WAYNE COUNTY
Updated 12/31/99
In 1985, the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office located and recorded an unmarked family cemetery, thereby averting legal action between the family and the current landowner at no cost to either party. The Historic Preservation Office statewide inventory contains information on over 460 prehistoric and historic archaeological sites in Wayne County.
An architectural survey of Goldsboro was completed in 1979 and a comprehensive survey of the rest of the county was undertaken in 1996-1997. These are cooperative local-state projects accomplished with grant and staff assistance from the Historic Preservation Office.
Federal grants of $26,175 and state grants of $258,500 aided projects including the Dillard Building, Doughboy Statue, Goldsboro architectural survey, Goldsboro Women's Club, Mount Olive Depot, Paramount Theater, Smith Street Community Center, the Wayne County revolving fund, the Wayne County architectural survey and survey publication, and the Mount Olive Historic District National Register nomination.
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Thirteen individual properties and the Mount Olive Historic District are listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and one locally designated historic district, the Goldsboro Historic District, has been certified by the National Park Service.
LOCAL PRESERVATION COMMISSIONS
Historic Preservation Office staff provided advisory comment on the designation report for the Goldsboro Historic District (locally designated in 1985) and has supplied advisory service and technical assistance to the Goldsboro Historic District Commission.
Ten income-producing tax credit projects have been completed in Wayne County at a total construction investment of $817,800, including the Henry Weil House and Solomon Weil House, both in Goldsboro, and the former U.S. Post Office in Mount Olive; seven additional projects are currently undergoing renovation, including the old Wachovia Bank Building in Goldsboro and the Mount Olive High School in Mount Olive. Three residential renovations are underway the new state tax credits for non-income-producing historic structures. The Historic Preservation Office reviews and provides restoration technical services for all rehabilitation tax credit projects.
PUBLIC EDUCATION AND PUBLICATIONS
The Historic Preservation Office assisted Goldsboro in publishing the results of the architectural survey in An Architectural Inventory of Goldsboro, North Carolina in 1987. Consultations to the Wayne County Historical Society facilitated publication of Glimpses of Wayne County, North Carolina in 1998.
The Historic Preservation Office has provided technical assistance to many properties throughout the county such as the Wayne County Courthouse, the Rexall Drug Building, the former Woolworth Store, the Oddfellows Building, First Presbyterian Church, the Edwards Building, the Giddens Building, the Daniels Building, and the Henry and Solomon Weil Houses in Goldsboro; and the Southerland House, Depot, Library, and (former) Post Office and (former) High School in Mount Olive. Staff provided extensive assistance to the town of Seven Springs in the aftermath of flooding caused by Hurricane Floyd in September 1999, including the Town Hall, Library, and several commercial and residential buildings.