WFMY News 2's Tracey McCain walked us through one of the homes on Preservation Greensboro's Tour of Historic Homes this morning. The house looks over Greenway park on West Greenway Drive North. It was built in the 1920's and purchased by Hugh and Mary Preddy. The cost $10,324.

A half-century ago, middle-class whites were fleeing to the suburbs, fueled by highway construction and home mortgage programs. Downtowns became synonymous with crime and poverty, and planners wrote about the death of the American city. The federal government actively supported segregated neighborhoods through its loan guidelines. Owners of historic properties were encouraged to destroy them with generous tax deductions for demolition. The tax code rewarded new construction, while giving no comparable incentive for renovation.

The National Register of Historic Places didn't exist. A federally subsidized demolition derby was under way.

Seven years ago, it seemed the century-old Seagroves Farm house was destined for demolition to make room for yet another subdivision.

Thanks to some determined residents and a preservation-based town code, the farm was spared from the developer's wrecking crew.

The results of those efforts were in full display Sunday afternoon as the current Seagroves Farm owners received a landmark plaque during the annual Wake County Historic Preservation Celebration held in Apex.

Read more: Apex Herald - Celebrating historic preservation in Wake County

"Landowner Louis Moore Bacon is determined to turn back the clock at Orton Plantation.

Bacon, the direct descendent of the plantation’s founding family who purchased the Brunswick County property in 2010, is working to restore Orton’s 8,500 acres to the antebellum rice plantation it was in the 1700s, said Orton’s property manager, Dillon Epp.

Plans for the property include the restoration of about 7,000 acres of longleaf pine forest, removal of invasive species that have overrun the 320 acres of rice fields and preservation of the plantation’s historic house and gardens, Epp said.

The goal is to create the landscape that Bacon’s ancestors knew hundreds of years ago, Orton landscape property manager Nick Dawson said.

Bacon is a direct descendent of Roger Moore, who built the original Orton residence and established the property as a rice plantation.

“The owner is doing all this because of his family history,” Dawson said. “He would like to look at what his ancestors looked at. But the restoration is also benefitting the community because a piece of North Carolina history is being preserved.”

Orton Plantation Holdings has applied to the National Park Service for designation as a National Historic Landmark."

Read full story . . .

The Charlotte Observer (4/28/2012)