Carson House (Marion, North Carolina)
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Carson House
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| Location | 1805 Highway 70 West Marion, North Carolina |
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| Coordinates | 35°41′30″N 82°03′27″W / 35.69167°N 82.05750°WCoordinates: 35°41′30″N 82°03′27″W / 35.69167°N 82.05750°W |
| Area | 2 acres (0.81 ha) |
| Built | c. 1810 |
| NRHP Reference # | 70000843 |
| Added to NRHP | September 15, 1970 |
The Carson House is a historic house and museum located in Marion, North Carolina that was the home of Col. John Carson, and served as the McDowell County courthouse at the county's inception.
Built in 1793, The Carson House is one of the oldest standing structures in Marion along with the nearby Joseph McDowell House. Large walnut logs were harvested from nearby Buck Creek to construct the massive three-story plantation house. Between 1804-1827, the area now known as McDowell County was a large producer of gold, and people from all over the country came to "strike it rich" before the California Gold Rush of 1849. The 1843 meeting to formally organize McDowell County out of the counties of Burke County and Rutherford County took place in the home of Col. John Carson, and the county was named after Col. Joseph McDowell, the hero of the American Revolution at the Battle of King's Mountain. Originally, the county commissioners wanted the county seat to be located around the Carson House, but concerns about disrupting plantation life led to the Carson family donating 50 acres (200,000 m2) a few miles east for the county seat. Col. John Carson's son Joseph McDowell Carson, built Green River Plantation near Columbus, Polk County, North Carolina.
For many years, The Carson House served as a stagecoach inn and social center, and was a stopping point for important historical figures such as Davy Crockett, Sam Houston, and Andrew Jackson, who reportedly lost money gambling on the horses that raced at the Carson Plantation. Dan Kanipe, one of only two survivors of General Custer's unit in the Battle of Little Bighorn lived in Marion, and spent some years living at the Carson House.
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