1U300 ,0-)41 \I'\€-\I

lJ N I II l>~) T ;\ T I I H I' ;\ In M I ~J I 0 I I III I N I lid 0 R NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

HISTORIC

Eden ton PecHlut Company

street Extension at the head of Wood in the t ford ROdd and N:3 ru~

CITY, TOWN

Edenton

Nort.h Carolina

_.OISHlicr

}~~U!LDING(~)

_STFIUCTURE

_~.mE

()I3J!:cr

NA.ME

__ PUBLIC

.. I'iliVA If:

1'101 H

U

I~~ pnon __ BEING COtJSIDERED

,_,,___ Jol~ KirJrJ~lan.L_ Jr. STREET & NUMBER

Kir kma il Lumber Co e, Inc. CITY. TOWN

Columbia

COUFiTHOUSE

nEGISTRY OF DEEDS, ETC

STREET &

TiTlE

Chowan

Edeni~on

VICINITY OF

CODE

037

_OCCUPIED

D

. \I'Im~1< IN PROGRESS

'. Y r s n t. s r R' C I til

UNRESTRICTED

Courthouse

Hecord

First COUNTY

('hOVlan

--AGRICULTURE

-_COMMERCIf1,L

fOUCA,lIOi'J/\1

CODE

__ MU~:;FUM

__ 1"(\111<,

l'fliVA n I1f:.SIDI. Ncr

__ ENTERTAI~JME NT __ RELIGIOUS

. CiOVfHNML N r

-_INDUSTRIAL

_MILITARY

North Carolina

__ SCiU-J If /I:

__ TRI\N~-;PORTATION

.-~~---.------~---~-----.. -- .. ------.---~-~~.--- .. -------~--- -~-----.-----~~--.-- .. -.--~~-.. --.-------.~~~~--

DEPOSITORY FOR

SUFlVEY hECOfW::J

CitY rUWN fE

__ EXCELLENT

_GOOD

_FAIR

fEfHORA

__ RUI~JS

_UNEXPOSED

}LUNALTLHED

__ ALTEI~E:D

XJ)AIGINAL SITE

E TH PRESENT AND OHIG!NAL (IF KNOWN) PHYSICAL APPEAFU\NCE

t built the Norfolk and Southern

1909 on lroad.

4 9 The five

consisted central core 66 feet square with attached at the southwest, office area attached at the southeast (by

elevator tower rising above the on the warehouse stood north of the

The bui which is

buildi

in seven boards wide tin hip roof broken

and floors, wide on the

the

'1'he

A

the the

with seven the south and north

dnd and five

Tbe arched windows do not appear on all sides, exhibit Pilaster

on each side and terminate in a corbel cornice that from the lower levels

main entrance is on the east side where two wooden doors,

of brick-­off

feet, open onto a "'1ooden A three'~room off ice area extends at the southeast corner of the with tin roof

its south side

wi brick elevator shaft, flared 81 at he SOLI b side the roof line

[j fth y and. ixLh the

top rises flush to The shaft has windows on

a.nd C},:'O:3S much of south vvall of t.he. a OJ1\':~ story extension the with a

roum and 0 rna This extension is divided into two t hetween the two and at the sDuthprn most vat i built into the

cemen t loor in the sou.thern ;]egmen t" The walls of thi:3 extension are three br icks

The factory has wooden loading on the west side by the railroad tracks connected to the interior by an arched with wooden doors to thos. at the east entrance Pi metal fire escape winds do\\m the 'i"est wall

On the north stands wooden warehouse on brick outer covered tin, connected to the factory by a from the und abutt:inq ttl.e

bui at the nortllwest corner The warehouse, 104 teet high, des ted Warehouse 1 is also t-hf'

entrance of the by a wooden

FHI<-8- ~500A (11/1'8)

UN1TtD STATES DlPARTMtNl OF THE INfER lOR HE:r< I T /\GE CONc;r~:RV)n 101\J /\ND RlCt\U\T ION S[RV I C[

ITEM NUMBER

y

7 PAGE 1

1920 lwo mor(~ warehouses had been added north of the .3 No. 2--to the northeast of No 1--and Warehouse No 3--north of No 1 on brick pilings, with 16 foot ceilings and tin outside walls

A 25,000 gallon water storage tank and tower east of the tallding. 4

Both vva.rehou;3e buJ 1 t of w()(

is no longer

The factory appears to be structurally sound, though cracks are appearing in the outer walls in several places Ivy covers the walls, obscuring the north and west sides Virtual all the windows are broken

Inside the floors rernain sound, as are the wooden stairs in the northeast corner connecting the five tories The office area is strewn with but is in good condition, as is the machinery/engine segment. An old safe remains in tl-e office; some of the rewains in tlle part of the extension nearest the core and the elevator shaft 1~e old weighinq room is also littered but the east entrance (\,,;hj_ch is out,'.::dde i1'I'he Edenton Peanut II painted in black on a white und).

'rhe wooden tforms on the east and west are collapsing.

Warehouse No. 1 is also badly deteriorated, with several roof sections rotted through ~\7arehouses No 2, and c ly No.3, appear in '::load condi tion" No 3 has signs of still being in use.

The 4 9 acre site is weedy, but the road the warehouses remains open, and the vines seen confined to the factory proper

PERIOD AREAS OF SiGNIFICANCE -- CH AND JUSTIFY BELO\\!

__ PREHISTOHIC --ARCHEUUJGYcpREHISTOnlC __ COMMUNITY PLANNING _LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE _RELIGION

- 1400-1499 --ARCHEOLOGY HISTORIC __ CONSERVATION _LAW _SCIENCE

__ 1500-1 _AGRICULTURE _c_ECONOMiCS __ LITERATURE __ SCULPTURl

__ 1 tiOO 1699 AARCHITECTURE _EDUCATION _MILITARY ___ SOCIAUHUM/\NllARI;\N

-1700 1799 MIT cc_tNGINEERING c.c .. MUSIC THEATER

_1800-1899 A:COMMfRCE _I:XPtORATION/SETTLEMENT _PHILOSOPHY TRANSPOFH ATION

900- __ COMMUNICATIONS ~INDUSrRY _POLITICS/GOVEHNMENT __ OHiER (SP[ClfY)

_INVENTION

SPECIFIC DATES ~ 1909 BUI LDER/ ARCH ITEeT

STA.TEMENT OF SIGNIFICA.NCE

The ina1 Edenton Peanut Factory, can s warehouse was built about 1 on At the time of construction and for

ctor in the's twentieth 'The

makes it one of the finest and local landm.ark

A. Associated with the late-19th and related the in the 18805, and textile

ini tiated tfle economy of the century

c ErnbodiC!s architecture, with the

drlllnatic is bold and skill executed

site on the thereafter, an

, which dominated the economy in the and handsome brickvlork. of Lhe

construction in eastern North Carolina

ture 0

-

mi 11 canl(~

cotton as The Edenton Peanut and thus contributed the

of Edenton in the twentieth

industrial eleva. tOl tower the brickwork

FriR t~ - .5 U CJjJ,

(11/78) UNITED ST!HE'~; DEP/\RTM[I~T ()F TfiE 11'HERIOR

HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECRlATION SERVICE

T If M NUMBER

ONLY

8 P/'.GE 1

I~den ton ha ,S rJeE:f1 one () the larges t peanut markets in North Ccu:ol , draw-on a large local crnp of Jumbo and other VirqiniQ- peanuts. S 1~0 soil

and s c Ilmat. i.e ccndi tions, C coup led v;i th Edenton s 1ocation the Albe--mar.Le Sotmd and the (Jl1ee~' 'I: dll t Ocean t 7 combL ned to make the town one of the mo,s t process cell ters in the Un i ted State::; 8 As t ElS thc~ Illid

1950s, est peanut market in North Carolina and the second in the Peanuts shelled and cleaned in Edenton were sold to many roasters, sal tets I bl.lt.ter 'f)rociucers, f and cc) manllfacturer:c, .10

The Edenton Peanut Company's fae was built in the tuentietll century to take vantage of this stroner mark.et and soon 'rhe EdC"nton Pp(lnut- Factory was the first of its kind in Edenton. Loc:ally owned, it was established members of the prominent Wood and rd families It produced at its height 1~OO-1500 bags of peanuts per day. In the first half of the twentie·th century f additional peanut factories eel.me to Edenton as well, a.nd there is still a flourishing industry there.

Sanborn Insurance Company ma.ps and other sources indicate that original the fi rst floor of I:ho factory was Llsed for peanut ; the second floor for picking; the third and fourth floors for polisl1ing; and the fifth floor was devoted to hoppers By 1920 the first floor had be0D converted to a area, the storage function taken over by addi tional ware}1~~!3eS" The factory was oriqinally powered a ~~~tecun

engine fueled by peanut hulls L

The Edenton Peanut Company was organized as a corporation of from to sixty stockholders and capitalized a.t $40~$50,OOO. The factory employ(~d about 100 workers, many of them black women. Most workers were black and office staff. 13

manager foremen,

In Uw Y(;(.H~i jl(urtedidl(:ly 1()11uwill(J \'Jut'l.d \'VdL J 1, [(~d!.~lrJl rt:,yuLltiun~: Llw purchases of peanuts were changed to require that peanut processors purcha~~e their (::;ni·.ire ::.:tock at once rather than gradually over the c'ourse of a season TJiLs necessital

Lal outlay: $1 million t ,1 i!lle-·-which Ul<~ Edc'nLoll P(:lUlut Compdl1Y held trouble assembling. This and 0 rket and busine::.;s conditions made it increasinqly difficult for the finn to operate and it was sold in 1957 to the Birdsong Corporatior of Suffolk Virqinia III 195(.3 it was sold to the \t~ D Holmes Wholesale Croc('ry coropany,.l·5 which in turn sold it to the :Kirkman Lumr)(~r Company of Colurnbia N. C in 1975 16

FliR ~- 8 ~- 3 n U,L\ (11/7<3)

UI\JITED ST/\rE(~ DEP/\RTi'V\[!\n 01- TIlE HntG~IOR

HERlfAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE

ITLM NUMBUi

Footnotes

8 PAGE 2

I Ann Snider Intervi.c~w vlith William , former (1 08-1057)

and son of Thomas H Shepard, first , Edenton Peanut Company September, 1978. Hcr(~inafter ci ted rlS interviE:~w

Coun ty records (Chowan County Courthourll;, Edenton, N C) Deed Book 105 pp. 29-295

3 Sanborn Insurance 1920, F'age 14.

Insurance Company map 1920.

5 Edenton-ChmJall Charnber of Commerce Edenton f North Carolina (Edenton, N. C., The

Chmvan Herald Pri lIt J ,July I 1939) P,lfJt~ ]

7, b' j I H., ] 8

8 . Iblc1. Page 16"

9Robinson Blackwell P. editor '1'he Guide (Chapel Hill l'L C ,'I.'he -----------------"------~.---

University of North Carolina Press, 1955

10 Edenton Page 21.

11 Sanborn Insurance Company map,1920.

12 Shepard interview.

13 Shepard interview-

14 Shepard interview

1

FHR ~- 8 ~ CH1L\ (11/78)

UNITED STArT.S DEPJ\F:Tiv1J:Ni- 01::'- TH[ rl\jTEI'~!OR

HER I T /-\GE COj\JCJF:'RVAT J ()~~ I\Nf) RI C RJJ\T IOf'l SERV J CF

T 11 EM NUMBER 8 PAGE 3

16 ) Chowan County records (Chowan County Courthouse, Edenton, N@ C.

ChO\l,lan Conn Records, Chowarl Cot! , North ~nd Office of the of Deeds

ThQ (,ho'wan Herald, Edenton, North ina, , 1961

ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PflOPEATY __ ~=-=--=:..::.:::.-:"-==--_,_~

UTM REFERENCES

Latit.ude: 360 I 39 11

ciluu:;us occupy 3 <)

with one acre beyond (north) of the warehouses on a site 590' L50' north of the EasL Church. Street extension and east of the Norfolk ClI1d Southern Rai road in northeast

The toted 1 1\.. <) acre .

STATE CODE COUNTY CODE

STATE CODE COUNTY

NAME / TITLE

THE f:VALLJ!\T[D SIGf'JIFICANCE OF THIS FT~OPHnY WITHIN THE: STATE IS:

NATIONAL

hereby nominate this property f',)f inclUSion in the Nal.ioPClI

criteria and procedures set forth by the !\lallonal Pdrk ServIce

STA.fE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OfFICER SIGt'JA1URE

TITLE ~;tdte Historic Prcserva ion Officc'r

PEATY INClU

LOCi\L

and certify that it ha~ br;cm evaluated accordinn to tho

DATE 1979

NATIONAL

GPO 892.453

FHR- 8 .. ~. 300/.\

(11/78) U!\j J TED STATES DEPARTMD~T OF THE I NTER lOR

HERIT/\GE CONSF:RVATION ,'1,ND RECRf/\TION SF:RVICE

ITEM NUMHEH 9 PAG!.: 1

Edenton-Chmvan Chamber of Commerce, Edenton Horth Carolina Edenton, N. C.: The C::hov,/an Hectrld Print July, 1937

Hobinson, Blacbvell P , editor, 'rhe North Carolina Guide Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina Pre 1955.

Sanborn Insurance Company Edenton, N C. 1910, 1920, 1927 New York, New York. Copies found in the North Carolina Collection, Universj of l~orth Carolina Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Snider, Ann. Interview with William B. Shepard for the North Carolina Division of Archives and History, R41eigh, North Carolina, September, 1978