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Residential Architecture (2.1)

Registration Requirements (2.1.3)

The vast majority of dwellings in Elizabeth City are significant primarily as components of neighborhoods rather than as individual structures. Those that qualify for listing will usually be contributing elements of district nominations. Because their significance as part of a neighborhood is based largely on the connections with other resources and with their surroundings, the integrity of location, setting, feeling, and association is particularly important in determining the property's eligibility for the Register. Dwellings that have been altered with modern siding, modest porch changes, or rear additions, are considered as contributing elements in a district if the overall historic character of the building remains evident. A critical element in this determination is the intactness of exterior trim.

Some houses will be individually eligible for the Register as well. To qualify individually, a dwelling must have been erected before 1943; should be largely intact; and be an outstanding example of its form or style. Integrity of materials, workmanship, and design is crucial in determining the individual eligibility of most residences. However, because there are relatively few houses built before the Civil War or associated with the city's black community, the required threshold of integrity for these properties may be somewhat lower than that required for an example of a type or style that is more common. Some residences, of course, may also be individually eligible for their historical association with an important event or individual.