SALISBURY — The Rowan County Board of Commissioners voted Monday night to make the Knox Farmhouse located on Knox Farm Road near Cleveland a historic landmark.

The Rowan County Historic Landmarks Commission recommended the building be made a landmark because of its unique architectural style in rural Rowan County.

The HLC report called the farmhouse one of the “few remaining examples of a wood framed farmhouse from the Antebellum period in western Rowan County” and “a well preserved example of vernacular Greek Revival style in a rural setting.” The house was built between 1854 and 1856 according to the Knox family.

The Antebellum period was the time between the the ending of the War of 1812 and the start of the Civil War in 1861. Part of the reason few wood framed farmhouses from the time remain is simply rot. The Knox Farmhouse itself had to replace many window and door sills after they were damaged by termites and rot.

The Greek Revival architecture style was popular during this time period. The house shows the architectural style through its use of columns on the front porch and the style of woodwork on interior decorations such as the mantles, baseboards, doors and windows.

The commissioners voted unanimously to make the farmhouse and the surrounding 0.4 acres a historic landmark.

The Knox Farmhouse is located in the Knox Farm Historical District recognized by the federal government’s National Register of Historic Places in 1983. The farm reached bicentennial status in 2020, a historic honor for the farm reaching 200 years of continued existence.

According to documents submitted by John Benjamin Knox for the Historic Landmark application, the farm has hosted nine generations of the Knox family continuously for 168 years.

“The Knoxes came over from Coleraine, Ireland, in 1740, there’s a record of that. They left Coalraine, Ireland, in 1740 and came into Pennsylvania. They came down through the Pennsylvania Wagon Trail and squatted in Rowan County before it was Rowan County,” said Knox.

The historic designation only includes the exterior of the home and the surrounding area. The interior of the home is not included as part of the historic landmark.