Survey and Research Report
on the
William L. and Laura A. McConnell
Farm
1.
Name and location of the property:
The property known as the William L. and Laura A. McConnell Farm
is located 4009 Beatties Ford Road.
2.
Name and address of the current
owner(s) of the property:
The current owner of the William L. and
Laura A. McConnell Farm is:
John C. and Marianne K. Walker
4009 Beatties Ford Road
Charlotte, NC 28216
704-393-2981
3.
Representative photographs of the
property: This report contains representative photographs
of the property.
4.
A map depicting the location of
the property: This report contains a map depicting the
location of the property.
5.
Current deed book reference to the
property: The most
recent deed to the William L. and Laura
A. McConnell Farm can be found in Mecklenburg County Deed Book
4355 Page 550. The Tax Identification Number for the
property is 039-23-120. The property is zoned R-4.
6.
A brief historical sketch of the
property: This report contains a brief historical sketch
of the property prepared by Lara Ramsey.
7.
A brief architectural description
of the property: This report contains a brief
architectural description of the property prepared by Lara Ramsey.
8.
Documentation of why and in what
ways the property meets the criteria for designation set forth in
N.C.G.S. 160A-400.5.
a.
Special significance in terms of
its history, architecture, and/or cultural importance. The
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission judges that
the William L. and Laura A. McConnell Farm possesses special
significance in terms of Charlotte-Mecklenburg. The Commission
bases its judgment on the following considerations:
1.
The William L. and Laura A. McConnell
Farm is a physical reminder of the rural landscape of Mecklenburg
County in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
With its simple two-story farm house and modest collection
of outbuildings, the McConnell Farm represents the many small
farmsteads that flourished in the county in the decades after the
Civil War.
2.
The William L. and Laura A. McConnell
Farm is an excellent and well-preserved example of the Folk
Victorian style used in many farm houses throughout Mecklenburg
County in the late 1800s. Its traditional
gable-front-and-wing form and Queen Anne spindlework along the
porch columns and in the gables are typical of the combination of
simple, folk building forms with elaborate decorative detailing
that is the hallmark of the style.
3.
The alterations made to the William L.
and Laura A. McConnell Farm—first around 1897 and again in
1936—serve as a record of the McConnell Family’s changing
circumstances during their time in the house. From its
construction in the late 1880s as a modest, one-story cottage for
a newly-married couple, the McConnell House evolved into a more
impressive homestead with the addition of a second story built to
accommodate the growing family. After serving as the anchor
of a 200-acre farm for over 50 years, the house and approximately
8 acres of land surrounding it were deeded to William and Laura’s
son Edgar McConnell in 1934. The alterations made to the
house two years later—including the construction of a sun room and
screened back porch, as well as the installation of two brick
fireplaces and several sets of French doors—were meant to update
and modernize the farm house.
b.
Integrity of design, workmanship,
materials, feeling, and association.
The Commission contends that the architectural
description prepared by Lara Ramsey demonstrates that the William
L. and Laura A. McConnell Farm meets this criterion.
9.
Ad Valorem Tax Appraisal:
The Commission is aware that designation would allow the owner to
apply for an automatic deferral of 50% of the Ad Valorem taxes on
all or any portion of the property that becomes a designated
“historic landmark.” The current appraised value of the William L.
and Laura A. McConnell Farm is $145,600—$113,700 for the building,
$7500 for other features, and $24,400 for the land.
Date of
preparation of this report:
June 1, 2004
Prepared by:
Lara Ramsey
2436 North Albany Avenue, Apt. 1
Chicago, IL 60647
Statement of Significance
William L. and Laura A. McConnell Farm
Summary
The William L. and Laura A. McConnell Farm,
located at 4009 Beatties Ford Road in Mecklenburg County, NC, is a
property that possesses local historic significance as a physical
reminder of the rural landscape of Mecklenburg County in the late
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The decades
following the Civil War were marked by rapid growth and prosperity
in Mecklenburg County. The discovery of Peruvian guano as a
fertilizer allowed farmers in the county to greater increase the
amount of cotton they could grow, and the ever-expanding number of
rail lines converging in Charlotte insured a large trading center
nearby. By the end of the nineteenth century, modest
farmsteads dotted the countryside of Mecklenburg County. The
McConnell Farm was among these rural homesteads. The house was
constructed by W. L. McConnell shortly after his marriage to Laura
Angeline Auten in 1886. Laura’s mother, Esther Louisa Auten,
allowed the couple to build the house on the 78-acre plot that she
had inherited along Beatties Ford Road. William also rented
a portion of the land surrounding the house from his
mother-and-law to farm.
The William L. and Laura A. McConnell Farm is
also significant as an excellent example of the Folk Victorian
style of architecture that became popular in the post-bellum
South. Essentially a merging of the simple shapes and
layouts of folk houses with the ornate decorative detailing of the
Queen Anne and other Victorian styles, Folk Victorian houses were
seen as vast improvement over the rough-hewn log dwellings
and plain I-houses common in antebellum Mecklenburg County.
The McConnell Farm, with delicate spindlework ornamenting its
traditional gable-front-and-wing form, is typical of the kinds of
Folk Victorian houses being built in Mecklenburg County in the
late nineteenth century.
Like many rural properties, the McConnell Farm
was altered—first around 1897 and again in 1936—to accommodate the
changing circumstances of the family. The house that William
and Laura built around 1886 was a modest, one-story cottage with a
simple front porch. This small house initially suited the
newly married couple; however, as their family began to grow and
their farm became more established, they decided to add a second
story to the house. Built around 1897, this addition not
only provided much needed space for the four McConnell children
and the aging Esther Louisa, but also created a more impressive
homestead. A second series of alterations occurred decades
later, after the farm ceased operation. William and Laura’s son
Edgar, who inherited the house and approximately eight acres of
land surrounding it, implemented several changes to the house in
order to modernize it. Some of the changes included
replacing the wood shingles with composition shingles on the roof,
installing several pairs of French doors inside the house, adding
a sun porch and a screened back porch, and updating the wiring and
plumbing. These changes to the McConnell Farm are a
physical reflection of the evolution of the farm and of the family
living on the property.
Historical Background Statement
Rural Mecklenburg County
The William L. and Laura A. McConnell Farm was
built during a time of growth and prosperity for Mecklenburg
County’s farmers. Before the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861,
the county’s economy, which was dominated by agriculture, was
thriving. In 1850, Mecklenburg County ranked third in the
state in cotton production, eleventh in corn production, and
twelfth in wheat production.[1]
With the building of the Charlotte & South Carolina Railroad in
1852, movement of these goods became much easier and faster. By
1860 four railways converged in Charlotte, which quickly evolved
into a major trading center for cotton and other goods.[2]
While the Civil War took the lives of many
soldiers from the county and completely disrupted the lives of
those who stayed behind, the economic effects of the war were less
severe than in many other areas of the South. In their
survey of rural resources in Mecklenburg County, Sherry Joines and
Dr. Dan Morrill explain the reason for the county’s relatively
good position: “Because large plantations were few and small
farms plentiful in Mecklenburg, reduction of capital due to the
loss of slaves was minimal. The average farm size after the Civil
War was one hundred acres. These smaller farms had not been
dependent upon slave labor, giving the owners an opportunity to
replant and recover quickly.”[3]
The number of railroads that survived the war were also crucial to
helping rebuild the county, and the system of rail lines that
crisscrossed the county (always passing through Charlotte)
continued to expand in the years after the conflict ended.[4]
In the decades following the war, agricultural
production—especially production of cotton—in Mecklenburg County
increased dramatically. This was mainly due to the discovery
of Peruvian guano as a fertilizer in 1860. Between 1860 and
1880, cotton production in Mecklenburg county went from 6,112
bales to 19,129 bales.[5]
The number of individual farms in the county also grew
substantially during these decades. In 1860, Mecklenburg
contained 1182 farms; by 1880, the county had 2645, over twice as
many.[6]
Most of these were modest farms of less than 100 acres, on which
were grown a variety of crops, including wheat, corn, and cotton.
The William L. and Laura A. McConnell
Farm
The McConnell Farm was one of the many
farmsteads established during these prosperous years in the late
nineteenth century. The house was built by William Latta
McConnell soon after his marriage to Laura Angeline Auten in 1886.
William was born in western Mecklenburg County, and spent his
early twenties as a farm hand for his step-father, J.K. Hunter.[7]
Laura, the daughter of Esther Louisa and William Narcissus Auten,
was also from Mecklenburg. Laura was the only child to come
from the short marriage—William Auten died soon after she was
born. Esther Louisa had another daughter and two sons from her
first marriage to William Hutchison, a carpenter.[8]
Although she had been married and widowed twice
by 1870, Esther Louisa had a certain amount of financial security
in her landholdings. She had inherited approximately
80 acres of land along Beatties Ford Road from her parents David
Cyrus and Nancy Jackson McClure. Ownership of the tract
stretched back to Esther Louisa’s grandfather Alexander McClure,
who purchased it in the mid-1700s. According to
great-great-grandson Edgar Porter McConnell, Esther Louisa lived
most of her life on that land.[9]
Although she moved to Paw Creek Township with her first husband
William Hutchison, she returned to Beatties Ford Road after his
death, and stayed.[10]
It was on this plot that William McConnell
built a home for his new family. With Esther’s permission,
he erected the modest, one-story, Folk Victorian cottage
“practically in the middle of Esther Louisa’s property.”[11]
The house stood near Beatties Ford Road, and William constructed
several outbuildings, including a chicken coop, small barn, and
well-house behind it. Esther Louisa retained ownership of
the land, and McConnell rented the acreage surrounding their
house to farm.[12]
 |
|
ca. 1895 |
Through the last decade of the nineteenth
century, the farm and the family both flourished. By 1895,
Laura and William had four sons—Floyd Lourin (b. 1887), James
Kennedy (b. 1889), Edgar Latta (b. 1891), and Murray Caldwell (b.
1895). Two other children had died in infancy.[13]
Approaching 70, Esther Louisa moved into the house. With the
small cottage filled with people, William and Laura decided to add
a second story to the dwelling. Although the exact date of
this addition is not known, the present owners of the house
have found bricks within the upper sections of the north chimney
stamped with the date “1897.” The much-needed story added
three bedrooms to the home, and the two-story house also reflected
the growing prosperity of the farm.
Esther Louisa, who was in all respects the
matriarch of the McConnell Farm, spent her last years in the newly
expanded house. Upon her death in 1906, the land and house
were given to Laura, with the stipulation that after her death the
property would be divided equally among the grandchildren.[14]
With the land legally theirs, the McConnell’s sought to increase
the size of their farm. The couple purchased tracts
bordering Esther Louisa’s parcel, bringing their total
landholdings to approximately 200 acres.[15]
The success of the McConnell farm mirrored
almost exactly the rise of agriculture in Mecklenburg County.
In 1910, the number of farms in the county peaked at 4,439, and
the production of cotton alone reached over 27,000 bales.[16]
However, this peak signaled the beginning of the end for many of
Mecklenburg’s farmers. The rapid growth of Charlotte’s
textile mills, along with other industries in the city, began to
lure families away from the farm. The effects of this shift
from rural to urban were soon apparent:
Mecklenburg had been 32.7 percent urban and
62.3 percent rural. By 1910, the urban population was 50.7
percent, exceeding for the first time the number of residents in
the rural areas. And in 1920, Mecklenburg's urban population had
grown to 57.4 percent, and farm production declined for the first
time. This trend continued with the onset of the Great Depression
in October 1929.[17]
By 1930, the number of farms in Mecklenburg
County dropped to 2,773, and the number continued to decline
through the next ten years.[18]
Like many other farmers in the county, William McConnell began to
feel the pinch. In the 1930 census, farming is not listed as
McConnell’s occupation for the first time in 40 years.[19]
No doubt this was partly due to William’s advanced age—at the time
of the census he was 70. The value of William and Laura’s
farm was listed in 1930 as approximately $10,000; however, none of
their children expressed much interest in carrying on the business
of the farm. The sons, all of whom had families of their
own, had chosen other professions. Floyd worked as a clerk
in a dry goods store, Murray was a truck driver, and Edgar had a
job as a mail carrier.[20]
However, all three remained on William McConnell’s land James
Kennedy McConnell, the only son to actually leave the McConnell
property, joined the clergy and moved to Rockingham County.[21]
Although it is likely that work on the farm was
winding down by the late 1920s, the official dismantling of the
property occurred after the death of Laura McConnell in 1933.
Wishing to honor the terms of Esther Louisa’s will, William
McConnell hired surveyor I. B. Faires to divide the
original lot given to Laura into six parcels of various acreage.
Two lots (one containing .92 acres, the other 20.28) went to
Floyd McConnell and his wife, and a one-acre parcel was deeded to
William; the remaining three parcels were divided between
James, Edgar, and Murray McConnell.[22]
Edgar McConnell, who had been sharing the farm house with his
parents, his wife Jettie and son Edgar Porter, acquired the house
and the surrounding 8.4 acres.[23]
William McConnell remained in the house with Edgar and his family
until his death in April 1936.[24]
With the farm house no longer attached to a
working farm, Edgar set out to make improvements to the
house. McConnell hired the Dulin Hardware Company in
Charlotte to make a number of changes to the house, including:
the construction of a sun room on the south side of the house and
a new screened back porch; the rebuilding of the front porch; the
installation of French doors in several rooms on the first floor
of the house; the removal of the walls between the kitchen and
dining room and the front hall and front room; the
installation of new oak flooring over the existing floor; the
replacement of wood roofing shingles with composition shingles;
the building of two brick mantles; and the installation of
plumbing and wiring. The sum of the work cost $2400.[25]
With these changes, the McConnell Farm evolved
from the anchor of a thriving farmstead to a modernized home.
Edgar McConnell and Jettie McConnell continued to live in the
house until their deaths in 1974. Edgar Porter inherited the
property from his parents, but chose not to live in it.
The McConnell house stood vacant until 1980, when Porter sold it
(along with a small parcel containing approximately .6 acre of
land) to John and Marianne Walker, the current owners.
Architectural Context Statement
The William L. and Laura A. McConnell Farm also
possesses local significance as an excellent example of the Folk
Victorian style of architecture popular with farmers in the late
nineteenth century. The Folk Victorian style grew out of the
desire for modestly successful planters to build houses with the
finely detailed ornamentation seen in popular Victorian styles
like Queen Anne or Italianate. As Virginia and Lee McAlester
explain in A Field Guide to American Houses, the expansion
of railroads helped to meet this demand for ornate but economical
decoration: “The growth of the railroad system made heavy
woodworking machinery widely accessible at local trade centers,
where they produced inexpensive Victorian detailing. The
railroads also provided local lumber yards with abundant supplies
of pre-cut detailing from distant mills.”[26]
|
 |
|
2nd Floor Bedroom Mantle |
Folk Victorian houses combined simple,
traditional folk house forms like the I-house and the hall and
parlor—which were familiar to builders and to homeowners—with
easily applied decorative detailing. Usually this
ornamentation took the form of spindlework around porch columns or
verge board underneath gables. While the effect was a far
cry from that achieved by the multiple textures, delicately
integrated detailing, and irregular form of a true Queen Anne
house, Folk Victorian dwellings allowed farmers and rural families
to have the familiarity of a traditional, symmetrical form with
detailing similar to that seen on more expensive, high-style
houses.
The McConnell Farm exhibits all of the
distinctive features of the Folk Victorian farmhouse. The
form of the house is a traditional, gable-front-and-wing
configuration (with several rear ells making the footprint
slightly more complex that the average Folk Victorian house) with
a one-story front porch that runs across the façade. The simple,
squared porch columns, unadorned wood window surrounds, and plain
wood clapboard exterior are all elements that could be found on
the common I-house. The spindlework topping the porch
columns and framing the gables help to differentiate the house
from the more common, unadorned folk forms, and reflect the
prosperity of the McConnell Family in the decades following the
Civil War.
Physical Description
Site Description
The William L. and Laura A. McConnell Farm is
located at 4009 Beatties Ford Road, just outside the Charlotte
city limits in northwestern Mecklenburg County. The house
sits on a .61-acre site that borders the west side of Beatties
Ford Road, and faces east (approximately) onto the road.
Located on the eastern end of the lot, near the road, the house is
accessed by a narrow gravel drive that curves around to a
small gravel lot in the rear of the house. The lot is
relatively flat, sloping down slightly from east to west.
The house is surrounded by four outbuildings, most probably built
around the turn of the twentieth century. A small brick well
house stands just off the southwest corner of the house, and a
wood chicken coop (which has been updated with windows and a new
door covered with a shed roof) is located almost directly behind
the house. Two other outbuildings, a wood barn and shed
located south of the house, are on the portion of the original
8.4-acre lot that is stilled owned by Faye McConnell. Both
the barn and shed are in a state of disrepair.
Architectural Description
The McConnell House is a two story,
gable-front-and-wing residence approximately three bays wide.
A single-story porch runs along the façade (east elevation) of the
house. The porch, rebuilt in 1936, features thin, square
columns decorated with spindlework, and a simple railing
added by the present owners. The north end of the porch has
been taken out to create a small patio, which is not visible from
the street. A one-story sun porch extends from the south elevation
of the house. A series of rear ells extends from the back (west
elevation) of the house, creating a more box-like plan and complex
roofline than is seen on the typical gable-front-and-wing form.
The one-story gabled ell at the north end of the elevation
contains the kitchen. A the south end of the elevation
two-story rear ell with west and north facing gables houses the
rear bedrooms on the first and second floor. In the corner
created by the two ells is a small shed-roof addition from 1936.
A one-story, hipped-roof porch runs along the back of this
addition and the kitchen ell. Once screened, the porch is
now enclosed with a series of casement windows filling the top
half of its west and south walls.
The multiple roofline of the house is
punctuated by two brick chimneys, one of which has been stuccoed.
Another, smaller chimney rises along the gable wall of the kitchen
ell. The entire roof is covered with green asphalt shingles.
The exterior of the house is covered with wood clapboards painted
white. Like many Folk Victorian houses, the McConnell Farm is
ornamented only with applied decorative details along the top of
the porch columns and underneath the second story gables.
Six-over-six, double hung wood windows regularly punctuate the
walls of the house. All of the windows feature simple,
unadorned wood surrounds, and only one window on the first floor
of the façade is flanked by green wood shutters. The
front door of the house is centered along the façade, and is
surrounded by two sidelights and a transom, each divided into
three lights.
The front entrance of the house leads into a
small entry hall. The oak flooring, white plaster walls, and
simple baseboards in the entryway are seen throughout the house. A
five-sided opening pierces the ceiling of the room just above the
front door—the current owners made this change to
allow light from the second floor. A small fixture hangs in
the center of the opening, which is surrounded by a railing at the
second floor. A wide archway on the south wall of the hall
leads into the front sitting room. From this room, one can access
the sun room through a set of French doors along the south wall.
Another set of French doors along the north wall of the entry hall
leads into the dining room. The common brick fireplace
centered along the west wall of this room, installed in the 1936
remodeling, replaced the original wood surround and mantle.
An identical fireplace was built in the living room, but has been
replaced by the current owners with a wood surround.
A third set of double French doors in the entry
leads to the stair hall. A half-pace staircase begins
just inside the doors, running along the north wall of the
hallway. A door centered along the south wall of the stair
leads into a back room, originally used as a bedroom. The
wood mantle on the east wall of the room was put in by the owners.
A single French door south of the fireplace (a 1936 alteration)
links the room with the front living room. The back portion of the
stair hall is part of the rear addition, and also contains a small
bathroom. A door at the back wall of the hallway leads to
the back porch.
.JPG) |
| |
Just behind the staircase on the north wall of
the hallway is an entrance to the kitchen. This large
room was originally two rooms, the kitchen and dining room.
The wall that separated the two rooms was removed in 1936, and the
northeast corner room became the new dining room. A
partition wall that stops a few feet below the ceiling has been
built where the original wall once stood—the west half of
the room, where the first dining room was located, is now used as
a breakfast room. Centered along the west wall of the
kitchen is a door leading onto the back porch. This door,
which was originally a window, was put in during the 1936
remodeling.
The second floor of the McConnell House was
built around 1897, and contains three bedrooms. The second
run of the stair leads up to a narrow hallway that runs the length
of the floor. At the east end of the hallway, two railings meeting
at point enclose the opening above the entryway. A single
window, its lower sash having been replaced with green stain
glass, takes up the narrow east wall of the hallway. The rear
bedroom is located in the southwest corner of the floor.
Almost all of the east wall of the room is taken up with a
built-in closet with two louvered doors. The current owners
closed the fireplace that was once along this wall in order to
create this closet. The southeast corner bedroom retains its
original fireplace surround and mantle. In the
northeast room, the mantle along the west wall has been placed at
the top of the wall, and the vertical lines of the surround have
been lengthened to fill the entire height of the wall, creating a
sort of headboard for the bed that is centered along the wall.
Despite some recent alterations, the William
and Laura McConnell Farm remains as a reminder of Mecklenburg
County’s period of agricultural prosperity in the decades
following the Civil War, and of the proliferation of modest but
successful farmsteads during these years. The evolution of
the Folk Victorian house from a simple one-story cottage to a more
impressive farmstead, and finally to a slightly more modern, rural
home reflects the changes in circumstance of farming families as
the county shifted from rural and agricultural to urban and
industrial.
[2]
LeGette Blythe and Charles R. Brockman, Hornet's Nest: The
Story of Charlotte and Mecklenburg
County
(Charlotte: McNally of Charlotte, 1961), 259-262.
[5]
Sherry J. Joines and Dr. Dan L. Morrill, Reconstruction.
[6]
University of Virginia
Geospatial and Statistical Data Center. United States
Historical Census Data
Browser.
ONLINE. 1998. University of Virginia. Available:
http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/census/
(2 June
2004).
[7]
1880 United States Federal Population Schedules, Mecklenburg
County; Roll T9_972 Page 392.
[8]
Edgar Porter McConnell, “History of the Home and Property of
Will McConnell” (written for John and
Marianne Walker, August 1981), 1;
1850 United States Federal Population Schedule, Mecklenburg
County, Roll M432_637, Page 26; 1870 United States Federal
Population Schedule, Mecklenburg County, Roll M593_1148, Page
187.
[10]
1850 United States Federal Population Schedule, Mecklenburg
County, Roll M432_637; 1860 United
States Federal Population Schedule,
Mecklenburg County, Roll M653_906, Page 89; 1870 United States
Federal Population Schedule, Mecklenburg County, Roll M593_1148,
Page 187.
[12]
1900 United States Federal Population Schedule, Mecklenburg
County, E.D. 42, Sheet 25, Line 39.
[14]
Mecklenburg County Will Book “O” Page 368.
[16]
Joines and Morrill, Modern Era.
[18]
University of Virginia
Geospatial and Statistical Data Center. United States
Historical Census Data
Browser.
ONLINE. 1998. University of Virginia. Available:
http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/census/
(2 June
2004).
[19]
1930 United States Federal Population Schedule, Mecklenburg
County, Roll T626_1706, Page 30.
[21]
1930 United States Federal Population Schedule, Rockingham
County, Roll T626_1717, Page 3.
[22]
Register of Deeds, Mecklenburg County Courthouse, Deed Book 848,
Page 276-281.
[23]
Deed Book 848, Page 280.
[24]
McConnell, 2; Charlotte News, 28 April 1936, page 6.
[25]
Dulin Hardware, letter to E. L. McConnell, June 27, 1936.
[26]
Virginia and Lee McAlester, A Field Guide to American Houses
(New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2000), 310.
