Mordecai House

Mordecai House
Mordecai House
Mordecai House is located in North Carolina
Location: Raleigh, North Carolina
Coordinates: 35°47′33.27″N 78°38′0.14″W / 35.792575°N 78.6333722°W / 35.792575; -78.6333722Coordinates: 35°47′33.27″N 78°38′0.14″W / 35.792575°N 78.6333722°W / 35.792575; -78.6333722
Architect: Lane, Joel, William Nichols
Architectural style: Hall and Parlor/Federal/Greek Revival
Governing body: Local
NRHP Reference#: 70000474[1]
Added to NRHP: July 1, 1970

The Mordecai House (also called the Mordecai Plantation Manor or Mordecai Mansion), built in 1785, is a registered historical landmark and museum in Raleigh, North Carolina that is the centerpiece of Mordecai Historic Park, right outside the Historic Oakwood neighborhood.[2] It is the oldest residence in Raleigh on its original foundation.[3] In addition to the house, the Park includes other attractions such as the original birthplace of President Andrew Johnson, the Ellen Mordecai Garden, the Badger-Iredell Law Office, Allen Kitchen and St. Mark's Chapel, a popular site for weddings.[4]

The oldest portion of the house was built by Joel Lane for his son, Henry. At one time, the home was the center of a 5,000-acre (20 km2) plantation and one of the largest farms in Wake County.

The house was named after Moses Mordecai, who married Henry Lane's daughters. The first daughter, Margaret, died and so Mordecai married her sister Ann. In 1824, Mordecai hired William Nichols, State Architect at the time, to enlarge the house. The addition was considered a significant work of Nichols, who had also been responsible for remodeling the original building containing the State House. With the addition of the four new rooms in 1826, the Mordecai house was transformed into a Greek Revival mansion. The Mordecai family was prominent in local and state affairs. Jacob, Moses' father, founded a girls' school in Warrenton, North Carolina. Moses was a prominent lawyer and member of the 1805 Court of Conference. Moses Mordecai had two sons, Henry and Jacob, and one daughter, Ellen, by his first wife and one daughter, Margaret, by his second. Henry was a prosperous planter at Mordecai House and served in the State Legislature. His daughter Margaret and her descendants owned and occupied Mordecai House until 1967.

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, portions of land owned by the Mordecai family helped Raleigh's expansion as a city. In 1867, George Washington Mordecai donated land east of the city to establish a Confederate cemetery and another plot became Wake County's first Hebrew Cemetery. The adjacent Oakwood Cemetery, chartered in 1869, eventually lent its name to the large suburb that developed in the adjoining wooded land, earlier known as Mordecai Grove. In 1974, Oakwood became the first neighborhood in Raleigh to be listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Property owned by the Mordecai family continued until 1967, when the house and its surrounding block were put on the market. Local preservationists protested and the city purchased the property, turning it over to the Raleigh Historic Sites Commission to supervise and develop as a historic park. The commission was able to obtain many original Mordecai furnishings, as well as preserve the family papers and library. Mordecai Square Historic Park is now managed by the City of Raleigh's Parks and Recreation Department. The Mordecai House is a designated Raleigh Historic Landmark.[5]

See also

  • List of Registered Historic Places in North Carolina
  • List of reportedly haunted places in N.C.

References

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Mordecai Place Historic District (Raleigh, North Carolina) — Mordecai Place Historic District is an early 20th century suburb located near downtown Raleigh, NC. The land was originally home to a plantation house built by Joel Lane in 1785. About 1824 the house underwent significant alterations that… …   Wikipedia

  • Mordecai Lincoln House (Lorane, Pennsylvania) — Mordecai Lincoln House U.S. National Register of Historic Places …   Wikipedia

  • Mordecai Lincoln House (Springfield, Kentucky) — Mordecai Lincoln House U.S. National Register of Historic Places …   Wikipedia

  • Mordecai Barbour — Born Mordecai Barbour October 21, 1763 Culpeper County, Virginia Died January 4, 1846 Weston, Boligee, Greene County, Alabama Resting place Bethsalem Cemetery, Boligee, Greene County, Alabama …   Wikipedia

  • Mordecai Puryear House — U.S. National Register of Historic Places …   Wikipedia

  • Mordecai Richler — Born January 27, 1931(1931 01 27) Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Died July 3, 2001(2001 07 03) (aged 70)[1] Occupation …   Wikipedia

  • Mordecai Shehori — Mordecai Shehori, pianist Mordecai Shehori is an Israeli American pianist. Contents 1 Biography 2 …   Wikipedia

  • Mordecai Cary — (1687 1751) was Bishop of Killala and Achonry. Contents 1 Early years 2 Family 3 Career Path 4 References Early y …   Wikipedia

  • Mordecai Bartley — (December 16, 1783 – October 10, 1870) was a Whig politician from Ohio. He served as the 18th Governor of Ohio. Bartley succeeded his son, Thomas W. Bartley as governor, one of only a few instances of this happening in the United States in high… …   Wikipedia

  • Mordecai Lincoln House — may refer to: Mordecai Lincoln House (Springfield, Kentucky), listed on the NRHP in Kentucky Mordecai Lincoln House (Lorane, Pennsylvania), listed on the NRHP in Pennsylvania This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”