A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Piedmont North Carolina

By Catherine W. Bishir, Michael T. Southern

A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Piedmont North Carolina

620 pp., 6.125 x 9.25, 536 illus., 53 maps, bibl., index

  • Paperback ISBN: 978-0-8078-5444-0
    Published: May 2003

Richard Hampton Jenrette Series in Architecture and the Decorative Arts

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Awards & distinctions

2004 Award of Merit, American Association for State and Local History (for the series)

2003 Special Book Award Recognizing an Outstanding Guide Book Series, Southeast Society of Architectural Historians

Central North Carolina boasts a rich and varied architectural landscape--from the early plantation houses and farms of its northeastern reaches, to the red brick textile mills and tobacco factories that line railroads across the region, to the glamorous New South skyscrapers of downtown Charlotte.

This richly illustrated guide offers a fascinating look at the Piedmont's historic architecture, covering more than 2,000 sites in 34 counties. Highlights include cabins and stone houses dating to the region's early settlement; mill villages and main streets that depict its subsequent industrial and agricultural growth; and twentieth-century landmarks such as Durham's Duke University and Winston-Salem's Reynolds Building. As North Carolina faces massive changes in its economy and landscape, residents and travelers alike will value this unparalleled portrait of an American region, which traces its history and culture through its buildings and communities.

A project of the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office of the Division of Archives and History, this book completes a three-volume series. The project reflects more than twenty-five years of fieldwork and research in the agency's statewide architectural survey and National Register of Historic Places programs. Previous volumes cover the eastern and western portions of the state.

About the Authors

Catherine W. Bishir, senior architectural historian with Preservation North Carolina, is author of the award-winning North Carolina Architecture. Bishir and Michael T. Southern previously collaborated on A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Western North Carolina (with Jennifer F. Martin) and the award-winning Guide to the Historic Architecture of Eastern North Carolina.
For more information about Catherine W. Bishir, visit the Author Page.

Michael T. Southern is a research historian with the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office. Southern with Catherine W. Bishir previously collaborated on A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Western North Carolina (with Jennifer F. Martin) and the award-winning Guide to the Historic Architecture of Eastern North Carolina.
For more information about Michael T. Southern, visit the Author Page.

Reviews

"An essential resource for decades to come. . . . Highly recommended."--Choice

"This new book, together with its predecessors, gives so much more than a simple catalog of buildings in North Carolina. Its introductory history of the region puts the architecture in context. Together with the hundreds of photographs, maps and charts, the authors' narrative gives us a new way to view N.C. history as a whole."--Charlotte Observer

"This field guide constitutes a rich architectural database that a wide variety of public historians will find both interesting and useful--whether perused by armchair or explored from the public thoroughfare."--Public Historian

"The three-volume guide to the historic architecture of North Carolina may top the list of guide books. These three books provide what is surely the most comprehensive, historically and culturally informative, and easy-to-use set of guides to any state in the nation."--ARRIS

"A brand-new, old-fashioned, immensely rich guide book. I've learned tons already."--Reynolds Price

"Ranging from elegant mansions and sturdy mills to picturesque barns and Art Deco skyscrapers, the historic buildings of the Piedmont region tell an important chapter of North Carolina's--and America's--story. This book is an invaluable guide, a compelling record of the people and events that shaped the region's history, and a reminder of the importance of preserving the heritage of this special place for future generations."--Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation