GUILFORD COUNTY
Updated 12/31/99
Archaeological investigations have been conducted at the Blandwood dependencies, Greensboro. Over 400 prehistoric and historic archaeological sites are recorded in the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office files for Guilford County.
The first survey in the county was conducted in Greensboro in 1975. A comprehensive county survey was completed in 1979, and a comprehensive survey update of the city of Greensboro was completed in 1993. In 1999, a survey update of High Point was begun. All were cooperative local-state projects accomplished with grants and staff assistance from the Historic Preservation Office. In 1995 the county undertook a survey update of unincorporated areas with staff assistance from the Historic Preservation Office.
State grants totaling $465,240 have assisted the restorations of Blandwood and the Carolina Theater in Greensboro, the William Penn School (High Point), the Mendenhall Plantation (Jamestown) and seven other projects. Federal grants totaling $77,034 have provided assistance for the restoration of Union Cemetery and supported architectural surveys in Greensboro and High Point.
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Seventeen historic districts and sixty-five individual properties are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Blandwood in Greensboro has been recognized as a National Historic Landmark.
LOCAL PRESERVATION COMMISSIONS
Greensboro, High Point, and Whitsett have local historic district commissions, and Guilford County has a joint historic preservation commission. Greensboro is a Certified Local Government. There are sixty-six locally designated landmarks and seven locally designated districts in the county, including Oak Ridge, one of the state's first locally designated rural historic districts.
PRESERVATION PLANNING
Historic Preservation Office Staff provided technical assistance to the City of Greensboro in the preparation of design guidelines for affordable housing, which were published as the South Greensboro Historic District Guidelines in 1997.
Thirty-three income-producing tax credit projects have been completed in Guilford County at a total construction investment of $18,664,700, including Tomlinson Furniture Company in High Point and Wafco Mills and the former Pomona High School in Greensboro; five additional projects are undergoing renovation, including the Country Club Apartments in Greensboro. Two residential renovations have been completed to utilize the new state tax credit for non-income-producing structures, and four residences are being rehabilitated under the program. The Historic Preservation Office reviews and provides restoration technical services for all tax credit projects.
PUBLIC EDUCATION AND PUBLICATIONS
The Historic Preservation Office assisted the city of Greensboro in publishing the findings of the architectural survey in An Inventory of Historic Architecture: Greensboro, North Carolina, by Ruth Little, in 1976, and Guilford County and High Point in publishing Architectural Resources: An Inventory of Historic Architecture (High Point, Jamestown, Gibsonville, Guilford County), by H. McKelden Smith, in 1979. The Historic Preservation Office assisted preparation of a new, comprehensive survey of Greensboro's historic architecture that was published in 1995 as Greensboro: An Architectural Record, by Marvin Brown. Also in 1995, the Historic Preservation Office conducted a housing workshop in Greensboro.
Restoration technical assistance has been provided by the Historic Preservation Office to all grant projects such as Blandwood, Mendenhall Plantation, and the Carolina Theater and major tax act projects including Tomlinson Furniture, Pomona High School, McCulloch's Gold Mill, and the McAlister House. Other projects which have received technical assistance include the Greensboro Depot, the Greensboro Historical Museum, the Foust Building at UNC-Greensboro, and the Adams House in High Point.