Guide to the Historic Architecture of Eastern North Carolina

by Catherine W., and Michael T. Southern Bishir and Michael T. Southern

Book Overview

Eastern North Carolina boasts some of the oldest and most distinctive architecture in the state, from colonial churches and antebellum plantation houses to the imperiled lighthouses of the late nineteenth century. The more recent history of this predominantly agricultural region includes landscapes of small farmsteads, country churches, factories, tobacco barns, quiet maritime villages, and market towns. In their guide to this rich and diverse architectural...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0807845949
• ISBN13: 9780807845943
• Release Date: November 1996
• Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
• Length: 504 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.2" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Superb

This book is exactly what its title suggests: It's a survey of HISTORIC architecture in eastern North Carolina, one of the richest concentrations of colonial, federal, and early Romantic architecture in the country. Eastern North Carolina is a feast for anyone who enjoys small coastal towns packed with historic churches and houses, small regional cities that aspired to metropoli but failed and are now preserved gems of early 20th century urban architecture, and rural plantations off the beaten path just waiting for that late afternoon thunderstorm. This book, along with its two equally good companion volumes covering the Piedmont and West, is a joy to simply browse for a quick daydream or a resource to pour over as part of a larger research project. They're really that good. In the world of architectural surveys, the variation in standards can be frustrating. Some are generally excellent, complete and (relatively) objective, while some are grossly incomplete or out of date. Some are packed with structures that have otherwise been demolished or destroyed (what's the point?). Some are so overstuffed with editorial political correctness and arcane archi-speak that they can't be enjoyed for the art itself. Also, some like to use what I call "iconoclastic postdating." That's the process by which an expert tells you the gorgeous old plantation house you thought was built in 1785 was REALLY built mostly after World War 2. It allows that expert to express the fact that he or she knows far more than you (and the general public) about such matters. If you've ever seen Antiques Roadshow, you know what I mean. This guide, miraculously, resists ALL of these flaws. It is of the highest scholarly and editorial quality. There are no significant omissions to reveal the author's political or aesthetic bias. The summaries are concise and well researched. The coverage is truly exhaustive. The photographs are largely functional rather than artistic, but are well chosen to reveal the structures in entirety. If you're a fan of architectural surveys, these are among the very best and every bit as good as Oxford's BUILDINGS OF AMERICA series. If you're a fan of rural and small-town historical architecture, these books are representative of the genre. Buy all three and you can carry historic North Carolina around with you in your briefcase or backpack.