Historic Carpenter Preserve | Anson County, North Carolina

History at Carpenter

Historic ground, preserved for the next generation.

Since before 1740, generations have made their homes and livelihoods among these rolling hills and river lands. The preserve’s 17 historic structure sites tell their story.

The 1885 Carpenter House with chairs and hay bales arranged on the front lawn — 1885 Carpenter House

The historic Lilly House with its large stone chimney — Historic Lilly House · circa 1757

More historic photographs

Close-up of a colonial wooden door lock with a keyhole and four slotted screws on a weathered wooden door — Colonial wooden door lock

A sunken historic roadbed through the woods at Carpenter Preserve — Colonial Trading Path · later known as the King’s Highway, the main road from Salisbury, North Carolina, to Cheraw, South Carolina

Original wooden staircase and decorative newel post inside a historic house at Carpenter Preserve — Original staircase and millwork

Wooden four-panel door with a white knob and three-pane transom window, surrounded by white plank walls and wooden floorboards — Wooden door with transom window

Timber post, beam and diagonal brace above a stone foundation, with weathered wooden siding and trees alongside the building — Timber framing and stone foundation

Interior of a historic timber structure with heavy ceiling beams, diagonal bracing, wooden stall partitions and a plank door — Colonial. Possibly oldest structure in Anson County.

Full-height interior view of the 1931 Mule Barn, showing rows of tall timber posts, exposed roof rafters and a wooden floor — Interior of the 1931 Mule Barn

Exterior of the 1931 Mule Barn, showing its long red-brick walls and tall open bays among trees at Carpenter Preserve — 1931 Mule Barn

A historic timber barn among trees at sunset — Generations on the land

A small historic cabin within open oak savanna — A landscape with rich history

Historic outbuildings at Lilly beside a red-dirt lane beneath a dramatic cloudy sky — Outbuildings at Lilly

Weathered wooden outbuilding among trees, with vertical plank siding, a shuttered opening and stone rubble at its base — Future restoration project

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