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The Joshua Beam House
Photo courtesy of Uptown
Shelby Association |
The Joshua Beam House, one of the most prominent ante-bellum residences
in Cleveland County, is an imposing two-story building sited on a 150-acre
tract of pasture and woodland northeast of Shelby. The house features
a two-story pedimented portico, pedimented gable ends and simple but
consistent Greek Revival interior woodwork--all characteristic of the
development of the vernacular Greek Revival architecture style in this
region. The home reflects the growing prosperity of the planter and
business class of the western Piedmont of North Carolina in the decades
before the Civil War. It was constructed sometime between 1841 and 1845
for Joshua Beam (1800-1869), a successful planter, slave owner and businessman
who established an iron manufacturing operation on his property and
was involved in numerous other business and mining interests.
The Joshua Beam House was constructed
in the ante-bellum period between 1841-1845
Photo courtesy of Uptown
Shelby Association
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Beam did not depend upon a cash crop for his livelihood. He was also one
of the first justices of the peace and he played a significant role in
the drive to create Cleveland County. A.R. Beam, a nephew of Joshua, lived
with his uncle for some years before and after the Civil War and left
an excellent description of Joshua's personality and a glimpse of entertainment
enjoyed by some of the Beams 17 children. After Beam's death in 1869,
his second wife, Susan Heavner Beam, remained in the house until her death
in 1902. Throughout the first half of the 20th century the property went
into slow decline while occupied by a series of tenants until acquired
in 1947 by Roy W. Morris and his wife, Matilda Lattimore Morris, great-granddaughter
of Joshua Beam. The Morris family refurbished the house, and it remained
occupied by Roy Morris's second wife and widow, Beatrice Nye Suttle Morris,
until her death.
The Joshua Beam house is located at New Prospect Church Rd. It
is a private residence and not open to the public.
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