JOHN W. CARR HOUSE

JOHN W. CARR HOUSE

,
Chapel Hill, NC
NC
Built in
1846-1847
/ Modified in
1907-1915
/ Demolished in
1915-1925
Construction type: 
,
Type: 

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Last updated

  • Sun, 10/15/2023 - 10:47am by SteveR

Comments

,
Chapel Hill, NC
NC
Built in
1846-1847
/ Modified in
1907-1915
/ Demolished in
1915-1925
Construction type: 
,
Type: 

 

On October 5, 1846, John Wesley Carr purchased a two-acre property, Town Lot 7, from UNC.[1] He soon had a house built on the property, and a store built on the northwest corner of Franklin and Columbia streets.[2]

Carr's wife was Eliza Pannill (Bullock) Carr, and one of his sons was the infamous Julian Shakespeare Carr (born in 1845 in Chapel Hill).

The Carrs were slave owners, and it is highly likely they enslaved people in the house and/or on this property. The 1850 United States Federal Census (Slave Schedules) lists the Carr family as enslaving five people; three males and two females. The 1860 United States Federal Census (Slave Schedules) lists the Carr family as enslaving nine people; four males and five females.[3] Since John Carr operated a store, he may have used the labor of one or more enslaved people in his business.

John W. Carr died in May 1889, leaving the house to his wife. Mrs. Carr's estate sold the property to Junius Harris in February 1907, after her death in November 1906 (she was living with family in Durham at the time).[4] Harris sold the property to the Methodist Church, to be used as their parsonage, in September 1907.[5]

The Carr House was demolished circa 1924, and a new, brick, Methodist parsonage was built on the property. This building was moved to the north part of the lot when the southern part of the property was sold in 1935, to make way for a new Pure Oil service station.[6]

View north west, circa 1892 (photo by Kemp P. Battle, via UNC)

March 1911 Sanborn Map excerpt (#702)

December 1915 Sanborn Map excerpt (#702)

 

ENDNOTES
[1] Orange County deed book 32, page 221
[2] Bryant, Occupants and Structures of Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, North Carolina at 5-Year Intervals, 1793-1998. (1999)
[3] 1840 United States Federal Census; 1850 United States Federal Census (Slave Schedules); 1860 United States Federal Census (Slave Schedules)
[4] Orange County deed book 59, page 400
[5] Orange County deed book 60, pages 62-63
[6] Orange County deed book 104, page 369; Bryant 1999

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