100-year-old Salisbury home named local historic landmark
Published 12:10 am Friday, October 20, 2023
SALISBURY — The Salisbury City Council voted to designate the Wright-Hobson House located at 302 South Fulton Street as a local historic landmark. At the Oct. 17 meeting, City Planner Emily Vanek stated that properties under consideration as a historic landmark need “to have special significance for its historical, prehistorical, architectural or cultural importance in at least one of the special significance criterion.”
Vanek said that the house is the only one in Salisbury with a red brick neoclassical structure and one of three buildings in the city designed by Louis Asbury, who is considered to be the “first professionally trained, full-time architect in North Carolina.”
Back in May, the Historical Preservation Commission found that the house qualified as a historical landmark. The house was built in 1912 for the Honorable Judge Robert Lee Wright. In 1969, Edwin Sumner Hobson purchased the home and it is currently owned by Hobson’s daughter, Karen.
“The two story semi-circular portico and columns are one of its central features,” Hobson said. “I think landmarks are quite important in this city because our reputation is as a historic city and I think it’s important to keep these properties intact.”
Hobson considers finally having the home that her father bought over 50 years ago be considered as a historical landmark as worth the wait.
“I’m honored, delighted and honored,” Hobson said.