The Herring House is a historic home near La Grange,

Lenoir County, North Carolina Lenoir County is a county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 55,122. Its county seat is Kinston, located on the Neuse River, across which the county has its territory. Lenoir County comprises the K ...

. Built in the early-19th century, the

Federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

style farmhouse was built by one of the area's early settlers. The building was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

(NRHP) in 1973.

History

The Herring family settled in present-day Lenoir County in the early-18th century. John Herring (1684–1760), a member of the North Carolina Colonial Assembly, received a

land patent A land patent is a form of letters patent assigning official ownership of a particular tract of land that has gone through various legally-prescribed processes like surveying and documentation, followed by the letter's signing, sealing, and publi ...

in August 1720 for property a few miles from present-day La Grange. The house is believed to have been built by either his grandson, Edward Matchet Herring (1755–1825), or great-grandson, William Herring (1779–1830). A brick in the chimney is marked "1801", most likely the year the house was constructed. It is located on a dirt lane west of Ed Herring Road (State Route 1503). When William's youngest son, Joshua James Herring, Sr., deeded the property to his son, Needham Whitfield Herring (1856–1942), on October 11, 1889, the homestead included the house and . At the time of Herring House's historical survey in the 1970s, the home was still owned by a Herring family member. The house was added to the NRHP on October 25, 1973.

Architecture

Herring House is a two-story Federal style wooden building on a

Flemish bond Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and Mortar (masonry), mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called ''Course (architecture), courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall. Bricks ...

foundation. The front of the five

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

wide house (facing south) features a central entrance with

transom Transom may refer to: * Transom (architecture), a bar of wood or stone across the top of a door or window, or the window above such a bar * Transom (nautical), that part of the stern of a vessel where the two sides of its hull meet * Operation Tran ...

and 20th century one-story porch with

hip roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus, ...

that continues around the east side. Two bays and a Flemish bond chimney are located on each end of the house. The brick that reads "1801" is in the west chimney. The windows of the house are somewhat narrow. The first floor windows are nine-over-nine

sash A sash is a large and usually colorful ribbon or band of material worn around the body, either draping from one shoulder to the opposing hip and back up, or else running around the waist. The sash around the waist may be worn in daily attire, bu ...

while the second floor windows are nine-over-six. There is a central hallway in the home with a large parlor on either side. The walls in the hallway are plastered but feature

wainscot Panelling (or paneling in the U.S.) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials. Panelling was developed in antiquity to make roo ...

ing on the lower portion. The plastered walls in the other rooms are lined with a molded

chair rail A dado rail, also known as a chair rail or surbase, is a type of moulding fixed horizontally to the wall around the perimeter of a room. The dado rail is traditionally part of the dado or wainscot and, although the purpose of the dado is main ...

. The open-string two flights staircase is on the left side of the main hallway. The staircase features curved

brackets A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. Typically deployed in symmetric pairs, an individual bracket may be identified as a 'left' or 'r ...

and square

baluster A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its cons ...

s. An enclosed staircase is located in the east end parlor.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina Federal architecture in North Carolina Houses completed in 1801 Houses in Lenoir County, North Carolina National Register of Historic Places in Lenoir County, North Carolina

History

Architecture

See also

References