03/29/2024
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Harmony Hall was built by Col. James Richardson prior to 1768. The 12,000 to 15,000-acre plot originally occupied on the banks of the Cape Fear River was partially a grant from King George III for Col. Richardson’s gallant service with General James Wolfe in the French and Indian War.

The Colonel became interested in the land after he and his brother were shipwrecked off of Cape Hatteras and had to spend several months making repairs in Bladen County, NC before they could return to their home in Stonington, Connecticut. Col. Richardson fell in the love with the land and, after receiving a large tract of land for his service, he built his home there, 12 miles from Elizabethtown, NC and 1-mile from the river.

The building is frame built in a two-story Gabled style with two-story galleries, an unusually tall foundation with ventilation holes, and exterior stairs leading from the second story to a full attic.

The interior is partially paneled with wide pine boards, some with chair-rails and some plastered above a paneled dado. The mantels are modeled after the Adam design.

Shortly after completing the construction, Col. Richardson was captured by the British army during the Revolutionary War and paroled. However, after learning of many British soldiers breaking their parole, he too broke his and re-enlisted in the American Army.

Harmony Hall was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.

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