News
September 3, 2008
Comments Invited On Nominations To National Register
The Raleigh Historic Districts Commission will meet at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 16, to review the nominations of Mary Elizabeth Hospital, the Paul and Ellen Welles House, and Mount Hope Cemetery for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.
The public is invited to comment on the nominations at the meeting, which will be held in Room 305 of the Avery C. Upchurch Government Complex, 222 W. Hargett St. Residents with hearing impairments who need sign language services at the meeting should call the City of Raleigh Public Affairs Department, 890-3107 (TDD) or 890-3100, at least 48 hours or two business days prior to the meeting.
Raleigh currently has 90 individual property listings and 25 historic districts in the National Register. Listing in the National Register allows property owners to become eligible for state and federal tax credits for rehabilitation of properties for commercial and residential purposes.
Located on the corner of Wake Forest Road and Glascock Street, Mary Elizabeth Hospital was designed by Dr. Harold Glascock and built in 1920. The hospital was Raleigh’s first private general hospital. The two-story, brick structure is a modified “H”-type plan, a plan that was made popular by government-funded hospitals and often adapted for community hospitals in the early part of the 20th century. Mary Elizabeth Hospital was built in the Colonial Revival architectural style but it has some Craftsman features. These include exposed rafter tails, wide eaves and hipped roof, which are echoed by the many Craftsman bungalows in the surrounding neighborhood. Mary Elizabeth Hospital was named for the mothers and wives of the founding doctors, Dr. Glascock and Dr. Anthony Reynolds Tucker.
The Paul and Ellen Welles House was built in 1956 at 3227 Birnamwood Road in the Highland Gardens subdivision on the western outskirts of Raleigh. Durham architect Kenneth McCoy designed the house; the Jim Edwards Company was the contractor. Paul Welles Jr., a summer camp operator and sailing enthusiast, and his wife, Ellen, needed the house for their growing family. The couple built the residence on land subdivided from the farm of Ellen’s parents, George W. and Mary Mordecai. The split-level house covers 3,000 square feet and has five bedrooms, four bathrooms, and an open floor plan with soaring ceilings and large areas of glass. The Welleses raised six children in their house.
Located at 1100 Fayetteville St. just south of downtown, Mount Hope Cemetery was established by the City of Raleigh for African Americans around 1872. It was one of the first municipal African American cemeteries in the state. The 34-acre cemetery continues to be used exclusively by blacks. The approximate total number of monuments in Mount Hope Cemetery is 1,454, although interment records list over 7,000 individuals. About 614 monuments stand in the original 11.5-acre cemetery. Prior to the establishment of Mount Hope Cemetery, African Americans buried their dead in the southeast section of Raleigh’s City Cemetery, which was established in 1798.
The Raleigh Historic Districts Commission serves as the City Council’s official historic preservation advisory body to identify, preserve, protect and educate the public about Raleigh’s historic resources.
Prepared by:
John Boyette
Public Affairs Specialist
Public Affairs Department
For More Information Contact:
Martha Daniel Hobbs
Preservation Planning
Planning Department
One Exchange Plaza, Suite 304
Raleigh, NC 27601
919-516-2649
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