenville: Life In The East

Summer 2021

Photo by Aaron Hines Rotarians work to install flags at the Field of Honor at the Greenville Town Common in 2018.

The front ro om color, a shad of the house is painte d th e that Kim an match a piec d Garreth Ke e original e nyon found when the fa of plaster found in the to mily probab wall. “This is ly said of the room, which grew into its wealth,” Kim features its chair rail. original, orna te

Summer 2021

Greenville: Life In The East

friendships – and their houses – remain intact. “(We) have just connected with people that shared the same kind of common interest,” Reid Thomas said of the group, which includes several owners of historic homes in Pitt, Martin and Edgecombe counties. “I think most of us love historic properties for a variety of reasons. “I don’t know if we’re really mafia,” he said, laughing. “We help each other. We learn from each other.” Thomas works as a restoration specialist with the state Historic Preservation Office,

Suellen and Paul Biel have been in the old Samuel Vines farnhouse, which they lovongly restored, for 25 years.

but what secured his place in the group was his purchase of the Ballard-Salisbury farmhouse in northwest Martin County more than 20 years ago. Old-home purchases are one of the hazards of his profession in much the same way that people working at an animal shelter often end up bringing home a puppy or kitten. “I guess I was young and didn’t realize what I was getting into at the time,” Thomas said. “I was interested in restoring and living in a historic home but also realized that it needed to be saved. If somebody didn’t buy

The Biels farmhouse, built in 1801, had several out buildings around the farm. The smokehouse, right, is one of two origianl out-buildings still standing. A few other old buildings are left, but were not original to the farmhouse.

it and put some effort into it, it wouldn’t be here.” Thomas, who was still single at the time, became the proud owner of a house that had been abandoned 20 years earlier. The

The Fosters, who had toured old homes

windows of the home, portions of which

from Scotland Neck to Warrenton before

“If you were building a home and your

were constructed around 1810, were broken

learning of this historic beauty, thought

builder did something like that, you’d have

out. Weeds surrounding the property, which

Piney Prospect would be the perfect real

a heart attack,” Foster said, laughing. “In an

also included a smokehouse, carriage house

estate to restore, although not at its original

old home, it’s character.”

and adjacent kitchen building (constructed

location. Sellers were requiring that the

in the 1760s or 1770s), were up to his neck.

home be moved, so about a year after

OVERRUN

three doors in the dining room.

Just finding suitable windows required a more than three-hour drive.

agreeing to purchase the home, the Fosters

“When you start looking for items, you

paid movers to relocate it about a quarter

don’t just go to the average store to find

It is not unusual for old-home enthusiasts

mile away. It would be three more years

them,” she said. “They’re not there.”

to feel overjoyed and yet overwhelmed by

before Piney Prospect would be in move-

Networking is a key function of the Old-

the prospect of a large restoration project.

in condition and a total of six before the

House Mafia. Members exchange names of

Bob and Sharon Foster experienced both

renovation was complete.

skilled craftsmen or offer advice on where

emotions when they agreed to buy Piney

“It’s totally different than building a home

to buy items such as wood shingles. They

Prospect in December 2005. The Edgecombe

from scratch,” Sharon Foster said. “I thought

also share personal successes and failures.

County home, the original portion of which

I knew a lot because we had built three or

“You learn nothing better than when

was built in 1790, is a well-known example

four, moved several times. But I can tell you,

you make mistakes or when you’re doing it

of Federal architecture. A conversion made

it’s a whole different ballpark.”

yourself and it turns out beautifully,” said

around 1820 gave the home its Charlestonstyle double porches.

There were sashes to rebuild and mantles

Thomas, who considers the home he shares

to replace. There was a different trim on all

with his wife, Julie, to be a laboratory of

Greenville: Life In The East

Summer 2021

Photo by William Reid Thomas The Ballard-Salisbury farmhouse in northwest Martin County

sorts for restoration work. Sometimes old-home enthusiasts even volunteer their services to help fellow historic home owners navigate certain projects. The group has been known to organize “painting parties” where volunteers apply a fresh coat and enjoy a cookout. “We all get a little overwhelmed, and it’s just nice to have a friend or two or even five come over and give you a hand,” Thomas said. “Sometimes the help

were my support system, my network

front yard of the property near Kings

is just walking through or going over to visit, not

of friends, the people I most wanted to

Crossroads and spent the next six years

always hands-on. Sometimes it’s going over, taking

be around.

making this 1813 farmhouse into their

food and just kind of walking around getting them

“I’ve heard our friends say (to

to show you what they’ve done because they’ve put

someone outside the group), ‘We’d love

“My husband can do almost anything,”

a lot of work into something that sometimes not a

for you to come to a dinner party at our

Biel said. “You end up learning to do

lot of people are seeing.”

house, but if you don’t like to talk about

more than you ever think originally that

old houses, you’re going to be really

you’re going to do.”

SUPPORT SYSTEM

bored,’” she said, laughing.

family’s home.

The Biels often contracted with

Like caregivers or home-school families,

When Suellen and her husband, Paul,

skilled craftsmen to take on work with

preservationists often seek a support system

purchased the Samuel Vines house near

the couple as helpers so the two could

because so few others they know can relate to the

Fountain some 30 years ago, they didn’t

learn as they went. Before long, Thomas

challenges that they face, from bats flying down

have any friends with experience in

began to send Historic Preservation

the chimney during a dinner party to a group of

renovating historic homes. But Suellen

Office visitors to see the Biels’ project

curious visitors stopping by unannounced to tour

imagined they were as qualified as any

as an inspiration and a reality check of

the property.

candidates for the job. She was a history

sorts.

buff, and Paul, a woodworker.

Unlike reality TV or home and

“They just became my family,” homeowner Suellen Biel said of the Old-House Mafia. “They Summer 2021

They set up a mobile home in the Greenville: Life In The East

garden shows, where it appears that

Bob and Sharon Foster live in the Piney Prospect house in Edgecombe County, which they completely renovated.

knowledge or information that you can share, you definitely want to do that,” she said. “You’re not worried about ‘Well, they’re copying my front door.’ You’re proud to see someone take the energy and the initiative to salvage something because they’re few and far between.” In the years since many members of the Old-House Mafia have completed their restorations (although Thomas said old An old photo of the Piney PRospect house before renovation.

houses are never quite “finished”), fewer fixer-upper historical homes are available. Some have been restored already, and many others have been torn down or have fallen down due to neglect. The only Pitt County home currently listed for sale by

complicated remodeling issues are resolved in less than an hour, real-

Preservation North Carolina was built in 1956. But for the Old-

life renovations can be painfully slow.

House Mafia, Biel said, the renovation of a 1920s bungalow

“I think a lot of people mistakenly think ‘I can do a little bit of work and get a historic house and save myself some money,’” Biel

would generate just as much excitement as the restoration of a 19th-century home.

said, explaining that those ideas are unrealistic. “You have to love the

“All of us old-house people, it doesn’t matter if your house is

process. I think that’s a key thing to people that are successful with it.

50 years old, 100 years old, 200 years old, we respect the work

“It’s the people that have this reverence and respect for what’s come

that you’re doing,” she said. “It’s not like old-house snobs.”

before you and what you leave behind you,” she said. “It’s the people

She’s not certain that mafia is a fitting description either,

that have this respect for craftsmanship and the time that it took to do

although she can understand at least part of the comparison.

things. They know that new is not better. … I think the old-house people

“When I started thinking about it, it sort of is (similar),” she

get the big picture.”

said. “It’s not like something you do and then a few years later

Foster said that is the reason that there is camaraderie rather than competition among preservationists.

you do something else. Once an old-house person, always an old-house person.”

“When you see someone that’s trying to do one, if there’s any

Greenville: Life In The East

Summer 2021

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