Greensboro's Treasured Places

A Chapter of Greensboro History No Longer a Mystery

The Cedars was clearly an important estate in Greensboro. References to the property could be found on nineteenth century maps of the Gate City, as well as excerpts from select publications. However, no such property was revealed in major publications of Greensboro history as had been done for sites such as Dunleith, Bellemeade, or Blandwood. Historians knew The Cedars as a prominent estate, but the appearance, designer, builder, and patron remained hazy until a recent turn of events provided the key need to unlock the past.

One of the most thorough overviews of The Cedars was found in a 2008 publication entitled the “Westerwood Walking Tour” that celebrated the history of the neighborhood located between College Hill and Fisher Park on the edge of city center. The estate occupied most of the eastern portions of the neighborhood. The publication states:

One large estate west of the city limits, built before 1879, was “The Cedars”, home of Doctor J. T. Battle. Dr. Battle’s estate was bound by the Atlantic and Yadkin Valley railroad tracks near Cedar St., N. Mendenhall St., Guilford Ave, and Lakeview St. Dr. Battle’s large Victorian home was later used by the North Carolina Children’s Home Society. Mr. John Linder, owner of Sun Coal and Seed, bought the home from Dr. Battle. After the Children’s Home Society moved, Mr. Linder remodeled the home into 10 apartments. All that remains of “The Cedars” is an outbuilding, seen behind 609 Courtland Ave. Modern apartment buildings in the 600 block of Fairview St. now stand where Dr. Battle’s large Victorian home was. 

An early map (image, right) of Greensboro clearly indicates The Cedars, then occupied by W. R. Staples, in the above-mentioned location on a bluff just northwest of the village. 

Last week, a key piece of information on the house broadened our knowledge of this estate, and unlocked the mystery once associated with the history of the house.

Researcher John Schumacher of Spokane Washington contacted our offices to inquire about a house photographed and listed in a publication as built in Greensboro and designed by George F. Barber. Barber was a carpenter, architect, and publisher who practiced from his office in Knoxville, Tennessee, from 1888 to his death in 1915. He grew into one of the most successful architects in the country through published architectural catalogues and a monthly magazine. In one such magazine, a photo-montage depicts a grand Queen Anne-style home with wrap-around porches, a porte-cochere, and a octagonal tower that no longer exists in the city (image, right). Although the house is said to have cost $5,800 to $6,000 to build, a quick search of historic inventories revealed no such home. Could this mystery house be The Cedars?

Further information supplied by the Barber researcher included the name of Greensboro rresident John A. Murchison, who purchased plans for a house from the architect in 1898. A search of early directories revealed that John Murchison was a carpenter who lived in numerous locations in the city, but none located in the northwestern sections of the city close to The Cedars. Perhaps Murchison did not commission the house, but purchased the plans on behalf of the owner on instruction to build the home?

With more investigation by Greensboro Historical Museum staff, a page from a 1904 publication was uncovered that matched the Barber publication image. Entitled “Residence and Grounds of Dr. J. T. J. Battle” (image, right), the impressive estate is shown to have stood in a grove of trees and broad lawns.

It is probably that Dora and Dr. Battle purchased The Cedars, previously owned by W. R. Staples, and expanded or replaced the existing home using plans supplied by architect George Barber and craftsmanship provided by carpenter Murchison. Upon completion, the house was among the grandest expressions of Queen Anne architecture that ever existed in the city.

Further research provided insights into the life of Dr. Battle. Dr. John Thomas Johnson Battle (image, right) was born in Wake Forest in 1859, and he graduated from Wake Forest College and from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Baltimore before establishing his medical practice in Wadesboro NC in 1884. In 1896 he married Dora L. Burns and the newlywed couple moved to Greensboro in 1898 where Battle re-established his private practice became a high profile figure in matters of health and hygiene. He served on the State Board of Medical Examiners from 1902-1908, the Guilford Board of Health from its establishment in 1911 (first County Health Department in the state, second in the nation) until his death in 1940. He served as a member of the Board of Trustees for Wake Forest College and Meredith College, both in Wake County and was among the first in Guilford County to own an automobile!

The Battles sold The Cedars in 1918 to the Guilford Insurance and Realty Company, which rented the house to the Children’s Home Society as plans were drawn for the first phase of the Westerwood subdivision (image, right). Begun in 1919, the successful Westerwood development launched the career of A. K. Moore, a realtor who later developed Sunset Hills and Fairfield.

With the estate subdivided into lots on which rose the charming bungalows that remain today along Mendenhall, Courtland, and Hillside streets, the main house exchanged hands numerous times before it was destroyed in the early 1960s. A modern apartment complex replaced the grand estate that remains on the site today.

Although Greensboro is now documented as once having a George Barber-designed home, the city is no richer in having lost this architectural gem. Landmark properties such as The Cedars were being lost at an alarming rate in the 1960s in the Gate City, which precipitated the establishment of a network of preservation-minded people today known as Preservation Greensboro. With the loss of this extraordinary landmark, other landmark properties continue to be saved for future generations to enjoy.

Grove Street Home Falls Victim to Storm

Constructed around 1918, the simple frame hipped-roof cottage at 1316 Grove Street in the Glenwood neighborhood was the home of Dillie Ann Howerton. The Howerton home was built well outside the Greensboro city limits and its occupants enjoyed none of the modern conveniences of the city. Water was supplied by a well on the back porch until 1924 or 1925. An early 1921 image depicts muddy and unpaved Grove Street with no sidewalks, curbs or gutters. The house is typical of the period in Greensboro, featuing a utilitarian full-width front porch to capture summer breezes, and large windows to admit copious amounts of daylight for task-work.

Inside, the well-constructed home featured a living room, dining room (with built-in hutch), a kitchen, and two bedrooms. The bathroom was not completed until city water and sewer lines were extended to the street around 1924. The living room and two bedrooms were heated by coal-burning fireplaces, the kitchen utilized a wood-burning stove. Mrs. Howerston lived in the home until her death in 1932. In time, Grove Street grew to become the main commercial thoroughfare in the Glenwood neighborhood, served by a convenient streetcar line.

Recently, the home had been converted into rental property (second image). Early the morning of April 5th, a line of severe storms with winds reaching 60 miles per hour toppled a tall tree on to the Howerton home, destroying it.

Special thanks to Walter H. Howerton, Sr. for the history of his grandmother's home along with the archival image shown above. Thanks to the Glenwood Neighborhood History Project for access to these records, the two recent images, and awarness of the loss of this early Glenwood home.

Lost Greensboro: The Benbow House Hotel

In the economic devastation that followed the Civil War, Greensborough’s reputation as a city of comfortable hotel accommodations was badly bruised. Earlier fine hotels such as the Southern Hotel on West Street and the Planter Hotel on East Street were becoming worn and did not meet the improved standards set by wealthy northern industrial and port cities.

In recognizing the diminished state of Gate City hostelries, Dr. D. W. C. Benbow erected Benbow House one block south of Court House Square on South Street (South Elm Street). The hotel was built at a cost of $40,000, a lofty sum during the Reconstruction Era. The Benbow opened with great fanfare in late May 1871, featuring a dedication speech by former New York Governor David Hill, and former North Carolina Governor Zebulon Vance being the first to register as a guest.

The building was an architectural masterpiece of French-inspired Second Empire style, featuring tall windows popularized in Paris and a diamond-patterned slate mansard roof enclosing the uppermost floor. Classical brick quoins at the corners of the building, balustrades and balconies centered above the front door, a wide modillion cornice, and a chorus line of dormer windows completed the continental European design.

When the hotel opened, an early guest from New York was disheartened to learn that no rooms had private baths. No worries! Upon discovering this inconvenience, he visited Odell Hardware on South Street and purchased a tin bathtub there for $2.50. He returned to his hotel room with his newly purchased tub with the honor of the occupying Greensboro’s first hotel room with a private bath!

Tragically, the Benbow House hotel burned (with no loss of life) at noon on June 17, 1899. By nightfall, only the tall brick walls remained of Greensboro’s prominent hotel. The ruin was purchased by B. H. Merrimon, his wife Nellie S. Merrimon and E. P. Wharton and rebuilt at a cost of $80,000. The facility was rechristened the Hotel Guilford. The new building was even more grand than the original, complete with Wilton carpets, marble floors, and – and private baths! The Hotel Guilford was destroyed around 1930 and replaced with a building occupied by F. W. Woolworths…today under development of the International Civil Rights Museum on South Elm Street.