Architectural Survey Status, Records, & Reports

What has been documented?

Most of North Carolina’s counties have been the subject of some level of architectural survey. To find out what type of survey work has been completed in a given county, please check the status report.

All surveyed resources have been located on our web map, HPOWEB.

Architectural Survey Records

When a historic resource has been surveyed in North Carolina, that means it has been documented with photographs, notes, site plans, and location information which is added to a physical survey file and to a database. The HPO houses these survey files and the database.

Most commonly, resources are surveyed as part of a larger project such as a county-wide or municipal survey project or a mitigation project conducted to offset the adverse effect that an undertaking is having on historic resources.

Architectural Survey Database 

The HPO’s architectural survey database is currently available only in the HPO offices. A staff person can search the database for you, but all the information in the database is also available in the physical survey file available in our File Rooms.

Architectural Survey Reports 

Most architectural survey projects result in a report. Reports are available in the Survey Reports by County section below. 

Architectural Survey Reports are also available here, but this list is a work-in-progress and remains incomplete. 

Multiple Property Documentation Forms 

The National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form (MPDF) nominates groups of related significant properties. On it, the themes, trends, and patterns of history shared by the properties are organized into historic contexts and the property types that represent those historic contexts are defined. The MPDF is a cover document - and not a nomination in its own right - but serves as a basis for evaluating the National Register eligibility of related properties. It may be used to nominate and register thematically-related historic properties simultaneously or to establish the registration requirements for properties that may be nominated in the future. 

Survey Reports by County

Sometimes, historic resources are documented during thematic context studies or other multi-county projects. The reports and contexts resulting from these projects are enumerated at the bottom of this list:

ALAMANCE COUNTY
Alamance County Architectural Heritage (1980 Survey)
Alamance County Survey Update (Historic Contexts), 2002
Alamance County Survey Update (Property Types), 2002
Alamance County Architectural Inventory, 2014, posted by the Alamance County Historic Properties Commission
West Burlington Architectural Survey Update, 2021

ALEXANDER COUNTY
Alexander County Survey, 1987
Taylorsville Comprehensive Architectural Survey, 2023

ASHE COUNTY
Ashe County Survey, 2008

BEAUFORT COUNTY
Beaufort County Municipalities Survey, 2009
Comprehensive Architectural Survey of Beaufort County: Phases II and III (Rural) FinalReport

BERTIE COUNTY
Bertie County Survey, 2010

BRUNSWICK COUNTY
Brunswick County Survey, 2010

BUNCOMBE COUNTY
Asheville Architectural Survey Update, Phase I, 2011
Asheville Architectural Survey Update, Phase II, 2011
Black Mountain Survey, 2007
Asheville African American Heritage Resource Survey, 2022

BURKE COUNTY
Valdese Comprehensive Architectural Survey, 2022-2023

CALDWELL COUNTY
Caldwell County Survey, 1987
City of Lenoir Survey, 2018

CARTERET COUNTY
Carteret County Survey, 2012

CATAWBA COUNTY
Hickory Survey Update, 2015

CLEVELAND COUNTY
Cleveland County Architectural Survey Update of Historic Resources from 1945 to 1975, 2019

COLUMBUS COUNTY
Columbus County Reconnaissance Survey, 1998

CUMBERLAND COUNTY
Fayetteville Municipal Survey, 2001
Fayetteville Modern Architectural Survey, 2009
Architectural Survey of the Broadell Neighborhood, Fayetteville, 2023
Cumberland County Architectural Survey Update, Phase 1 Report, 2024

CURRITUCK COUNTY
Currituck County Survey, 2010

CURRITUCK and DARE COUNTIES
Currituck Banks, North Banks, and Roanoke Island Survey, 2003

DAVIDSON COUNTY
Thomasville Survey, 2004

DURHAM COUNTY
Durham County Survey, 1991
Architectural and Historical Resources at Stagville, 1980 

EDGECOMBE COUNTY
Tarboro Survey, 1979
Tarboro Architectural Survey Update, 2022
Edgecombe County Architectural Survey Update, 2023

FORSYTH COUNTY
Forsyth County Survey Update, 2007
Forsyth County Survey Update, 2008
Forsyth County Survey Update, 2009
The Bethania Freedmen’s Community (Forsyth County), 2012
Forsyth County’s Agricultural Heritage, 2012
Forsyth County Architectural Survey Update, Phase I: The Unincorporated Portions of Southwest Forsyth County, the Town of Lewisville, and the Village of Clemmons, 2019
Forsyth County Architectural Survey Update, Phase II:  the Unincorporated Portions of North-Central Forsyth County and the towns of Bethania, Rural Hall, and Walkertown, 2020
Forsyth County Architectural Survey Update, Phase III: the Unincorporated Portions of the Pinnacle, Vienna, Belews Creek, Belews Lake, Kernersville, Winston-Salem East and West, High Point, Midway, and Welcome USGS Quads; and the Town of Kernersville, 2021 

FRANKLIN COUNTY
Franklin County Survey Update, 2015

GASTON COUNTY
Gaston County African American Resources Survey, 2000
Dallas Architectural Survey Update, 2019

GRAHAM COUNTY
Robbinsville Comprehensive Architectural Survey, 2018

GRANVILLE COUNTY
City of Oxford Architectural Survey Update. 2018

GUILFORD COUNTY
Greensboro Survey Update, Phase I-A, 2007
Greensboro Survey Update, Phase I-B, 2008
Greensboro Survey Update, Phase II: South Greensboro and Lake Daniel, 2009
Greensboro Survey Update, Phase II: 1940-1970 Reconnaissance Survey, 2009
Architectural Survey of African American Neighborhoods in East and Southeast Greensboro, 2020
High Point Industrial Resources Survey, 2014

HARNETT COUNTY
Harnett County Survey, 2008

HAYWOOD COUNTY
Haywood County Survey, 1983
Waynesville Architectural Survey Update, 2021

HENDERSON COUNTY
Henderson County Survey, 1980
Hendersonville Survey, 1988

HERTFORD COUNTY
Hertford County Survey, 2011

HOKE COUNTY
Hoke County Comprehensive Architectural Survey: Phase 1 Scoping Report, 2022
Hoke County Comprehensive Architectural Survey: Phase III (Raeford) Report, 2024

IREDELL COUNTY
Mooresville Survey, 2016

JACKSON COUNTY
Cashiers Survey Phase 2, 2014
Jackson County Architectural Survey Update of Historic Resources from 1945-1975, 2021

LENOIR COUNTY
Lenoir County Survey Update (North of US 70, 2010)
Lenoir County Survey Update (South of US 70, 2010)

MACON COUNTY
Macon County Survey, 1993

MECKLENBURG COUNTY
Mecklenburg County Survey, 1988
Charlotte Post-WWII (1945-1965) Survey, 2000
Charlotte Industrial and Institutional Survey, 2001
Mecklenburg County African American Resources Survey, 2002
Charlotte Survey Phase I, 2014
Charlotte Survey Phase II, 2014

MONTGOMERY COUNTY
Montgomery County Comprehensive Architectural Survey, Phase 1, 2023

MOORE COUNTY
Southern Pines Historic District Survey Update, 2010

NORTHAMPTON COUNTY
Northampton County Survey, 2010

ONSLOW COUNTY
Town of Swansboro Architectural Survey Update, 2022

ORANGE COUNTY
Orange County Student Survey, 1976
Orange County Survey, 1993
Orange County Survey Publication Manuscript, 1996
Chapel Hill Township Survey (Outside Municipalities), 1992
Architectural Survey and National Register Evaluation of St. Mary's Road, Orange County, 1999
Hillsborough Architectural Survey, 2017

PENDER COUNTY
Pender County Survey, 1997
Penderlea Survey, 2012

PERSON COUNTY
Person County Comprehensive Architectural Survey - Phase One, 2023

PITT COUNTY
Greenville Survey Update, 2010

POLK COUNTY
An Architectural and Historical Survey of Tryon, North Carolina, 1979
Downtown Tryon Survey, 2008
Polk County Comprehensive Architectural Survey, Phase I, 2023

ROCKINGHAM COUNTY
Rockingham County Survey, 2003

ROWAN COUNTY
Salisbury Historic District Architectural Survey Update, 2023

STOKES COUNTY
Stokes County Survey, 1989

SURRY COUNTY
Mount Airy Architectural Survey Update, 2018

TRANSYLVANIA COUNTY
Walking Around the World: African American Landscapes and Experience in Transylvania County, 2019

VANCE COUNTY
Vance County Comprehensive Architectural Survey, Phase 1, 2024

WAKE COUNTY
Cary Survey Update, 2014
Raleigh Survey Phases I and II, 1989-1991
Raleigh Survey Phase III, 1992
Raleigh Survey Update (1945-1965), 2006 (Note: The MPDF accepted by NPS and posted elsewhere on this site is an edited version of a portion of the survey report)
Raleigh Survey Update, 2016-2017
Raleigh African American Neighborhoods, 1988
Reconnaissance Survey Report for Non-Residential Raleigh, 2017
Wake County Survey Update, Phases I & II, 2007
Wake County Municipalities Survey Update, 2015: Apex, Fuquay-Varina, and Holly Springs
Wake County Municipalities Survey Update, 2016: Knightdale, Rolesville, and Wendell
Wake County Survey Update, Phase III, 2017: Apex, Fuquay-Varina, and Holly Springs Service Areas, Falls Non-urban Service Area
Wake County Architectural Survey Update, Phase IV: Zebulon Corporate Limits and Extraterritorial Jurisdiction, 2018
Wake County Architectural Survey Update, Phase V: Long- and Short-Range Urban Service Areas of the Towns of Knightdale, Rolesville, Wendell, and Zebulon and the Contiguous Little River Water Supply Watershed of Eastern Wake County, 2019
Wake County Historic Farm Context (1918-1968), 2022
Wake Forest Architectural Survey Update (1958-1975), 2020

WASHINGTON COUNTY
Plymouth Survey, 1990

WATAUGA COUNTY
Watauga County Survey, 2003

YANCEY COUNTY
Yancey County Survey, 1981

THEMATIC and MULTI-COUNTY PROJECTS
The Architecture of the Department of Defense (nationwide), 2011
The Bethania Freedmen’s Community (Forsyth County), 2012
Charlotte Industrial and Institutional Survey, 2001
Forsyth County’s Agricultural Heritage, 2012
Historic Dam Context (Avery, Watauga, and Wilkes Counties), 2022
Historic Schools Context (Cleveland, Henderson, Polk, and Rutherford Counties), 2015
Historic Store Context (Burke, Caldwell, Cleveland, McDowell, and Rutherford Counties), 2011
Mapping the Civil Rights Movement in Northeastern North Carolina, 2023
Rosenwald Schools in Edgecombe, Halifax, Johnston, Nash, and Wilson Counties, 2007