"Maybe our project is a little misnamed. We have collected many architects who “changed the landscape,” but our project’s collections represent those who sought to preserve the landscape as well. Such collections make sense in North Carolina, a state with a long tradition of preserving its historic landscapes, structures, cemeteries, neighborhoods, and archaeological treasures.

It is difficult to say exactly when preservation efforts began in North Carolina. Certainly, the state’s historical memory is long, stretching as far back to pre-Columbian archaeological sites such as the Town Creek Indian Mounds. Early architecture is also well represented in the state, from the Newbold-White House (which may be the state’s oldest surviving structure) to the beautiful Georgian- and Federal-style buildings of New Bern, Bath, and Edenton. The survival of these places suggests that all generations of North Carolinians have shared at least a passing interest in what came before them.

What maybe described as an active movement towards historic preservation began around the turn of the 20thGuilford Battle Ground Company, which incorporated in 1887 with the goal of preserving one of North Carolina’s most important battlefields. Another organized preservation effort began in the 1930s and culminated in the General Assembly’s sponsorship of the Tryon Palace Commission (1945) and led to the reconstruction of the colonial governor’s mansion and state capitol building at New Bern. Also around this same time, the Garden Club of North Carolina reorganized itself as the North Carolina Society for the Preservation of Antiquities. This group’s goal originally was to preserve the finest historic homes and gardens. Over time the group’s mission evolved and its modern incarnation, Preservation North Carolina, seeks to save both high style and vernacular buildings across the state." century when various historic sites across the state began to attract committees interested in their survival. A fine example of such a committee is the

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N.C. State (1/20/2012)