Mecklenburg non-profit to preserve Polk house

POLKTON — A Mecklenburg County-based historical preservation group is hoping to save a piece of local history county: the Polk House.

The house, built in 1830, was the birthplace of Leonidas Lafayette Polk. Preserve Mecklenburg, a private non-profit agency, hopes to keep the building as a historic landmark to honor the Ansonian and prominent North Carolina political figure.

Preserve Mecklenburg is under contract to buy the house, according to Dan Morrill, administrative consultant for the non-profit. The closing is scheduled for May.

“I think the one big issue we need to take care of is an environmental study to make sure that we don’t have anything that is troubling,” Morrill said. “We have every anticipation of closing and buying in May. We are under contract.”

Polk was born on April 24, 1837. During the Civil War, he served two terms on the state legislature and completed military duty with two N.C. regiments. He was active in politics and became a national leader of the People’s Party, and may have been a candidate for president were it not for his untimely death, according to Morrill.

His true passion was farming, a trade he learned from his father. Polk served as the president of the National Farmers’ Alliance from 1889 until his death in 1892, He was the first head of the North Carolina Agricultural Commission in 1877, a state department he fought to create for years.

In 1886, Polk founded The Progressive Farmer, a magazine offering farming advice. This magazine is still in print to this day.

The Town of Polkton is named after him, as well as the L.L. Polk campus of South Piedmont Community College and a building on the N.C. State University campus. His efforts helped establish N.C. State as a university that would train in not just mechanic arts, but agricultural as well.

Luckily for Morrill and Preserve Mecklenburg, the current owners of the Polk house want to see the historic building saved, which has made obtaining the house easier.

Morrill wants to see this house saved because of Polk’s importance to not only Anson County, but to the state. He knows it needs attention, but the site is critical to preserve. Plus, Preserve Mecklenburg wants to expand outside the Charlotte area into the South Piedmont region. This would be the first project in Anson County for the non-profit.

“It’s in a deteriorating state, not a ruinous state,” Morrill said. “We need to find a way to preserve that building and that site.”

Efforts to preserving the Polk house were talked about as early as 1972, according to Morrill, but now almost 50 years later, it will finally come into fruition.

The building has a state historic highway sign outside, which Morrill said is a big deal as the state is selective with this markings.

Morrill believes the preservation will turn into an adaptive reused space for non-residential purposes. There is no plan yet to see what the house will turn into, but Morrill would like to to see it turn into a farmer’s market.

“If not a farmer’s market, something that would be somehow related to agriculture,” Morrill said. “I think a farmer’s market would be terrific, not only in the house but also on the surrounding 5.8 acres.”

By turning it into a farmer’s market or an agriculture-related building, it would be a tribute to Polk himself. Polk dedicated himself to helping farmers who were struggling and fighting for “the little man.” Polk would want it to be helpful to people, according to Morrill.

“We cannot do this without the support of the people of Anson County,” Morrill said. “History is terrific, history is fantastic, but if you’re really going to make people care about something like the Polk house, you’ve got to make it something they enjoy in their lifetime.”

Morrill believes Anson County is on the cutting edge of change, especially on the western side of the county, because of the Monroe Expressway making it easier for people to commute to Charlotte. He thinks because of the competitive market in the city, more and more people will be turning to Anson County to buy, making preserving this location even more important.

“I really hope we can make it happen because I think it will be a wonderful enhancement to living in Anson County,” Morrill said. “And living in this part of North Carolina!”

Preserve Mecklenburg is focused on saving this house in a meaningful way and keeping a major part of history alive.

“We’re very happy to be in Anson County,” Morrill said. “Mecklenburg, for the first 13 years of Anson County’s existence, was part of Anson County.”

Secure online donations can be made at https://www.preservemeck.org/donate.