Davidson in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)
Chairman Blake House
Photographed By Duane and Tracy Marsteller, November 11, 2023
1. Chairman Blake House Marker
has been placed on the
National Register
of Historic Places
by the United States
Department of the Interior
c. 1860
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Architecture. In addition, it is included in the National Register of Historic Places series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1860.
Location. 35° 29.867′ N, 80° 50.891′ W. Marker is in Davidson, North Carolina, in Mecklenburg County. Marker is on Chairman Blake Lane east of South Main Street (North Carolina Highway 115), on the right when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 318 Chairman Blake Ln, Davidson NC 28036, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 3 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. X-Ray Experiments (about 700 feet away, measured in a direct line); Davidson College (approx. 0.2 miles away); D.H. Hill (approx. half a mile away); Granville Grant (approx. one mile away); Stinson Hall (approx. 1.6 miles away); Beaver Dam (approx. 2.3 miles away); Site of Torrence Tavern (approx. 2.8 miles away); Torrence's Tavern (approx. 2.9 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Davidson.
Regarding Chairman Blake House. Excerpt from the National Register nomination:
Theca. 1860 Chairman Blake House is locally significant in Davidson, North Carolina because it is a rare surviving dwelling from the mid-nineteenth century in this small Piedmont town and because it is the most pronounced and least altered example of the Greek Revival style among Davidson's domestic architecture. The Chairman Blake House was a faculty residence at Davidson College, a Presbyterian school of higher learning for young men founded in 1837 and the reason for the town's existence. The home of various faculty members for more than a century, the house gained its name from Professor John Rennie Blake (1825-1900), who is believed locally to have occupied the house throughout his tenure at Davidson College, 1861-1885. Blake, who taught natural philosophy and astronomy, is largely credited with the survival of Davidson College immediately after the Civil War, when his strong determination and commitment convinced the trustees to move forward with the college when they had been debating its closure for lack of funds. After Blake's retirement in 1885, the college continued to rent the house, mostly to faculty but also to some non-faculty, throughout the remainder of the nineteenth century and through most of the twentieth. The design of the one-and-a-half-story, weatherboarded frame house embodies many of the distinctive characteristics of the Greek Revival style, including symmetry
Click or scan to see
this page onlineof design, a pedimented side-gable roof with boxed and molded eaves, a pedimented front porch with classical posts, a front door with sidelights and fransom, a center-hall plan, a simple but gracefial stair, a double parlor separated by sliding pocket doors, and chaste post-and-lintel mantels.Photographed By Duane and Tracy Marsteller, November 11, 20232. Chairman Blake House Marker
Also see . . . Chairman Blake House (PDF). National Register nomination for the house, which was listed in 2004. (Prepared by Laura A. W. Phillips; via National Archives) (Submitted on December 4, 2023, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.)
A Souvenir of Prof. J.R. Blake and His Friends (1878) via Google Books (Public Domain)
3. James Rennie Blake (1825-1900)
He was Chairman of the Faculty (similar to acting president) of Davidson College from 1871 to 1877.
Credits. This page was last revised on December 4, 2023. It was originally submitted on December 4, 2023, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 168 times since then and 132 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on December 4, 2023, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
