Historic Street Sign at 5th St. & Harper St.
On August 27, 2009 the National Register of Historic Places honored the Town of Snow Hill by listing the expanded Snow Hill National Register Historic District to include the 100 and 200 blocks, and one property on the north side of the 300 block of West Harper Street, as well as one property on either side of Sixth Street. Several properties in the existing district were reexamined and determined to be of historic significance. The update meets several goals of the Snow Hill Historic Preservation Commission: (1) establishes the period of significance from 1850 to 1955; (2) provides continuity with the boundary of the existing district; (3) it affirms the historic significance of several properties in the original district.
According to the United States Department of Interior, the National Register is a list of properties “significant in American history, architecture, archaeology, and culture—a comprehensive index of the significant physical evidences of our national patrimony.” Properties listed therein deserve to be preserved by their owners as part of the cultural heritage of our nation.
The town’s consulting Architectural Historian, Michelle A. Michael says that “The Snow Hill Historic District encompasses the architectural resources of one of the best preserved historic towns in North Carolina’s coastal plain. The Town of Snow Hill remains today much as it was in 1955. The area includes a variety of styles that represent a cross-section of influences found in the original historic district representing the early twentieth century up to post-World War II-era styles.”
Residents and town officials will gather at 3:30 p.m. Thursday November 29, 2009 at the corner of Fifth and W. Harper Streets to erect a distinctive historic street sign to recognize the expanded district. The public is invited—bring your camera!
