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Orange County HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION Approved Meeting Summary April 23rd, 2025 Bonnie Davis Center, 1020 US 70 West, Hillsborough MEMBERS PRESENT: Eric Deetz, Todd Dickinson, Rob Golan, Carol Ann Lewald, Art Menius, Cecelia Moore, Anne Whisnant MEMBERS ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: Peter Sandbeck, Cultural Resources Coordinator GUESTS: Phil Mace, Upper Eno Heritage Association; Rod Mullen, interested citizen ITEM #1: CALL TO ORDER: Chair Menius called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm. ITEM #2: CHANGES OR ADDITIONS TO AGENDA: Staff wished to add an information item about the upcoming Occaneechi Village volunteer workday coming up later in April and May. ITEM #3: APPROVAL OF MINUTES for March 26th, 2025, meeting: Deetz moved to approve, seconded by Golan; motion carried. ITEM #4: ITEMS FOR DECISION: None ITEM #5: DISCUSSION ITEMS a. Presentation on the History of Faucett Mill and its Property by Phil Mace: Staff introduced guest Phil Mace, who has been active doing research and programs about the history of the Upper Eno portion of the county, as part of the Upper Eno Heritage Group, based in Efland. His mother was born in Efland, on the former Hartford plantation property, so his roots in this part of the county go back to the 1700s. Members then introduced themselves. Mr. Mace proceeded to provide a PowerPoint presentation detailing the history of Faucett Mill and the surrounding properties, including the Faucett House or Chatwood, to the east of the mill. Mace recounted the origins of research that claimed this mill was built in the 18th century. He found that there were actually two mills associated with different members of the Faucett family—an upper mill, above Hall's Mill Road, built for Richard Faucett, and the lower mill, which is this mill, located where the old Greensboro Road or Lebanon Road fords the Eno River, built in 1823. Early research by Mary Claire Engstrom focused on the upper Faucett Mill, which was established in the later 18th century. This research was mistakenly interpreted to apply to the lower mill, built for/by James Faucett, which has created a lot of confusion about the dates. He found a court record that documents that James Faucett obtained permission to build a dam on Dry Run in 1823, documented in court records, giving us the start date for the mill complex that also included a dam on the Eno. He relayed information that helped establish that changes might have been made in the 1830s including raising the dam on the Eno at least two times. The mill stayed in the Faucett family through most of the 19th century. It was converted from a traditional 14' diam. water wheel to a turbine by the time of the 1870 industrial census. Members discussed various aspects of the water power systems, power line shafts and the possible locations of the water wheels and turbines at varying times in the mill's history. Mr. Mace showed numerous photos and old maps to help document the locations of the historic roads, the old ford and mill race. The HPC will 1