#ThisIsThePlace: Preservation society maintains historic home, tries to save Whiteville City Hall

WHITEVILLE, NC (WWAY) — At the corner of Franklin and Columbus streets in Whiteville, you’ll find an old federal-style country cottage that is now known as the Reuben Brown House.

It was built back in the 1800s for Reuben Brown, who lived there with this wife and nine children. He was a schoolmaster for the Whiteville Academy Subscription School.

“When it was moved here, the house was turned backwards, and we really don’t know how that happened,” Reuben Brown House Preservation Society President Janice Young said. “We just know that it did. So the back of the house is actually facing the front of the street, and that the front of that house, which is a little more attractive, is facing the back.”

The house has its original exterior siding, doors and windows. Young says it’s important to keep up homes like this to preserve history.

The Reuben Brown House Preservation Society is the same organization that is spearheading the movement to save Whiteville City Hall.

If you have driven through Whiteville recently, you probably have seen signs that read, “Save City Hall.”

Because of environmental problems, the was forced to shut down city hall and relocate for the time being.

“We love the old building,” Young said. “It’s been here a long time. Many of us grew up with it, and we want to preserve it so not just us remember it, but it becomes a historic part of our nation’s history.”

Timing is unclear when they will make a decision, but Young hopes with the support of the community, a solution to keep city hall will be possible.