310 North Blount Street
Raleigh, NC, USA

National Register of Historic Places - Hawkins-Hartness House

Statement of Significance:

On October 26, 1881, Dr. Alexander B. Hawkins of Leon County, Florida, bought the house located on Raleigh city lot 267, at the southeast corner of Blount and North streets. The house had formerly belonged to Mary W. Bryan. Family tradition says that Dr. Hawkins purchased it because his wife Martha, was particularly fond of it. Dr. and Mrs. Hawkins then returned to their home in Florida, the tradition continues, after asking Dr. Hawkins s brother, Dr. William J. Hawkins of Raleigh, to have the Bryan house renovated for them during their absence. When they returned, it is said, the Hawkinses found to their dismay that the brother had removed the Bryan house and built a new house of his own design for them. Mrs. Hawkins is believed to have added the verandah to modify what she considered to be the overly severe appearance of the exterior. Whatever their original reaction to it, the Hawkinses found the house enough to their liking that they lived there for the rest of their lives.

Before Raleigh had a city-wide water system, Dr. Hawkins devised an elaborate arrangement of his own. A windmill in the back yard pumped water from a well into a tank located in the attic. This water was used for utilities. A 6,000-gallon rainwater cistern in the north garden furnished filtered drinking water for the Hawkins house and the governor's mansion just to the south. According to Mrs. Marshall D. Haywood, who lived in the Hawkins House as a girl, "Uncle David [one of the governor's servants] came over there with his cedar bucket and toted the water over to the mansion for them to drink. When that governor would end his regime, Dr. Hawkins would call up the next governor and invite him to have water from the cistern."

A. B. Hawkins conveyed the house to his sister-in-law, Martha H. Bailey, on June 19, 1895, with two deeds. Miss Bailey had been living with the Hawkinses for many years, and the housing arrangement continued until the death of Dr. Hawkins, Mrs. Hawkins having died some time previously. Following Dr. Hawkins's death, Miss Bailey sold the house on January 6, 1922, to Sadie L. Erwin, the wife of William A. Erwin, manufacturer and philanthropist. The Erwins, who kept the house until May 5, 1928, but apparently never lived there, sold the house to Mrs. Annie Sloan Hartness, whose husband, James A, Hartness, was North Carolina Secretary of State between 1929 and 1931. The state of North Carolina acquired the property in July, 1969, following Mrs. Hartness's death. The house, currently being used by the State Department of Local Affairs, has been converted to use as offices. Despite the installation of partitions and other necessary modifications, it was changed as little as possible.

The Hawkins-Hartness House is notable for the imposing dignity of its relatively severe exterior and the fine craftsmanship of its interiors. One of a group of late nineteenth century houses remaining on North Blount Street, it is an exemplary instance of an urban dwelling preserved through well-executed adaptation for office use.