County releases updated architectural survey of unincorporated areas; documents mid‑20th‑century and earlier resources

Cumberland County planning staff and a historic‑preservation consultant on Jan. 9 presented the results of a county architectural survey funded in part with a 2021 grant and focused on areas outside Fayetteville and Fort Liberty.

Carolyn Gimbel, an architectural historian with JMT, summarized a two‑phase effort. Phase 1 resurveyed previously documented properties; of 326 surveyed records from earlier work, consultants found 128 properties had been demolished. Phase 2 — completed in spring 2024 — added 251 newly surveyed properties after outreach to owners and public‑rights‑of‑way photography where necessary.

The phase‑2 work emphasized mid‑20th‑century resources that earlier surveys under‑represented, including residential neighborhoods built after World War II, textile and industrial sites (for example the former Ideal Brick Company in Slocum), and 17 schools that are 50 years or older (14 still owned and used by the local school district). Consultants documented buildings ranging from circa 1920 Rosenwald schoolhouses to facilities constructed as late as 1980.

Gimbel told the board the survey files are now recorded with the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office and that survey results can be the basis for National Register nominations or local preservation initiatives. She said local preservation commissions — particularly in Spring Lake, where local interest exists — could use the findings to pursue local landmarking and stronger demolition controls.

The item was informational; no board action was required.