Orange County NC Website
,{ ❑ nationally ❑ statewide ❑ locally " <br /> Applicable National Register Criteria 0 A ❑ 8 C ❑ D <br /> Criteria Considerations ( Exceptions) ❑ A ❑ S ❑ C ❑ D ❑ E ❑ F ❑] G <br /> Areas of Significance (enter categories from instructions) Period of Significance Significant Dates <br /> Social History , 1929 - 1931 1931 <br /> Architecture 1929 1929 <br /> Cultural Affiliation <br /> NIA <br /> Significant Person Architect/Builder <br /> N / A unknown <br /> State significance of property , and justify criteria , criteria considerations , and areas and periods of significance noted above . <br /> STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE <br /> Rigsbee ' s Rock House , a 1929 rural country estate near Hillsborough , is <br /> archi: tecturalZy. signi. fi �� ant ,3. 5 : the best. known : ex amp l:e:: : . in .: . 0rangq ;, Co�snty: , of <br /> . a 15. 20s `Tudor *` Revival . style. estate ; with associatede. outbuildings and : yard <br /> sculpture , all constructed . of whiter flint- rock :. But its primary <br /> significance 4is its association. with -: convicted bootleggers . �iack . • Rigsbee <br /> and his wife ; or whore. the.: . . house ,% .. wa . s : built. . The house *. has col• or. ful <br /> legends linkir, :� its . spaca. ous . attic storage4 areas : and overstructured <br /> bathraac'm floor to bootlagging . . in w the - house I . . Rigsbee . ' s . . Rock Hcu . se <br /> ok <br /> enhances Orange Cour_ ty. ' s. rei) utation as one of North : Carolina . ' s premier ; <br /> bootlegging counties in the Depression years . <br /> Historical Background : <br /> Mack Rigsbee , and his wife Julie E . Rigsbee , purchased in June , 1927 lots <br /> 72 - 75 in Block D of the Bankhead Forest Property ' ( Orange County Deed Book <br /> 88 , page 39 ) . In April 19 28 , the Rigsbees purchased the adjacent lots <br /> 68 - 71 ( Orange County Deed Book 90 , pages 37 - 38 ) . It is assumed that the <br /> house and outbuildings .were completed and occupied by late 1928 or early <br /> 1929 . The Rigsbees defaulted on their mortgage in 1931 ( Orange County <br /> Deed Book 96 , - page 200 ) . Since then the house has had a succession of <br /> owners . The current owners purchased the property in June , 1986 and <br /> immediately began renovations to the house which had been neglected <br /> through the years . <br /> The architect and builder of the house are unknown . However , identical <br /> stone masonry can be seen in the foundations , chimneys and lowrock walls . <br /> of - - 1920s & - 30s small bungalow homes along south Alston Street in Durham , <br /> NC . This is a historically black neighborhood and suggests that black <br /> stone masons may • have helped construct Rigsbee ' s house near Hillsborough . <br /> A Mrs . Brogdon , one of the subsequent owners of the house , recalled <br /> [ See continuation sheet <br />