A Swing and A Miss
In this line of work you see a lot of different sides of history and humanity, including some of the uglier sides. You also encounter a wide range of historical places, and while they may have a deep history, not all of them are right for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).
I had one such disappointment recently, working with a homeowner in Rock Hill, SC who was seeking an NRHP nomination for the Bishop-Avery-Williams house, in Rock Hill, SC. The house has been used as commercial space for many years now, and the current owner had recently purchased the house to use as his business, but was passionate about the home’s history and legacy.
He wanted to make some repairs to the structure, and intended to do everything "by the book", using the correct preservation methods and materials, and preserving the period-appropriate look. Over the years there had already been a good many changes on the outside, but the inside of this home is remarkably well-preserved. The house is already a local historic landmark– see “The Bishop House” on this map. This is a plus because the local preservation laws are the ones that have teeth (i.e. you have to get approval from the city for any exterior changes you make, changes in use, etc.). So when I was contacted by the property owner last year, my initial feeling was that this home could be a strong candidate for the NRHP.
Discovery Process
I went and toured the property with the owner, taking photos and diving into his initial research, which consisted of some newspaper clippings and reproductions of some written historical accounts of the house. During this round of initial research, I learned about one of the former owners, Dr. Edward T. Avery. In many ways, he was a villain, to put it mildly. Some of his history was pretty disturbing to read through, but it comes with the territory (no pun intended).
Built circa 1840, the Bishop-Avery-Williams property still includes an original outbuilding, which was definitely used as a kitchen, and possibly used as living quarters for enslaved people pre-Civil War. I also researched the history of the now-defunct village of Ebenezer, which is where the house was built. This village was a precursor to the city of Rock Hill, SC, but was eventually annexed into it.
In my professional opinion, between the village of Ebenezer history, and the Civil War and KKK history related to Edward T. Avery, this nomination was going to be a slam-dunk.
Writing the Nomination
As these things sometimes go, there was a bit of a lag between my initial round of research and the project really getting started, but I was finally able to start hitting my research hard this summer of 2022. From this point, I conducted exhaustive research: reading entire books about the KKK trials of the 1870s that mentioned Edward T. Avery and his activity in York County, SC. I tried to confirm the house’s exact date of construction by going through plats and deeds from the 1840s. I also researched Avery’s father's will to determine how many enslaved people he had inherited. All of this was with the intent to paint a picture of what might have been happening at this house from the time period between when Avery moved into the house in the 1850s and the start of the Civil War.
As I mentioned, I believed that this nomination was going to be a slam-dunk. So I approached it with the same level of time and resources that my last two NRHP nominations had required. However, those last two nominations had been slightly different cases; one of them had already been determined to be eligible before I began working on the project, and in the course of the other nomination I had completed something called a Preliminary Information Form (PIF). This PIF is not required in the nomination process, but is used to determine if the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) thinks the house is eligible for the NRHP before doing all the work required for a full nomination.
Submitting the Nomination
After completing the nomination and submitting my work, I waited to hear back and begin into the usual round of procedural work required in the lead-up to the final nomination defense. But after months of work (and my hubris in not submitting the PIF) I was ultimately shut down on this nomination for two main reasons:
The South Carolina SHPO decided that this house has had too many exterior changes (although most of the changes were made over 50 years ago) and no longer contains enough of its architectural integrity from the period of its construction in 1840 into its early history in the1870s. This means that it cannot be nominated based on the criteria of it being a good example of a particular architectural style.
The SHPO also decided that none of the notable residents cited in the nomination “had a major individual impact or influence on the life of the community.” This quote comes from NPS guidance on evaluating properties associated with significant persons, and this is the criteria one of my last nominations was written under.
It was heartbreaking to see the project possibly slipping away. However, I was commended on the thoroughness of my research by the SHPO, and reminded that this does not mean they don’t think the house has history, just that it won’t pass muster for the National Register of Historic Places.
Nomination Rejection
I had to think for a long time about where to go from here. My first reaction was to respond to the SHPO and tell them that I strongly disagreed. My reasoning being: In researching the importance of Ebenezer Presbyterian Church and the Ebenezer Academy to the development of the area, pastors, teachers, and principals of the academy were hugely important figures in the early history of the village of Ebenezer, and the house’s first two owners held these positions. Honestly, I felt that these figures were much more historically significant than R.L. Sturgis had been (See case study on my nomination of the R.L. Sturgis house here). And here’s where I had to check myself, as the R.L. Sturgis house was not nominated for its association with a person, but rather for its architecture. Sigh, ok.
I continued to struggle with the SHPO’s reasoning, but ultimately had to accept the argument that even though Edward T. Avery had a notable (and awful) personal history, he was not individually responsible for significantly impacting the community. His impact was more associated with the hate groups he belonged to and the historical events around him than with him as an individual.
But how can someone really assert that a man directly responsible for terrorizing a group of marginalized people and put on trial for it in Federal court did not have an impact on the community? One brutal example– at one point in time, most of the black population of the county camped in the woods so they would not be home when the Klan came to assault them, as Avery personally had done. (A detailed description of Avery’s court proceedings can be found here.) Reading these accounts made my stomach turn over many times, and the stoppage of the nomination weighed on me heavily.
I went back and forth rationalizing to myself: What house from the 1840s has not had some major changes?! Even the untrained eye can still tell that the house is very old. It still has many original details, and the inside is immaculate, with some very rare architectural features. I feel that the outbuilding (which is very rare for this area) is significant enough for this property to be added to the NRHP.
I wondered, could I potentially pursue listing the outbuilding on its own? It would be a tall order to try and actually date the building and find out its specific story. I would require additional expert help, and even then it would be difficult to get definitive answers.
I have a great deal of personal concern for the historic properties still remaining on Ebenezer Road in Rock Hill, SC. Many are now protected by the city, but the entire road used to be lined with historic buildings, and well, we know what it looks like now. This village gave birth to the city of Rock Hill and I just don’t think its story gets enough attention.
Aftermath
I still don’t personally agree with the SHPO decision, but they have guidelines that they follow, and this process is ultimately open to some interpretation based on those guidelines. I decided it would not be constructive to rebut at this point, but am still considering further discussion on this property. Currently, I am trying to separate my personal emotions and thoughts about the history of this home, my personal feelings about the amount of time and effort I had already exerted, and the actual facts of the situation. I’m not fully there yet and will quite possibly go to my grave still mad about it.
When I had to inform the property owner about the decision, he was disappointed of course. But I suggested the large amount of research I had already done could help put together a house history that can follow the house in the future, and be useful if he decides to sell the house in the future. We plan to touch base soon on how to move forward.
Future Steps and Conclusion
Ultimately, the National Register of Historic Places is not a perfect frame work or process. Many people in the world of historic preservation are critical of the NRHP for the reasons I have expressed and more. Do I think the NRHP is amazing? Yes. Will I keep writing nominations to the NRHP? Yes. But this experience has prompted me to dig deeper into the possibilities of what can be done to document and recognize a place’s history outside of this program.
Some of my ideas include:
Reaching out to the City of Rock Hill to find out if they would like my research on file, since the house is already a local historic landmark.
Looking into whether York County, or its historical center, The McCelvey Center, would be interested in having this house’s history in their archives.
Developing a small website or a Wikipedia page detailing the history of this house.
Finding any local newspapers or publications that may be interested in this house’s history.
Many people may not know that York County had the highest concentration of Klan activity anywhere in the country during the post-war Reconstruction period. (Click here to read more about this era in York County history.) I do not know for sure that a lot of people would have ever read the nomination about this house, but it feels like one small way I could confront people with a history that some people would rather forget.
As frustrating as this is, ultimately the fire in my belly over this tells me why I do this work. Not every property has a story that gets me quite this passionate. To me, the magic of preservation is that it gives us a tangible connection to the past. Through experiencing these places and learning about their people, we can facilitate reflection and discussion about where we’ve been, and the work we are (or aren’t) doing to progress as a society. I think the Avery House is a powerful example of this, and I would love to help tell its story to a wider audience.
