Johnson Street Historic District
The Johnson Street Historic District represents the best-preserved section of Johnson Place, High Point's first major "streetcar suburb," which was laid out by developer R. Homer Wheeler in 1907. During the 1910s and 1920s the four tree-lined blocks of Johnson Street were the premier location for the residences of the men who managed High Point's burgeoning furniture and hosiery industries. The handsome but unpretentious Bungalow, Four Square, Colonial, and Victorian style houses held not only mill owners, but also many civic leaders, including the publishers of the city's newspaper, the founders of the city's hospital, and many politicians. Children raised on Johnson Street often made their mark far from the city, including New York Times music critic and author, J. G. Briggs, Olympic medalist Harry Williamson and four-star Army general Maxwell Thurman.
The first-time visitor to Johnson Street first notices the trees, the yards, and the lines of porches. The 1900s, 1910s and early 1920s were the heyday of the porch in America. Every new residence, it seemed had a broad cool front veranda. In that era before air conditioning, the porch was a breezy outdoor living room, where the family sat and visited with neighbors on summer evenings. Children loved porches, too, for they were an outdoor playground even when it rained. Beginning in the 1920s tastes changed and porches got smaller and smaller until by the Ranch house era of the 1950s they disappeared.
Next, the Johnson Street visitor notices the houses attached to those porches. Most of the dwellings have two floors, with the upper one sometimes squeezed under the roof in what architectural historians call a "one-and-a-half-story" arrangement. Gable roofs and hip roofs predominate. Exterior walls are often simple overlapping weatherboard, also known as clapboard. Sometimes wood shingles or horizontally grooved "novelty" or "German" siding are used. About a quarter of the dwellings are covered in red brick.
Johnson Street residences reflect the major architectural trends of the era. High Point had no professional architects at this time, so most designs were likely created by local contractors, inspired by nationally published books and magazines, and refined in collaboration with homeowners. Johnson Street houses are a blend of architectural styles, but the predominant flavor is post-Victorian.
Homes in the District — Historic Name, House Number, Approx. Year Built and Last Sale/Asking Price. [Note, asking and last sale prices per zillow.com, accessed April, 2014]
| Historic Name | Street Address | Year
Built | Asking/
Sold Price ‡ | Last Sold/
For Sale ‡ |
| J. R. Agnew House | 900 Johnson St. | ca. 1953 | $57,000 | 1987 |
| Ferd Ecker House | 901 Johnson St. | ca. 1953 | | |
| Bullard House | 902 Johnson St. | ca. 1953 | $106,000 | 2005 |
| Eshelman House | 905 Johnson St. | ca. 1910 | $182,000 | 2006 |
| C. D. White House | 906 Johnson St. | ca. 1949 | | |
| Robt. & Jesse Brockett House | 907 Johnson St. | ca. 1912 | $143,000 | 2006 |
| H. D. Sears House | 908 Johnson St. | ca. 1914 | | |
| H. E. Marsh, Jr. House | 909 Johnson St. | ca. 1926 | | |
| King-Hedrick House | 910 Johnson St. | ca. 1932 | $190,000 | 2012 |
| John R. Peacock House | 911 Johnson St. | ca. 1926 | $122,500 | 1993 |
| Vernon W. Idol House | 912 Johnson St. | ca. 1949 | $124,500 | 2005 |
| Dunbar-Whitener House | 1001 Johnson St. | ca. 1919 | $212,500 | 2000 |
| J. Gurney Briggs House | 1003 Johnson St. | ca. 1920 | | |
| Alpheus H. Idol House | 1004 Johnson St. | ca. 1925 | | |
| Rental House | 1005 Johnson St. | ca. 1923 | $8,000 | 1976 |
| David L. Bouldin House | 1006 Johnson St. | ca. 1923 | $249,900 | 2014 |
| Robert H. Walker House | 1007 Johnson St. | ca. 1921 | $125,000 | 2007 |
| Burnett-McCain House | 1008 Johnson St. | ca. 1912 | $235,000 | 2011 |
| C. B. Vestal House | 1009 Johnson St. | ca. 1912 | demolished | 1982 |
| Carter Dalton House | 1013 Johnson St. | ca. 1914 | $302,500 | 2008 |
| Charles C. Barnhart House | 1100 Johnson St. | ca. 1913 | $194,000 | 2004 |
| Dr. Albert Carl Jones House | 1101 Johnson St. | ca. 1924 | $72,000 | 1978 |
| C. C. Swain House | 1102 Johnson St. | ca. 1924 | $135,500 | 2014 |
| Louise Johnson Diffee House | 1103 Johnson St. | ca. 1913 | | |
| Cornelius H. Willard House | 1104 Johnson St. | ca. 1954 | | |
| Roy E. Carr House | 1105 Johnson St. | ca. 1946 | | |
| Lewis E. Teague House | 1106 Johnson St. | ca. 1925 | | |
| Chappel-Hargett House | 1107 Johnson St. | ca. 1915 | $234,000 | 2008 |
| Thurman-McEwen House | 1108 Johnson St. | ca. 1920 | $45,000 | 1985 |
| White House | 1109 Johnson St. | ca. 1912 | $97,700 | 1993 |
| Mrs. C. H. Baker House | 1110 Johnson St. | ca. 1915 | | |
| McClave-Folger House | 1111 Johnson St. | ca. 1912 | | |
| W. B. Griffin House | 1112 Johnson St. | ca. 1915 | | |
| Dr. Frederick R. Taylor House | 1113 Johnson St. | ca. 1915 | $181,000 | 2000 |
| Diffendal-Burris House | 1200 Johnson St. | ca. 1922 | | |
| Overaker House | 1201 Johnson St. | ca. 1912 | $179,000 | 2014 |
| Anne Peele-Cora White House | 1202 Johnson St. | ca. 1920 | | |
| Williamson House | 1203 Johnson St. | ca. 1915 | $95,000 | 1994 |
| C. C. Robbins House | 1204 Johnson St. | ca. 1913 | $128,000 | 2013 |
| W. T. Taylor House | 1205 Johnson St. | ca. 1914 | $66,500 | 1990 |
| Harrison-Mann House | 1206 Johnson St. | ca. 1916 | $123,500 | 2008 |
| Dallas Zollifoffer House | 1207 Johnson St. | ca. 1912 | | |
| Charles D. Ellis House | 1208 Johnson St. | ca. 1948 | $143,000 | 2009 |
| Blake-Rawley House | 1209 Johnson St. | ca. 1915 | | |
‡ Note: asking & last-sale prices, www.zillow.com, accessed 4/18/2014.
- Thomas W. Hancchett, consultant, Sarah Wilson and members of the Johnson/Hamilton Homeowners Association for the City of High Point, Johnson Street Historic District, High Point, North Carolina, 1987, www.highpointnc.gov, accessed April, 2014.
Nearby Neighborhoods
Street Names
Johnson Street
