Agenda 10-17-23; 5-a - Joint Public Hearing with the Historic Preservation Commission Regarding the Proposed Designation of the Davis Cotton Gin and Press as an Orange County Historic Landmark

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15 ORANGE COUNTY LOCAL LANDMARK APPLICATION DAVIS FARM COTTON GIN AND PRESS Context: The Place of the Davis Farm Cotton Gin and Press among Agricultural Outbuildings and Agricultural lndustr in Oran e Count North Carolina Historically, late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century farmsteads in Orange County were characterized by a house and an accompanying collection of both domestic and agricultural outbuildings. Early outbuildings and tobacco barns were usually of log construction, while later outbuildings tended to be frame. Typical outbuildings included a kitchen, well, smokehouse, corncrib, granary, privy, and a variety of sheds and barns that fulfilled the needs of the type of agriculture practiced on a particular farm. For example, farms that cultivated tobacco needed tobacco-curing barns and pack houses for packing and storing it. Dairy farms needed large dairy barns to house the cows and store hay in an accessible place, silos, and milking parlors. Other farms had outbuildings to accommodate special agricultural or industrial activities, such as the barn at the Davis Farm that housed a cotton gin and press and also a corn mill. Many outbuildings initially served one purpose but were later converted to another use as needed. Outbuildings closely associated with household activities, such as the kitchen, well, smokehouse, and privy, were located near the house, while those associated with agricultural activities were located farther away. Over time, many outbuildings fell out of use and eventually collapsed or were demolished. Nevertheless, some farms, including several in Chapel Hill Township, retain largely intact groups of outbuildings. The mid-nineteenth-century Samuel J. Couch Farm (OR0470) on West Cornwallis Road retains its kitchen, corncrib, and granary, while the ca. 1885 Donnell-Brown (OR0477) on Mt. Moriah Road retains its kitchen, smokehouse, and corncrib. The John Kirkland House (OR0435) on Old NC 86 has one mid-nineteenth century log barn along with a large complement of twentieth-century outbuildings, including a kitchen that was later converted to a potting shed, a barn with corncrib, a chicken house, a well house, a shed, and a shop. On Smith Level Road, the 1903 Sidney W. Crabtree Farm (OR0366) retains a picturesque setting with a barn, tractor shed, corncrib, smokehouse, and a cotton house. The Davis Farm (OR1179), itself, retains a large and representative collection of outbuildings including a kitchen, corncrib, shed, two barns, granary, pump house, and gazebo, in addition to the cotton gin and press building Photo 18). The make-up of a farm's outbuildings sometimes changed to support new agricultural endeavors, such as when many farms in Chapel Hill and adjacent townships converted to dairy farming after the demise of cotton. The Blackwood Dairy Farm (OR0346) on Mt. Carmel Church Road is a good example with its pre-dairy smokehouse, feed house, potato house, and tobacco barn--all log—and privy, storage building, and mills house. From the farm's dairy days are a large cow barn, a milking barn, two feed barns, and a corncrib. Another good example is the Jessie S. and Nettie Neville Farm (OR0386) on Old Greensboro Road. It retains its mid-nineteenth-century log house and smokehouse, as well its 1926 house, smokehouse, privy, corncrib, wood shed, chicken house, and other sheds. After the farm became a dairy in 1927, a lounging barn, milking barn, milk cooling house, and two silos were added. The Cate Farm (OR0436) on Old NC 86 constitutes a third example. It added a large dairy barn and silo to its already existing combination smokehouse/wash house, granary/cornerib, chicken house, and power house. i+ 12