p."r~ r ,-.4"" iCJ.OCJJ trl., ~J

United States Department of tile Interior National Park Service

I f 1St fl t ti r

This lorm is lor u!ete each item by marking "X" In the approprialf' box or by enleri tho roquosle-d inlormaliar.. :r an ilern doos not ar.ply to Ihe prar"'Jr1y t"'3ing docurr.enIM. enler "NlA" for "nol applicable." For lunclion3. style!;. maloria and Flreas 01 significance. en:er only the categori9s and sutxate~arios liste-d in !he instructions. For additional space use continuation sheels (Form 10-900a). Type all entries.

1. Nome of Property Farm historic n~me Ewart f F . ,

~----------~--------------------------------------------------------.--------other na~os/site number

street & number 12920 Huntersville-Concord Road (SR 2448 not tor publication vicinity city, lawn Huntersville

5 I a Ie Nor t h Car 0 1 i n a.c od e N C

3. Classification Ol-'mership of Propeny

[9 private LJ public-local D public-State [J public-Federal

county Heck 1 enburg

Categor; ot Propsrty

o building(s) ~ district Dsite o structure Doh:p-' V J _""l

code 119 zip cooe 28078

Number ot Resources within Propeny

Contributing Noncontributing

5 ? buildings 1 sites

6

structures ____ objects

_---'-/ __ Tot? I

t'J2fTa of related multip;-a C1rGD8r~'~ ::slinq: Number of ccntribuling resources previously :-: =- s tor i can d 1\:- ch i ~ e (; ::. u:c a 1 Re:::'::; II :":" ... ~. S 0 f listed in the National Rogister _.JJ ____ _ ?, '2~)~ r kLe_:l.hl; ~~ .': ,"" i'; ~.-:~,-~-:--T,T.L~-2::.. __ ..c.. '-~o1_i...!:"~=i _____ _

i:_ StBte/Federnl ~ency f.~f~~.0E~_tion ___ _ -----------------------------------. /\5 the designated authori:y u;-.der tho National Historic Preser{ali'::>n Act of 1966, 8S amended, , h8reby certify that this ~j ncmination 0 rsquest tor d·3termination ot eligibility Ineels iho dOCUITI9ntation standards (or registering pJOP8rt'(~S in the tJationol Register ot Historic FIIl;:es an . mee:s tho proc9duiui 2!ld protassional requirements set forth In 36 CF-R Pan 60,

in mY~~~:.~,lhe prQ?"i1 I' ,oelS dOES nol meel tho N21ional RagisleJ crileria. 0 See conlinualion she.1. __ UL2,~~&

John F. Ewart Farm, Necklenburg COunty, NC

~.1 a terials (enter categories from instructions) (enter catego~ies from instructions)

other: vernacular I-house foundation __ b_r_i_c_k _____________ _ walls ___ .....;;.,...;;...:.....;;...;;;;;..,;.;;,....:;,..~.....::.:... __________ _

root ______ ~ __________ , ____________________ _

other stone me a

Describe present and historic physical appearance.

o See continuation sheet

John F. Ewart Farm, Necklenburg COunty, NC

Section number _d--_

Summary

Situated on rolling farmland approximately one mile east of the small town of Huntersville, the John F. Ewart Farm comprises a handsome, two-story, 1898 farmhouse, a contemporary barn, dairy, and smokehouse, as well as a later barn built ca. 1939. Two noncontributing buildings--a metal and wood ca. 1960 auto garage, and a ca. 1960 equipment storage facility--complete the farmyard. All of the farm outbuildings are relatively intact, and the barns still shelter cattle that graze in the pastures beyon0 the farm complex. The two barns stand approximately 150 feet east of the Ewart House, and face west towards the house and other outbuildings. The dairy and smokehouse are located cirectly behind the dwelling, reflecting their roles in the domestic life of the Ewart household. Undulating pastures roll away from the farmyard on the east and south sides, and' constitute a contributing site "in this nomination. Bordere~ by mature trees and fence rows, this farmland continues to portray vividly the agricultural way of life which once predominated t~roughout Mecklenburg County. The Ewart Farm consists of approximately 11 acres today, with the house as its architectural centerpiece. Mature pecan and oak trees shade the house and yard, and a row of mature crape myrtle line the unpaved lane leading from the road to the residence.

Ewart House

Facing north, the two-story, frame, 1898 farmhouse exemplifies the enduring popularity of the I-house type in rural Mecklenburg County. The dwelling's three-bay front facade, common-bond brick end Chimneys, and rear dining room/ kitchen ell typify the local I-houses of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The house's center roof gable, creating a triple-A configuration, also represents a popular late 19th-century version of the standard gable-roofed I-house. Treated with board-and-batten sheathing, this gable is embellished with especially ornate spindlework and bargeboard, and is pierced by a louvered vent. The pedimented gable of the fornt porch has similar treatment. The basically intact porch also has lathe-turned posts, a spindlework frieze, and spindlework brackets. The windows have original sash with two-over-two panes, and the first-floor windo\vs have segmental arches. Although the house's weatherboarding was covered with aluminum siding in the early 1960s, the original decorative trim survives, qualifying the Ewart House as among the most intact late 19th-century I-houses in the county.

Unl ed States Department 01 the Interior Nat onal ?ark Service

ist r f .Il. l I n tinu n t John F. Ewart Farm, Necklenburg COunty, NC

Section ;,~rnber __ _ Page _2 __

~he ess~~~ially intact i~t~rior reinforces the E~art House's s~~~us as O~~ c~ the finer s~rviving late 19th-ce~tury rural res ~ ~ c: n c e s :":-. -= ~: e co u n t y . T:--. -:: h 0 use folIo H sac e :1 t r a 1 - hall pIa 11 ~it~ c~e fi~s~-floor room on each side of the hallway. The di~ing room/~i~chen ell is lccated on the west side of the rear fac~de, and extending from t~e ~est elevation of this ell is a c~. 1950 te~~oom wing. T~o bedrooms are locate~ in the upstairs of ~~e main ~\:o-story block organized around a center hall. The first-floc= center hall~~y ~eatures a closed-string stairway \,':' t ~--: 2 stu r c: :.: C :1a m fer e d n e '\"; e 1 as,,; e 11 a sap p 1 i e dee cor a t i ve ste;-e~d blc=~s. Throughout the main body of the hotise, mantels, coc~ s~rrou~:s, and" five-Dane~ coors remain intact, reflectinG v2r~~c~lar Vi=torian infl~ences. The mantels in the main fir~t-floo= roo~s ~ave s:e~:er square ree~e~ supports and applied floral motifs. ~'f a Yl :- -:::: 1's " i n t :'. e c: i 11 i n g roo m, }: :. t c hen, and ups t air s be 0 roo m s h a ve s i lTI P 1 e r cha~=e=ed a~~ re9ded pilasters. Although in 1952 the original fleoring ~,,: a s r e ;> 1 ace C -,',- i t h n e \,,r "\'.' 0 0 d = 1 :: 0 :- boa r d san d 0 rig ina 1 H a ins cot \-,- a s r e IT" ::: ve::3. in t:-. 2 -£ i :c- s t - floor r c c ~,1 S:" ~,: a ins cot' rem a ins in t"h 2' S t air 11 all; 2 n d ton;~e-and-g:~c~ed ceilings s~r\-i~e throughout the main two-story p 0 .::- ~ :.. 0:-1 0 f t :-. 2 ::: ~ .. ,' art H 0 use .

Out~~i:dinas (~eyed to map)

D::. i }.- Y ( -": ~ 2. l can 0 p y )

c

D .:'u:'o garc;e

C-contributing; NC-noncontributing

c/~:c -

c

c

Date DescriDtion

ca. 1898 Frame, gable-front struc:'ure inclucing a canopy shelterin~ a well (now covered). The building was used for keeping dairy products a~c foodstuffs cool and fresh. Trough for running water leads from well to the ~airy. Good condition.

ca. 1898 Situated adjacent to ~airy, this frame, board-anc-bat~en huilding has gable-front roof and doors on both the north and west elevations. Hide-board ·flooring. Gooe condition.

ca. 1960 Located west of house, this building has gable-front roof and rounded ~ooden posts

John F. Ewart Farm, Necklenburg COunty, NC

Section number __ 7 _ 3

(outbuildings continued)

E Equipment shelter NC

F Barn C

G Barn C

Pasturage (Contributing Site)

ca. 1960 Erected to shelter modern farm machinery, this side-gable metal and frame building is located at the rear (south end) of the farmyard.

ca. 1898 Frame gable-front building with two units on each side of the central passage. Shed-roofed additions are located on the side-gable elevations. Loft area once housed unbaled cotton, while baled cotton was sheltered in the side sheds. Today, barn shelters cattle. Fair condition.

ca. 1939 Frame, gable-front building following basic form and pIa: of 1898 barn (F). Continues to shelter cattle and feed. Fair condition.

Surrounded by farmland and wooes that continue to characterize the Mecklenburg landscape east of Huntersville, pasturage historically associated with the Ewart Farm is located to the east and south of the farmyard. This rolling, tree-shaded acreage has been used to graze cattle since the turn of the century (Mary Cato Interview 1989). A barbed wire fence supported by unfinished wooden posts borders the present Ewart pasturage.

John F. Ewart

Applicable National Register Criteria [R] A B

Criteria Considerations (Exceptions) D A B

Areas of Significance (enter categories from instructions) JI.rchi tecture

Significant Person N/A

C

C

Mecklenbur

D

Period of Significance

Cultural AHiliation N/A

ArchitecUBuilder

Significant Dates 1

State significance of property, and justify. criteria, criteria considerations, and areas and periods of significance noted above.

EJ See continuation sheet

f

John F. Ewart Farm, Necklenburg COunty, NC

Section number --.;~_ P ag e _"'---_

The John F. Ewart farmhouse, outbuildings and historically associated pasture combine to represent one of the more intact late 19th- and early 20th-century farmsteads in Mecklenburg County. The significance of the Ewart Farm grows stronger as commercial and residential development engulfs the county and obliterates the county's historically rural character. The Ewart Farm is architecturally significant under National Register Criterion C for both vividly reflecting the late 19th-century vernacular 1-house as well as representing traditional outbuilding types. Built in 1898 by local contractor Neil Barnette, the Ewart House asserts Ewart's status as a middle-class farmer. The·house combines the traditional form of the I -house with such vernacular Victorian flourishes as a dominant center roof gable with decorative bargeboards and spindlework. The turned-post porch with spindlework frieze is one of the more intact late 19th-century porches in rural Mecklenburg County. The house is a clear portrayal of the blend of tradition and up-ta-date taste that charactedzed local rural architecture in the late 19th and early 20th centuries (see Associated Property Type 1 -Houses - Postbellum Farmhouses). The contributing frame outbuildings are traditional forms that were perpetuated into the early decades of the 20th century in Mecklenburg County. The central-passage, four-unit barns, erected about 3S years apart, the gable-front, board-and-batten smokehouse, and the dairy with attached well canopy are all elamples of vernacular types and materials which on~ prevailed throughout Mecklenburg County (see Associated Property Type 2 - Outbuildings). The Ewart Farm is also historically significant under Criterion A for portraying the agrarian society that once held sway in the county. It was a typical farm in size and types of production, and the house and remaining outbuildings reflect both the way of life and the structure of a late 19th- and early 20th-century farm in the county (see Context Statement - Post-Bellum and late 19th- to Early 20th-century Agriculture (1865-1939)).

John F. Ewart Farm, Necklenburg County, NC

Section number __ _

are D.1IJIA'IJ.LI!1!Ii. County

- Early settlers of name bought land The F. Ewart Farm can be back to a deed from William D(iIon?]. Ewart to Hugh Dixon Ewart dated 20 January 1849 for 53 acres on the waters of Qark's Creek (pr.ice: $175.45).2 Hugh Dixon (1816-18n) and Mary M. Carrigan Ewart ( 1827 -1911) were the parents of John Frank Ewart (1871-1952). J. F. Ewart was only five years old when his father died, and in1898, Hugh Ewart's land, by then 88-314 acres, was divided among the heirs.3

Immediately after the division, John F. bought a 42-1/2-acre tract from one of the heirs in August. 1898, and hired a local builder, Neil Barnette. to build a new house on the site.i Neil Barnette (1861-1940) was a local farmer who, in the fall of the year, would build houses. Over a period of years, he built a number of houses in that section of the county.S

From 1898 to 1916, J. F. Ewart bought out the interests of the other heirs in his father's property so that he became the sole owner by the latter date.6 On June 6, 1912, he was married to Ella Elliot (1880-1962), and they had two children, Joe Elliot (1914-1959) and Mary (Mrs. William H. Cato).' Since the last Agricultural Schedules of the census are not availabJe after 1880. it is not possible to know the elact production figures of the Ewart farm. According to J. F. Ewart's daughter, Mary Ewart Cato, they raised cotton, corn, wheat and had a small orchard. Judging from this and the type of farm buildings eItant from about 1898, the dairy, smokehouse and barn, it is reasonable to assume that the farm raised crops and livestock typical for a Mecklenburg County farm of this size (see ConteIt Statement - Post-Bellum Agriculture ).

In addition to farming, John F. Cato was a long-time member of the Huntersville school board and the tu lister for the Huntersville Township. He was, as a Charlotte newspaper noted, "widely known throughout the area."s Mter his death in 1952 and that of his son in 1959, much of the farmland, including the 1898 house, came to the ownership of daughter Mary Ewart Cato.9 The remainder is presently owned by Joe E. Ewart's widow, Edith H. Ewart. tO An II-acre lot with the farmhouse on it was made into a separate parcel in 1971. J I

I John F. Ewart Farm, wecklenburg COunty, NC

Section number _8 __ Page _3 __

lMecklenburg County Old Deed Boots 2. p. 329; 2. p. ~07; 6, 2:;; ~72; 13. 322; 13. 385; Ii.p.2S1; 17.p.280.

2Ibid., Book 2, p. 408. 3Ibid., Book 127, p. «6. Mecklenburg County Record of ..,"'''' ...... ''',u, ... '''Ll'&..;I, 4Mecklenburg County Deed 127. 313; 'With Mary

Huffman, 1989. 5Interviell with Mrs. William N. Blythe, by William H.

Huffman. 1989. 6Mecklenburg County Deed Books 276, p. 406; 276, 676; 291, p. 13~; 302, 422; 302, p.

602;302.p.604;585,p.557. 7Cha.rlotte Observer. January .8, 1952, p. SA. Family dates from tombstones in

Huntersville ARP Church cemetery. 8Cha.rlotte Observer. January 8, 19j2, p. 8A: 9Mectienburg County Deed Books 3314, p. 271; 331S, p. SS1; 3314, p. 283; Will Book 17. p. ~70.

JOMecklenburg County Deed Book 32n, p. In. 11 Ibid .. Book 3314, p. 271.

Previous documentation on file (NPS):

o preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested o previously listed in the National Register

D previously determined eligible by the" National Register D designated a National Historic Landmark D recorded by Historic American Buildings

Survey # _________________ _

o recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # _________________ _

10. Geographical Data Acreage ot property aporoxima tel ')-' II acr-es

UTM References A LJ2J 15 11 1 5 18 12 12J

Zone Easting "

C W I ~j1 I 6/ 2,0 10 I

Verbal Boundary Description

I ~ 9 /11 8/7 I 2! 0/ ~orthing

~ ,9 / 1 I 81 5 I 6, OJ

Q See continuation sheet

Primary location of additional data: Q State historic preservation oHice o Other State agency o Ftlderal agency o Local government o University DOther Specify repository:

N.C. Division of Archives and History; Survey and P 1 Cl n n i flS- Branch I Raleigh.

B lLLZJ ts III 6tz 11 101 13 I ql 118 1:.612-t.OJ Zone Easting Northing

D!lJ1J P 11 I 518 17 10 1 13 191 118 14 I 510 I

o See continuation sheet

The nominated property consists of all of parcel 10 on page 22 of Mecklenburg County Tax Book 19. A copy of that page accompanies this nomination.

o See continuation sheet Boundai)' Justification

Remaining parcel th::.t contains 02.-igi.z;..::.l :1Y..1se dnd outbuildings dssociatec \,'ith the fdrm, ciS well dS cultivated fields dnd pdstureland.

o See continuation sheet 11. Form Prepared By n a m 0/1 i tie _---EBL1L' cc.bh~;:::ur:Jo:i' ~}.f~~~+-~"" "::-'~')2.1~li --Ba.rnudL.t1 ·IU;:......l.!.....!..' ..21~C;~;-"'::l. --1:PDI 1.1.1 fuf.llIT1lja:L'u,) _________________ ---organization ~ ______ ~ ______________ ~~ date July, 1990 street &. numher L1 2 ') R P I} c:: c:: P 1 ;:; 0 r telephone 704 37; L. ') 36 city or town Cb a r ~ 0 t- +- P state ~\: . C . zip code 28') Q 3

John F. Ewart Farm, ~cklenburg County, NC

Section number ---.;;~_ Page _~l_

Blythe, Mrs. William N. .o.""·O' • .o.TO with William H. Huffman, 1989.

Cato, Mary Ewart. Daughter of John F. Ewart. Interview by William H. Huffman, 1989.

Charlotte Observer

Mecklenburg County. Deed Books.

---------------------. Will Books.

John F. Ewart Farm, wecklenburg COunty, NC

Sect/on number _1_2 __ 1

1 .

2 •

3 .

4.

IDENTIFICATION OF PHOTOGRAPHS

John F. E~art Farm 12920 Huntersville-Concord Road (SR 2448) Huntersville vicinity Mecklencurg County Photographer: Richard Mattson June 5, 1989 North Carolina Division of Archives and History, Raleigh

Ewart House, front facade, looking sout~east

Ei,:art House, porch details, front facace, looking south

E";{art House interior, mantel in east front room, looking

El".rart House interior, staircase, looking south

east

5. Ewart House, east elevation and ell, auto garage, smokehouse, an~ dairy (with well canopy), looking ~est

6. Dairy (with well canopy), east elevation, looking west

7. Barns, looking southeast

8. Earn, ca. 1898, west and north elevations, looking southeast

9. Equipment shelter, looking south

10. Pasture, looking east

Jo hill F 7 wttft ~ . .(vV'-

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Mapped, edited, and published by the Geological Survey

Control by USGS and USC&GS

Topography by photogrammetric methods from aerial photographs taken 1965. Field checked 1970 Supersedes map dated 1948

Polyconic projection. 1927 North American datum 10,000-foot grid based on North Carolina coordinate syslem lOOO-meter Universal Transverse Mercator grid ticks, zone 17, shown in blue

Fine red dashed lines indicate selected fence and field lines where generally visible on aerial photographs. This information is unchecked

* MN

0·07' 2 MILS

UTM GRID AND 1970 MAGNETIC NORTH DECLINATION AT CENTER OF SHEET

I FS""3

SCALE 1:1

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1000 0 1000 2000 3000 ECE3 __ E=r.-~====t _______ :=E

L vi V ~ I 5 a ~~'::--1=-=l:=F:::r=E=:C=~e

CO NI 0 U r~ I NT E R DI\IUM I~; MLAh

THIS MAP COMPLIES WITH NAllON

FOR SALE BY U. S. GEOLOGICAL SI A FOLDER DESCRIBING TOPOGRAPHIC MAPS I