The Carson House is a

historic house A historic house generally meets several criteria before being listed by an official body as "historic." Generally the building is at least a certain age, depending on the rules for the individual list. A second factor is that the building be i ...

and

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

located in

Marion, North Carolina Marion is a city in and the county seat of McDowell County, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1844, the city was named in honor of Francis Marion, Brigadier General Francis Marion, the American Revolutionary War Hero whose talent in gue ...

. It was the home of Col.

John Hazzard Carson John Hazzard Carson (March 24, 1752 – March 5, 1841) was an American military officer, politician, planter, and revolutionary. He served in the North Carolina Militia during the American Revolutionary War and as a delegate for Burke County to t ...

, and served as the McDowell County courthouse when the county was first organized in 1842.

Description

Built in 1793, the Carson House is one of the oldest standing structures in Marion, along with the nearby Joseph McDowell House. Large walnut logs were harvested from nearby Buck Creek to construct the massive three-story

plantation house A plantation house is the main house of a plantation, often a substantial farmhouse, which often serves as a symbol for the plantation as a whole. Plantation houses in the Southern United States and in other areas are known as quite grand and ...

. Between 1804 and 1827, the area now known as McDowell County was a large producer of gold, and people from all over the country came to "strike it rich" before the

California Gold Rush The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...

of 1849. The 1843 meeting to formally organize McDowell County, from sections of the counties of

Burke Burke (; ) is a Normans in Ireland, Norman-Irish surname, deriving from the ancient Anglo-Norman and Hiberno-Norman noble dynasty, the House of Burgh. In Ireland, the descendants of William de Burgh (''circa'' 1160–1206) had the surname'' de B ...

and Rutherford counties, took place in the home of Col. John Carson. The new county was named after Col. Joseph McDowell, the hero of the American Revolution at the Battle of King's Mountain. Originally, the county commissioners wanted the county seat to be located near the Carson House, but concerns about disrupting

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

life resulted in the Carson family donating a few miles east for the county seat. Col. John Carson's son, Joseph McDowell Carson, built Green River Plantation near Columbus,

Polk County, North Carolina Polk County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 19,328. Its county seat is Columbus. History The county was formed in 1855 from parts of Henderson and Rutherford counties. It w ...

. For many years, the Carson House served as a stagecoach inn and social center. Important historical figures such as

Davy Crockett Colonel (United States), Colonel David Crockett (August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) was an American politician, militia officer and frontiersman. Often referred to in popular culture as the "King of the Wild Frontier", he represented Tennesse ...

Sam Houston Samuel Houston (, ; March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was an American general and statesman who played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution. He served as the first and third president of the Republic of Texas and was one of the first two indi ...

, and

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...

stopped here. The latter reportedly lost money gambling on the horses that raced at the Carson Plantation. Dan Kanipe, one of the two survivors of General Custer's unit in the Battle of Little Bighorn, lived in Marion. For some time he lived at the Carson House. The property was bought in the late 1800s by John Seawell Brown, and was preserved by three generations of the Brown family. Brown was a three-term North Carolina State Senator who was instrumental in the founding of McDowell County. The Carson House was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1970. After extensive renovations, the house was opened to the public in 1964 as a museum and library. The Carson House maintains a unique collection of research materials and books, along with dozens of family histories. The Mary M. Greenlee Genealogical Research and History Room has been a part of the house since the early 1970s, and is constantly adding to its archives. Today, The Carson House is listed on the

, and is open to the public as a museum. In 2007, it was listed as a certified destination on the NC Civil War Trails Program.

John Hazzard Carson

John "Hazzard" Carson served in the North Carolina militia during the American Revolution. His military record included the following positions: * March 1776, enlisted March, ensign, 2nd Rowan County Regiment. under Captain William Moore, Reuben White and Joseph McDowell * 1776, Forage Master under General

Griffith Rutherford Griffith Rutherford (c. 1721 – August 10, 1805) was an American military officer in the Revolutionary War and the Cherokee-American Wars, a political leader in North Carolina, and an important figure in the early history of the Southwes ...

* 1776: Volunteer, William Moore's company of Col. Christopher Beekmans

Rowan County Regiment The Rowan County Regiment was originally established in about August 1, 1775 as a local militia in Rowan County, North Carolina, Rowan County in the Province of North-Carolina, Province of North Carolina. When the North Carolina Provincial Congres ...

* 1776: Cross Creek Expedition. * July 3, 1776: skirmish against Native Americans (Cherokee siege of McDowell's Station), North Fork of the Catawba; Capt. Rueben White. * 1777: under Capt. William Moore, Cherokee actions. * 1778: under Capt. Joseph McDowell, Indian actions (later married McDowell's widow, Mary Moffett McDowell) * 1781: Forage Master under Brig. Gen. Griffith Rutherford and Col. Charles McDowell * 1782: paymaster, Burke County Regiment He may have attained the rank of colonel after the Revolutionary War.

References

External links

*
Historic Carson House – Marion, North Carolina, Historic SiteMcDowell Chamber of Commerce – Marion, North CarolinaCity of Marion, NC
{{National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina Historic house museums in North Carolina Museums in McDowell County, North Carolina Plantation houses in North Carolina Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina National Register of Historic Places in McDowell County, North Carolina Carson family (North Carolina)