The Josephus Hall House, also known as the McNeely–Strachan House and Salisbury Academy, is a historic home located at

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

, Rowan County, North Carolina, United States. It was built about 1820, as a two-story, frame dwelling. It was remodeled in the 1850s to add its distinctive two-tier flat roofed front porch. The porch features a five bay ornamental cast iron arcade in a grapevine pattern. The roof was modified to the hipped roof form and exterior chimneys rebuilt in 1911. The interior has

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 ...

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

, and Late Victorian-style design elements. The building housed the Salisbury Academy girls' school from about 1820 to 1825. It was listed on 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 ...

in 1972. It is located in the

Salisbury Historic District Salisbury Historic District is a national historic district located at Salisbury, Rowan County, North Carolina. The district encompasses 348 contributing buildings and 1 contributing site in the central business district and surrounding residen ...

History

The house was built in 1820 for the Salisbury Female Academy. Five years later, Maxwell Chambers and his half-sister Rebecca Troy lived there. Later, Chambers moved and Sheriff Chaffin of

Davie County, North Carolina Davie County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 42,712. Its county seat is Mocksville. Davie County is included in the Winston-Salem, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a ...

bought it and rented it. Rowan County native Dr. Josephus Hall, who returned to Salisbury in 1853, bought the house along with his wife Mary Cowan in 1859 for $3,500. The purchase included stables and slaves' quarters. Hall added $125 worth of decorative ironwork. During the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, Hall served as a surgeon for the Confederate Prison. When Union troops invaded, they took over the front part of the house, paying rent, and Hall and his family lived in the back. Hall died in 1873. When his wife died in 1902, she left all her property to daughter Henrietta, who was married to Julius D. McNeely. Their daughter Henrietta (McNeely) Strachan had married Waverly B. Strachan in 1901, and had a daughter Mildred Strachan. A 1938 photo by

Frances Benjamin Johnston Frances Benjamin Johnston (January 15, 1864 – May 16, 1952) was an early American photographer and photojournalist whose career lasted for almost half a century. She is most known for her portraits, images of southern architecture, and various ...

calls the house the McNeely House; information about the photo also refers to a Mrs. W. B. Strachan as being associated with the house at that time. The 1971 NRHP nomination says "Descendants of the Halls (among whom were the McNeelys and the Strachans from whom comes the present name of the house) have lived there for over a hundred years." Hall's descendants continued to live in the house until 1972, at which time the Historic Salisbury Foundation bought it along with some original furnishings. In September 2019, Hall family members donated three other items of furniture that had once been in the house.

References

Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina Federal architecture in North Carolina Greek Revival houses in North Carolina Victorian architecture in North Carolina Houses completed in 1820 Houses in Salisbury, North Carolina National Register of Historic Places in Rowan County, North Carolina Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in North Carolina {{RowanCountyNC-NRHP-stub