Guide to the Historic Architecture of Piedmont North Carolina

This award-winning, lavishly illustrated history displays the wide range of North Carolina's architectural heritage, from colonial times to the beginning of World War II. North Carolina Architecture addresses the state's grand public and private buildings that have become familiar landmarks, but it also focuses on the quieter beauty of more common structures: farmhouses, barns, urban dwellings, log houses, mills, factories, and churches. These buildings, like the people who created them and who have used them, are central to the character of North Carolina. Now in a convenient new format, this portable edition of North Carolina Architecture retains all of the text of the original edition as well as hundreds of halftones by master photographer Tim Buchman. Catherine Bishir's narrative analyzes construction and design techniques and locates the structures in their cultural, political, and historical contexts. This extraordinary history of North Carolina's built world presents a unique and valuable portrait of the state.

Guide to the Historic Architecture of Eastern North Carolina

Guide to the Historic Architecture of Western North Carolina

Central North Carolina boasts a rich and varied architectural landscape. This richly illustrated guide offers a fascinating look at the Piedmont's historic architecture, covering more than 2,000 sites in 34 counties. 535 illustrations.

Old Dominion's built environment has grown and changed extensively since its beginnings and the Buildings of Virginia reflects those changes. The book chronicles Williamsburg, a restored eighteenth-century town with the Governor's Palace and the Christopher Wren building. And journeys farther west to Richmond, the state capitol, designed by Thomas Jefferson. It then captures the many historical sites including the birthplaces of George Washington and Robert E. Lee in Westmoreland County. Along with this, the chapters delve into the agricultural history of the state, the expansion of the railroad, and construction of deepwater facilities. And, finally, to the times during and after World War II when manufacturing, military activities, and the growth of the federal establishment accelerated the trends toward industrialization and urbanization. Virginia's influences are truly far reaching--virtually every American city shares some of its architectural style. Approximately 800 buildings and 450 photographs and maps are included in this volume's discussion, truly exhibiting the range of architecture that make up this region. Written by the voice behind A&E's America's Castles, this book is an ideal source for research in architectural history and sociology. Travelers and general readers can also utilize the book as a companion to the many fascinating sites throughout eastern Virginia.

Enjoy the thriving, diverse and historic sites in three tours of Greenville's Main Street. Explore the city's architectural highlights, spanning from early nineteenth-century Charleston-style buildings to a mid-twentieth-century home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Discover the dramatically successful downtown revitalization that serves as a model for elected officials and private investors around the country. Experience some of the South's richest cultural resources by visiting Greenville's collection of museums and galleries. Greenville History Tours owner John Nolan leads the reader through downtown in a tourist-friendly guide to historic sites, with vintage photographs to illustrate how the city has changed and what original features remain. Carefully researched and exceptionally written, it is a wonderful companion, both for visitors and for Greenville residents who want to see their hometown in a new light. - Back cover.

How do towns come into existence? What circumstances determine whether they succeed or fail? In The Colonial Towns of Piedmont North Carolina, author Christopher E. Hendricks looks at one region in eighteenth-century America to explore answers to these questions. He examines the establishment and development of eleven towns in the Piedmont, classifying them into three types: county towns formed by the establishment of government institutions, such as a courthouse; trade towns formed around commercial opportunities; and religious towns such as the three towns developed in Wachovia, a region where Moravians settled. He uses these classifications to tell the stories of how these towns came into being, and how, in their development, they struggled against economic, cultural, and political challenges. Ultimately, The Colonial Towns of Piedmont North Carolina deepens our understanding of the influence that American towns had on the settlement of the backcountry. Hendricks tells the poignant story of the Moravians’ struggle to maintain their neutral stance during the Revolutionary War, surviving exploitation and brutality from both the Continental Army and the British. The author also integrates the history of Native Americans into this mix of competing forces and shows how they were challenged by—and resisted—the newcomers. He emphasizes the role of individual initiative as well as the impetus of government, specifically courthouses, in establishing towns. By utilizing a variety of rarely examined primary sources, methodological approaches ranging from geographic theory to material culture studies, and a deep examination of local history, Hendricks provides a comprehensive analysis of the emergence of these towns on the frontier.

"Not just the Cupola House and Tryon Palace, but tobacco barns, shotgun houses, textile factories, and railroad stations, too. A feast of North Carolina's historic structures that will stand as a definitive source for many years". -- Roy Parker Jr., contributing editor, Fayetteville Observer- Times Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

A thousand unique gravestones cluster around old Presbyterian churches in the piedmont of the two Carolinas and in central Pennsylvania. Most are the vulnerable legacy of three generations of the Bigham family, Scotch Irish stonecutters whose workshop near Charlotte created the earliest surviving art of British settlers in the region. In The True Image, Daniel Patterson documents the craftsmanship of this group and the current appearance of the stones. In two hundred of his photographs, he records these stones for future generations and compares their iconography and inscriptions with those of other early monuments in the United States, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. Combining his reading of the stones with historical records, previous scholarship, and rich oral lore, Patterson throws new light on the complex culture and experience of the Scotch Irish in America. In so doing, he explores the bright and the dark sides of how they coped with challenges such as backwoods conditions, religious upheavals, war, political conflicts, slavery, and land speculation. He shows that headstones, resting quietly in old graveyards, can reveal fresh insights into the character and history of an influential immigrant group.