Historic Salisbury Foundation has announced the properties that will be on OctoberTour 2019, which will be held Oct. 12-13.

The properties are in the West Square and Downtown Salisbury historic districts. Food and entertainment will be located in the 300 block of West Bank Street and the Hall House lawn at Bank Street Cafe.

Other activities during the weekend will include a history tour by bike sponsored by the Pedal Factory and a display of paintings completed during OctoberTour by local Plein Air artists.

Patrons’ party festivities will begin Oct. 10, and a lunch-and-learn program, on Oct. 11.  

For more information, to buy tickets or to volunteer, visit www.octobertour.com or contact the foundation office at 704-636-0103 or events@historicsalisbury.org.

The tour sites are:

Rufus G. Hunt House, 201 S. Ellis St. (Rachel and Kevin Davis)

This granite block house was constructed in 1928 for Rufus and Miriam Harris Hunt by E.W. Wagoner Construction Co. Miriam Hunt’s family, the Harrises, owned Harris Granite Quarries Co., whose quarries included Balfour Pink Granite Quarry near Gold Hill in eastern Rowan County. Hunt was the business manager for the quarry, the source of stone for the house.

Bean-Cathey House, 722 S. Fulton St. (Kate Fisher)

This four-square home was built in 1905 as a rental home by Mary Bean, widow of a prosperous distiller. By 1913, the home was moved closer to the street and turned 90 degrees to its current position. It was sold in 1914 to J.P. and Cora Cathey, the grandparents of former U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, who lived there the rest of their lives.

The home became vacant and fell into disrepair in the early 1980s. Gordon and Barbara Senter began a major restoration in 2005. 

Slater-Miller-Martin House, 427 W. Fisher St. (Jerry and Kathy Short)

This one-story, Greek Revival home was built about 1850 with Victorian additions in the 1890s. The most famous owner of the home was Ben Martin, photographer for Time and Life magazines, among others. He inherited the home from his aunt and uncle, William and Whilhelmina Miller. Over a 33-year period, Martin captured some of history’s most iconic images, including photos of Martin Luther King Jr. during the Selma-to-Montgomery civil rights march; President John F. Kennedy’s funeral; and the Japanese pilot who led the attack on Pearl Harbor during the 40th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing. 

Heilig-Hennessee House, 324 W. Thomas St. (Mark and Caroline Stephenson)

Mary Elizabeth Thompson Heilig, widow of James Daniel Heilig of 507 S. Fulton St., built this two-story brick, four-square house in 1927 and used it, as she would many other houses in the up and coming neighborhood, as a rental as she developed her family’s land. In 1945, Heilig sold the house to her daughter, Mary “Elizabeth,” and son-in-law, William Edward Hennessee. The home remained in the family until the mid-2000s when it was purchased by Jane Nussman and once again used as a rental property until 2018, when it was purchased by the Stephensons.

Andrew Murphy House, 229 W. Bank St. (Bob and Sarah LaGore)

Built circa 1854 by wealthy merchant Andrew Murphy for his bride, this handsome two-story frame, Greek Revival structure features two generous porticoes with Tuscan columns providing an sheltered view of the historic surroundings. The builder’s youngest of 10 children, Walter “Pete” Murphy, inherited the property. He was a well-known legislator who served in 19 sessions of the state House of Representatives and was elected House speaker twice. His son, Spencer Murphy, inherited the house and was editor of the Salisbury Post for 28 years.

O.O. Rufty General Store, 126 E. Innes St. (Michael and Diane Young)

Oliver Oscho Rufty opened his store at 112 S. Main St. about 1917 and named it O.O. Rufty’s General Store. In 1922, the store was moved to its present location on East Innes Street. He ran the store until 1931 when he sold it to the Houser brothers of Winston-Salem and continued to manage it until 1933 when he repurchased it. In 2015, the building suffered a devastating fire. It stood vacant for years until it was purchased by the current owners, who began a full-scale restoration in 2018. 

Kress Plaza Condominium, 300 S. Main St. (Sheila Ezzo)

This neoclassical commercial building was constructed by S.H. Kress Co. in 1910 as a five-and-dime store and operated for 64 years, closing in 1974. Beginning in 1896, Samuel Kress built 260 stores in the United States, many of them located in the Southeast. In 2006, the Salisbury Kress building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990, was purchased by Joel Goodman of Goodman Investments of Mooresville, who began a restoration of the second floor. Five condos were completed in 2007 using historic tax credits. 

Fisher-Cruse House, 3850 E. Ridge Road (Bill and Lee Bailey)

One of the best preserved and least altered of Rowan County’s smaller antebellum farm properties, the house was built by John Fisher in the 1830s shortly after he acquired the property from Michael Brown. A one-story frame dwelling on the property, originally the quarrymen’s house on the Yadkin River, was made into a kitchen and dining room. Fisher built the frame house, joining the two structures with a shed porch that abuts the southeast corner of the earlier dwelling. The homestead was last on tour in 1990 when restoration was not complete.

132 Flats, 132 E. Innes St. (Fisher Realty)

The one-story 132 Flats building constructed in 1919 at East Innes and North Lee streets. Historically occupied by auto-related businesses in the early part of the century, the building is being transformed into four luxury residential flats. With design aesthetics paying homage to its historic past, 132 Flats will incorporate modern conveniences in an efficient structure promoting a sustainable urban lifestyle.

Dr. Josephus W. Hall House, 226 S. Jackson St. (Historic Salisbury Foundation)

Salisbury’s landmark residence was originally an 1820 two-story, Federal style, double-pile (two-rooms deep) frame house used by the girls department of Salisbury Academy. The original Salisbury Academy closed after five years, and the building was sold. Rebecca Troy and her half-brother, Maxwell Chambers, lived in the house for 14 years until her marriage to Judge David Caldwell.  It changed hands several times until Historic Salisbury Foundation purchased the home and contents in 1972 from the Hall family, which had occupied the residence for 113 years.

This summer, the movie “The 24th” is being filmed at the Hall House and other locations in Salisbury.