- Title
- Our state
-
-
- Date
- August 1998
-
-
- Place
- ["North Carolina, United States"]
-
Our state
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tar heel towns
by Sam I licb
photography by Mark Wagoner Fotografio
Warren ton
Residents are restoring the stately town ofWarrenton to its historic place as one
of our states centers of sophistication and economic development.
Warrenion is a quiet
town, really, shrouded
by iis Antebellum past
and haunted by soldiers and
politicians who shaped this
north<entral cits located about
20 miles northeast of
I lenderson.
My recent tour ol the commu-
nit\ began with visits to such
landmarks as the town’s historic
courthouse and the Emmanuel
Episcopal Church where jour¬
nalist Horace Greeley married
Mai \ Cheney, a local school
teacher, in 1836. I noticed that
mam businesses 'till practice the
Southern tradition ol closing on
Wednesday afternoons — a step
into a past when folks enjoyed a
less hectic pace.
Warrenion. however, is stretch¬
ing beyond it' history to take
advantage ol its past. Business
leaders in the town are conunit-
ted to putting their town back
on the map.
"Warrenion is like a tulip in
springtime — ready to hurst for¬
ward." savs Allen Riinhall. direr-
more attuned to a suburban
lifestyle. A brochure provided hv
the EDC explains that Warren
County is within 500 miles ol 75
percent of the population of the
United States. Interstates 85 and
95 are located within a few miles,
making the capitals of two states
short drives away. Professionals
stu h as lawyers, stoc
к
brokers,
and airline pilots now call
Warrenion home.
But Warrenion still draws from
the past to strengthen its aspira¬
tions. The town’s major attrac¬
tion. of course, is the huge num¬
ber of Antebellum homes and
structures 'till standing in
Warrenton and the surrounding
countryside. Mam of these
homes are in great need of
renovation.
Enter Preservation North
Carolina, a nonprofit historic
preservation organization that
has helped attract people to
Warrenion to live in and refur¬
bish many of these statclv houses
or renovate commercial proper¬
ties lor their businesses. With its
tor of the Warren Countv
Economic Development
Commission.
"People are starting to view
Warrenton with a different per¬
spective." savs French Scott, chairman
of the EDC.
Ernest Fleming, owner of Oakley Hall
Antiques, sav-s, “Preservation is attract¬
ing a good strong middle class, which is
helping to develop Warrenton."
Strengthening aspirations
Preservation is an important word in
Warrenion \ future. The Warren
County seat, with a population ol just
more than 1.000 people, is liansforin-
ing itsel! Iroin a small town serving the
agrarian countryside to a community
revolving fluid, the Raleigh-
based organization acquires
endangered historic properties
and resells them with protective
covenants to purchasers. An
advocate fen better laws, public poli-
cies. and financial incentives, the orga¬
nization also was insti tmiental in the
passing of a law enacted in jnnuarv
1998 that enables residential properties
to join commercial properties as eligi¬
ble for a tax credit of 30 percent.
Consecrated in 1824. the Emmanuel Episcopal Church
has welcomed the faithful and the famous. In the
church s most noted ceremony, school teacher Mary
Cheney married journalist Horace Greeley in 1836.
August 1998 Our State 13