Wentworth–Grinnan House

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Wentworth-Grinnan House (c. 1780) Smithfield, Virginia.JPG
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Location 123 South Church Street, Smithfield, Virginia
Coordinates 36°58′56.12″N76°37′46.86″W / 36.9822556°N 76.6296833°W / 36.9822556; -76.6296833 Coordinates: 36°58′56.12″N76°37′46.86″W / 36.9822556°N 76.6296833°W / 36.9822556; -76.6296833
Built ca.1780; 1820-22
Part of Smithfield Historic District (#73002022)
Designated CP July 2, 1973 [1]

The Wentworth–Grinnan House (ca. 1780) is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and located on the river side of South Church Street within the Smithfield Historic District in Smithfield, Virginia. [2] Smithfield is a colonial seaport town on the Pagan River in Isle of Wight County with colonial trading ties to Bermuda and the West Indies.

National Register of Historic Places federal list of historic sites in the United States

The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance. A property listed in the National Register, or located within a National Register Historic District, may qualify for tax incentives derived from the total value of expenses incurred preserving the property.

Smithfield Historic District (Virginia) historic district in Smithfield, Virginia

Smithfield Historic District is a national historic district located at Smithfield, Isle of Wight County, Virginia. It encompasses 289 contributing buildings and 2 contributing structures in the historic downtown and surrounding residential areas of Smithfield. There are 211 houses, 37 commercial buildings, 1 warehouse, 4 churches, 10 barns, 1 smokehouse, 23 garages, 1 farm office, 1 colonial kitchen, and 2 corncrib structures. Notable buildings include the original county clerk's office (1799), county jail, Wentworth-Barrett House, Wentworth–Grinnan House, King-Atkinson House, Smith-Morrison House (1770s), Hayden Hall, Boykin House, Goodrich House (1886), Thomas House (1889), Smithfield Academy (1827), Christ Episcopal Church, and Hill Street Baptist Church (1923). Located in the district and separately listed are the Old Isle of Wight Courthouse, Smithfield Inn, Windsor Castle Farm, and P. D. Gwaltney Jr. House.

Smithfield, Virginia Town in Virginia, United States

Smithfield is a town in Isle of Wight County, in the South Hampton Roads subregion of the Hampton Roads region of Virginia in the United States. The population was 8,089 at the 2010 census.

Contents

History

Flemish bond brickwork, c.1752 Flemish-bond brick end (c. 1752) Wentworth-Grinnan House.JPG
Flemish bond brickwork, c.1752

The Wentworth–Grinnan House was built as a 1 12-story house before 1760 and was expanded with addition of a larger wing, two-and-a-half stories tall, between 1820 and 1822. The original section "has a gabled roof with dormers, clapboarding, and a brick end wall with a brick chimney stack"; the addition has "clapboarding, and a brick chimney, six-over-six sash windows, and a first-floor porch across the facade." [2] It is an example of Georgian architecture. [3]

Georgian architecture set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840

Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I, George II, George III, and George IV—who reigned in continuous succession from August 1714 to June 1830. The style was revived in the late 19th century in the United States as Colonial Revival architecture and in the early 20th century in Great Britain as Neo-Georgian architecture; in both it is also called Georgian Revival architecture. In the United States the term "Georgian" is generally used to describe all buildings from the period, regardless of style; in Britain it is generally restricted to buildings that are "architectural in intention", and have stylistic characteristics that are typical of the period, though that covers a wide range.

The property was first sold in 1752 to Captain Samuel Browne for four pounds, six shillings. Browne was one of Smithfield's earliest settlers and was a sea-going man in the shipping and trading business. When he died in 1760, he was half-owner of the sloop London and his other property contained in his warehouse (located in the old dormer end of the property) included 10 barrels of coffee, 6 hogsheads and one tierce of molasses (700 gallons), 2 hogsheads of sugar, 2 1/2 tierces of rum (150 gallons), 300 bushels of salt, 50 bushels of wheat, 50 hams and bacon, and 18 pounds of allspice. [4]

Molasses viscous by-product of the refining of sugarcane, grapes, or sugar beets into sugar

Molasses or black treacle is a viscous product resulting from refining sugarcane or sugar beets into sugar. Molasses varies by amount of sugar, method of extraction, and age of plant. Sugarcane molasses is primarily used for sweetening and flavoring foods in the United States, Canada, and elsewhere. Molasses is a defining component of fine commercial brown sugar.

Front door, in 2012 Front door Wentworth-Grinnan House (c. 1780).JPG
Front door, in 2012

Upon Browne's death the property passed to Captain Samuel Wentworth who lived on the adjacent lot and was subsequently owned by Wentworth descendants until 1809. The property later passed to a series of prominent Smithfield families and was home to the Grinnan family for 72 years. [4]

It was listed on the National Register as a contributing building in the Smithfield Historic District in 1973. [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 Nancy Born (April 1990). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Smithfield Historic District" (PDF). Virginia Department of Historic Resources. and Accompanying photo and Accompanying map
  3. Frazier Associates (1990). Smithfield, Virginia, Historic Design Guidelines. Town of Smithfield, Virginia.
  4. 1 2 Dashiell, Segar Cofer (1977). Smithfield, A Pictorial History. Donning Company. ISBN   0-915442-44-2.

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