Losing Our History, One Lustron at a Time
Thomas B. and Mabel B. Caddell House in 2019
Moore County's post-war history is being destroyed, one important structure at a time.
As of this week, the Thomas B. and Mabel B. Caddell House is no more. One of the three remaining Lustrons in Moore County, and Carthage's sole Lustron, this structure's future had been in limbo since its private sale earlier this year.
When a demolition permit was filed at the beginning of September, both The Pines Preservation Guild and Preservation NC made multiple monetary offers and attempts to either salvage or move the structure. The new owner instead chose to ignore these offers and proceed with demolition, completing this week.
With this demolition and the razing of Southern Pines’s only Lustron in August 2020, only two Lustrons now remain in Moore County. Just why are Lustrons such an important part of Moore County and United States history? Click here to learn more.
Thomas B. and Mabel B. Caddell House October 19, 2021
So why does this keep happening?
1. Lack of Protection:
Unlike other municipalities in Moore County, Carthage does not have a local Historic District Overlay Zone that would oversee the demolition of this structure. The town is currently working hard to establish this Overlay Zone, but it is still months, possibly years from being put into place. If a Historic District Overlay Zone had been in place, a town-appointed Historic District Commission would have been in place to help work with the owner to find an alternative to demolition before issuing a demolition permit.
However, this isn’t just a Carthage problem. Almost none of Southern Pines’s mid-century structures and only a small fraction of the entire town’s large inventory of historic structures lie within the small ten-block protected Historic Overlay Zone. This causes the structures outside of this district to regularly face demolition or unsympathetic alterations, resulting in an incredible loss of historic material. And the town of Cameron is also lacking a Historic District Overlay Zone to protect any of its historic structures. As that town’s population grows, more of its important historic buildings face uncertain futures.
2. Lack of Education:
Although in this instance it seems that the owner was intent on demolition, having a community that understands the incredible importance of not only its pre-1940 historic buildings but also its mid-century structures is imperative. Buildings over 50 years old should be considered historic, and usually are at the national level. However, Moore County’s National Register nominations were completed in the 1980s and early 1990s, meaning these midcentury structures were not old enough at listing to be considered historic. An update of these districts would include these midcentury buildings as both historic and contributing. Also oftentimes because a structure isn't a large “high style" mansion, it's falsely assumed that it's also not significant or worth saving. Our organization is working hard to create an education series to help explain why these smaller buildings are important to the fabric of our towns and are integral to solving our county's affordable housing crisis, but we are months away from launching such a program.
So, what can you do?
1. Engage With Your Local Government
Talk to your elected officials about updating existing or creating new historic districts to help protect these buildings. Reach out to this year’s local candidates about their views on Historic Preservation (and use our candidate interviews as a handy guide).
Cameron and Carthage do not have Historic Overlay Zones, so if you’re a resident of either town, talk to those officials you’ve elected about steps needed to create or move along the processes of getting these districts created. If you’re a Cameron resident, join us this Sunday, Oct 24 for a Lunch & Learn about moving forward with historic preservation in the town.
Even when towns do have Historic Overlay District, oftentimes these towns desperately need volunteers to help serve on the Commissions that oversee each District. Apply to be a member, or at the very least contact your town’s Planning Department to ask questions about their commission and how you can be involved.
2. Join Us On Our Mission
We are working hard to help make advocacy easier and create a consistent education program so our communities can better understand and utilize our heritage buildings. But we can’t do it alone. So here are four ways you can help today:
Join us either as a Volunteer Board member
Donate to help us build our Education Series and make it accessible to everyone in Moore County.
Sign up to receive our newsletter to learn when we launch our programs.
Spread the Word!
In conclusion, it’s up to us as members of our County to embrace and advocate for our heritage buildings - ALL of our heritage building, including those that may not traditionally be seen as important. Future generations will thank us.
