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Historic Preservation Commission

Orange County · Historic Preservation Commission
Wednesday, May 28, 2025

Regular meeting Historic preservationCivil rights and nondiscriminationFaith and cultural communitiesGrants and outside fundingIntergovernmental agreementsLand conversion and large development

Agenda document Minutes Watch Meeting recap

What was decided

  1. Approved 4Approval of Minutes: April 23rd, 2025 Approved with one correction
  2. Continued 7.dBook project Deferred to the next meeting

Read from the agenda's recorded outcomes. Where the board published minutes, those are the record — this is a pointer to them.

What's on this agenda

No decisions on the agenda. The commission spends the evening on how it decides instead: testing a rewritten landmark evaluation form against a real house, considering a university proposal to take DNA samples from a burial ground for enslaved people, and organising a historical marker programme. Two site visits and the question of whether to meet at all in June round it out.

Summarized from the published agenda. Read the agenda itself before acting on it.

Meeting recap

What happened, drawn from the records published after the meeting. Minutes

The commission ran its new landmark evaluation form over a real property and concluded the form needs restructuring.

The test case was a farmhouse of about 1903 on twelve acres south of Chapel Hill, inside the town's extraterritorial jurisdiction, whose owners want to apply for landmark status. The house is a one-storey Queen Anne-influenced farmhouse with what staff called exceptionally ornate patterned shingle work and among the finest vernacular Victorian mantels known in rural Orange County - craft good enough that members described it as folk art. The state highway agency evaluated it in 2000 for a road widening and agreed it was eligible for the National Register.

Running the form produced a score around 57 or 58 and a clear objection to the method. Members argued that a property should be able to qualify by being outstanding in one or two categories rather than adequate across all of them, because scoring every attribute lets a merely average resource pass. The proposed fix was to split the form in two: checkboxes for what a property is significant for, without scoring, then scoring applied only to integrity, condition, rarity and risk. Members also asked for a written rubric explaining what a high or low score means, and made a point about bias: National Register criteria tend to favour fine buildings designed by known architects and to work against ordinary rural landscapes, while a vernacular house built by a talented but unknown carpenter can be equally significant. On risk, they noted the property's assessed value has nearly doubled under the new county valuations and the larger tract could be subdivided, which is the risk in concrete terms - the house survived, one member said, only because its owner loved it.

A researcher's proposal from a state university lab would sample the graves at the cemetery for enslaved workers at Hardscrabble Plantation, analysing the burial soil for bacterial microbiome DNA and possibly human DNA, which could speak to the health and diseases of that community and might connect to living descendants. The commission discussed how invasive the sampling would be and the ethics of any activity at a historic grave. The work is proposed in partnership with a local non-profit founded by the judge who helped save the cemetery, and staff will approach her before the commission goes further.

Staff reported that projected federal cuts to state preservation programmes are significant nationwide, and that several key positions at the state historic preservation office are federally funded; county funding is holding for now. A log house on Old NC 86, built by a white farmer and bought in the early twentieth century by a Black farming family who lived there until 1962, is a candidate for landmark designation under a new owner. The commission confirmed a 20 June visit to Faucett Mill and agreed to cancel its 25 June meeting, having nothing pending to decide.

How the votes went

One vote: approval of the April minutes, carried after a guest corrected his own first name in them. The commission agreed by consensus to cancel its June meeting. Nothing else was put to a vote; there were no items for decision.

From the published minutes.

Speaking at this meeting

Orange County's own rules for public comment — check them before you rely on anything here.

Jump to an item (15 on this agenda)
  1. 1Call to Order
  2. 3Changes or Additions to Agenda
  3. 4Approval of Minutes: April 23rd, 2025
  4. 5Items for Decision
  5. 6.aLandmark evaluation form: updated edition
  6. 6.bLandmark evaluation exercise: Cole House, 753 Smith Level Road
  7. 6.cDNA project at Black burial grounds by the ASHES lab at NCSU
  8. 6.dHistorical marker project: organization and launch of subcommittee
  9. 6.eField trip planning
  10. 6.fJune meeting: hold or cancel
  11. 7.aCurrie-Neville Log House on Old NC 86: potential landmark designation
  12. 7.bAndrews House National Register Nomination project
  13. 7.cStatus of Federal Historic Preservation Funding
  14. 7.dBook project
  15. 7Adjourn

Agenda items (15)

Procedural · 5Discussion item · 5Staff or committee report · 4Minutes approval · 1
  1. 1 Call to Order
    Procedural
  2. 3 Changes or Additions to Agenda
    Procedural
    None
  3. 4 Approval of Minutes: April 23rd, 2025
    Minutes approval
    Approved with one correction
  4. 5 Items for Decision
    Procedural
    None
  5. 6.a Landmark evaluation form: updated edition
    Discussion item Historic preservation
    The rewritten form, tested live against a real property. Members concluded it lets an average resource qualify by scoring adequately everywhere, and proposed restructuring it: unscored checkboxes for what a property is significant for, with scoring reserved for integrity, condition, rarity and risk, plus a written rubric explaining what each score means.
  6. 6.b Landmark evaluation exercise: Cole House, 753 Smith Level Road
    Discussion item Historic preservationLand conversion and large development
    A farmhouse of about 1903 on twelve acres inside the Chapel Hill extraterritorial jurisdiction, whose owners want landmark status. Noted for exceptionally ornate patterned shingle work, a stylish porch, and two vernacular Victorian mantels described as among the finest in rural Orange County. Found eligible for the National Register in 2000 during a state highway evaluation. It scored around 57 or 58 on the new form. Members noted its assessed value has nearly doubled under the new county valuations and the tract could be subdivided.
    • 753 Smith Level Rd · no matching parcel on file
  7. 6.c DNA project at Black burial grounds by the ASHES lab at NCSU
    Discussion item Civil rights and nondiscriminationFaith and cultural communitiesHistoric preservation
    A proposal to sample graves at the cemetery for enslaved workers at Hardscrabble Plantation, analysing burial soil for bacterial microbiome DNA and possibly human DNA, which could speak to the health and diseases of that community and might correlate with living descendants. The commission discussed how invasive the sampling would be and the ethics of work at a historic grave. Proposed with a local non-profit founded by the judge who helped save the cemetery; staff will approach her first.
  8. 6.d Historical marker project: organization and launch of subcommittee
    Discussion item Historic preservation
    Four members volunteered; staff will convene them. Interest in a marker programme has been there for some time.
  9. 6.e Field trip planning
    Discussion item Historic preservation
    A visit to Faucett Mill confirmed for 20 June at the owners' invitation. A tour of the Andrews modernist house is being arranged for later in the summer.
  10. 6.f June meeting: hold or cancel
    Procedural
    With the field trip on 20 June and nothing pending to decide, staff recommended cancelling the 25 June meeting.
    Cancelled by consensus
  11. 7.a Currie-Neville Log House on Old NC 86: potential landmark designation
    Staff or committee report Civil rights and nondiscriminationHistoric preservation
    A log house built by a white farmer and bought in the early twentieth century by the Nevilles, a Black farming family who lived in it until 1962. The new owner is interested in landmark status.
  12. 7.b Andrews House National Register Nomination project
    Staff or committee report Historic preservation
    Underway; no further update
  13. 7.c Status of Federal Historic Preservation Funding
    Staff or committee report Grants and outside fundingHistoric preservationIntergovernmental agreements
    Projections show significant cuts to federal funding for state preservation programmes nationwide. Several key positions at the state historic preservation office are federally funded. County funding is holding for now, pending the impact of federal and state cuts.
  14. 7.d Book project
    Staff or committee report
    Deferred to the next meeting
  15. 7 Adjourn
    Procedural
    Adjourned 8:43 PM

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