Date: c. 1810
7081 Forestville Road, Knightdale
Designated 9/4/2007
Individually Listed
National Register of Historic Places
Once the seat of a 4000-acre plantation during the first half of the nineteenth century, Beaver Dam survives as a rare example of the successful plantations throughout eastern Wake County and , Indeed, piedmont North Carolina. Built c.1810, Beaver Dam stands as an unspoiled example of transitional Georgian-Federal architecture. It was also one of nine prominent Hinton-family plantation houses in Wake County, only three of which survive. William Hinton (1767-1836) and his wife, Candace Rosser Hinton, built Beaver Dam around 1810 on land William acquired from his sister and his father, Major John Hinton. Exemplifying the substantial, neatly finished but conservative houses built for many North Carolina planters around 1800, the two-story frame dwelling has a hall-and-parlor floor plan with original shed rooms to the rear. Characteristic of the best workmanship of the era, the heavy timber-frame is covered with molded weatherboard siding. The house retains its original nine-over-nine wooden sash windows. The interior finishes continue the excellent traditional craftsmanship with paneled doors, hand-molded wainscot, and fine decorative fireplace mantels. The building stands commandingly on two open acres at the corner of Smithfield and Forestville Roads. To its east stands the original, small, timber-frame smokehouse.