The Killingsworth House, a ca. 1890 cottage that is one of the few remaining buildings from Beaufort’s earliest suburbs, is available free for relocating to another site.
The one-story house located at 1915 Duke Street was once part of Dixon Village, just blocks east of Ribaut Road near the current Beaufort County Courthouse. This village was outside the town confines until the first decade of the 20th century. The house has a side-gable structure that was common in the adjacent Northwest Quadrant that dates around 1875 -1900. There appears to have been an early extension to the northeast corner and a later non-historic addition to the northwest corner of the house.
The building was part of the former Hermitage Plantation, known as a significant antebellum plantation. After the Civil War, this cottage was one of the 54 lots subdivided from the plantation. The suburb was developed after the family of Caroline Edings Sams Fripp obtained title in 1878. In 1889, Ned Killingsworth bought the lot and built the house.
The house is representative of late 19th century African-American building patterns. However, despite its rich history, the cottage is not part of the National Historic Landmark District. If no one moves this house, the City of Beaufort’s Historic District Review Board has already approved a demolition permit.
CONTACT INFO
Historic Beaufort Foundation
843-379-3331
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