Oldest House in Sanford, NC?

Once again, we’re appealing to our faithful readers for help with a postcard:

The above postcard bears the claim of “Oldest House in Sanford, N.C.”  I did some research to see if I could find anything in support of this claim, but didn’t come up with much.  A lot of sources point to the Railroad House, built in 1872, as being the oldest house in Sanford.

The History & Architecture of Lee County, North Carolina, by J. Daniel Pezzoni, provides a thorough discussion of the county’s built environment, and shows a few examples of Lee County’s earliest houses, similar to the house shown in the postcard above.  The double shouldered chimney and what appears to be a board roof help date our house to sometime during the first half of the 19th century.  The book suggests that the chimney was likely originally constructed out of wood because it was less expensive and time consuming to construct, and that the masonry chimney was added later to replace the dangerous wooden one.

The photograph of this house was taken by the Felch Sisters in 1906, so anything could have happened to the house between then and today. Does anyone know anything about the house?  Is it still standing?

5 thoughts on “Oldest House in Sanford, NC?”

  1. I am doing some research on a house I just purchased. It is in Sanford and dates to the 1790’s.

  2. Chase,
    Tell us more about the house. Perhaps one of our NC Miscellany readers knows something about it. Or perhaps we have material about it in the North Carolina Collection. We’d welcome the chance to help you. Pop in for a visit. Or, if that’s a little tough, drop us a line at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.

    Good luck.

    John

  3. Chase, my names Kevin I live in Sanford NC and I have a high tech metal detector and seeing if you were interested in letting me come over search the land with you and what ever we find we spilt. Old coins fold ext. Call me if interested 518)369-7385

  4. Hi I am looking for a picture of the Sanford Cafe in Sanford NC. The building was on Wicker street. The building is no longer there. Its where the building behind the bank on the corner resides. Anyone have a picture of it? Thanks

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