Benton and Moore (ca. 1910-ca. 1915)

Founded:

Wilson, North Carolina, USA

Residences:

  • Wilson, North Carolina

Trades:

  • Architect

Styles & Forms:

Colonial Revival; Gothic Revival; Mission; Neoclassical

The architectural partnership of Benton and Moore of Wilson, North Carolina, was formed in about 1910 by Charles C. Benton, Sr., a native of Wilson, and Solon B. Moore, who arrived there a few years earlier. During their partnership that lasted until ca. 1915 the firm designed several imposing neoclassical edifices in Wilson including two hospitals, the Fidelity Mutual Life Building, the Gothic Revival style St. John’s African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, and a number of residences.

Developing a specialty in the growing health care business, beyond Wilson they designed the imposing, neoclassical Elizabeth City Hospital and, one of their last projects together, the simpler but similar Rainey Hospital in Burlington. The firm frequently sent notices of their projects to the Manufacturers’ Record. After the partnership ended, Charles C. Benton, Sr., formed the firm of Benton and Benton with his brother Frank W. Benton and took on projects in many communities, while Moore’s practice concentrated in Wilson.

For fuller accounts of each partner, see their biographical entries herein.

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  • Ayden School

    Contributors:
    Charles C. Benton, Sr., architect; Benton and Moore, architects; Solon B. Moore, architect
    Dates:

    1914

    Location:
    Ayden, Pitt County
    Street Address:

    W. 3rd St., Ayden, NC

    Status:

    No longer standing

    Type:

    Educational

    Note:

    Manufacturers’ Record, Feb. 5, 1914.


  • B. J. Pully House

    Contributors:
    Charles C. Benton, Sr., architect; Benton and Moore, architects; Solon B. Moore, architect
    Dates:

    1914

    Location:
    Greenville, Pitt County
    Street Address:

    Greenville, NC

    Status:

    Unknown

    Type:

    Residential

    Note:

    Manufacturers’ Record, Feb. 19, 1914.


  • Borroughs-Pittman-Wheeler Co. Building

    Contributors:
    Charles C. Benton, Sr., architect; Benton and Moore, architects; Solon B. Moore, architect
    Dates:

    Ca. 1915

    Location:
    Scotland Neck, Halifax County
    Street Address:

    Scotland Neck, NC

    Status:

    Unknown

    Type:

    Commercial

    Note:

    The Manufacturers’ Record of April 2, 1914, noted that Benton and Moore had planned a building for the Borroughs-Pittman-Wheeler Co., 50 by 106 feet, 3 stories.


  • Cooper Building

    Contributors:
    Charles C. Benton, Sr., architect; Benton and Moore, architects; Solon B. Moore, architect
    Dates:

    1914

    Location:
    Fayetteville, Cumberland County
    Street Address:

    Fayetteville, NC

    Status:

    Unknown

    Type:

    Commercial

    Note:

    Manufacturers’ Record, Feb. 19, 1914.


  • E. B. Ferguson House

    Contributors:
    Charles C. Benton, Sr., architect; Benton and Moore, architects; Solon B. Moore, architect
    Dates:

    1914

    Location:
    Greenville, Pitt County
    Street Address:

    607 W. 4th St., Greenville, NC

    Status:

    Standing

    Type:

    Residential

    Note:

    Manufacturers’ Record, Feb. 5, 1914. This was one of a several houses reported in the journal of that date as designed by this firm, including those for F. J. Forbes and B. J. Pully, for which no further information has been located.


  • Elizabeth City Hospital

    Contributors:
    Charles C. Benton, Sr., architect; Benton and Moore, architects; Solon B. Moore, architect
    Dates:

    1914-1915

    Location:
    Elizabeth City, Pasquotank County
    Street Address:

    1301 Carolina Ave., Elizabeth City, NC

    Status:

    Altered

    Type:

    Health Care

    Images Published In:

    Thomas R. Butchko, On the Shores of the Pasquotank: The Architectural Heritage of Elizabeth City and Pasquotank County, North Carolina (1989).

    Note:

    The Manufacturers’ Record of March 5, 1914, reported that Dr. John Soliba and Benton and Moore, architects, would receive bids to erected the Elizabeth City Hospital, 3 stories, steam heat, tile roof, to cost $25,000. As pictured by Butchko, the edifice was among the most imposing hospital buildings of its day, a massive, generally symmetrical brick building, two stories on a raised basement with a Corinthian portico and dome more typical of a courthouse than a hospital. It was greatly altered later in the 20th century. In 1988 the architects’ original rendering was on display at the Albemarle Hospital. Its present whereabouts is uncertain.


  • F. J. Forbes House

    Contributors:
    Charles C. Benton, Sr., architect; Benton and Moore, architects; Solon B. Moore, architect
    Dates:

    1914

    Location:
    Greenville, Pitt County
    Street Address:

    Greenville, NC

    Status:

    Unknown

    Type:

    Residential

    Note:

    Manufacturers’ Record, Feb. 5, 1914.


  • Fayetteville Infirmary

    Contributors:
    Charles C. Benton, Sr., architect; Benton and Moore, architects; Solon B. Moore, architect
    Variant Name(s):

    Cumberland General Hospital

    Dates:

    1912

    Location:
    Fayetteville, Cumberland County
    Street Address:

    Fayetteville, NC

    Status:

    Unknown

    Type:

    Health Care

    Note:

    The Manufacturers’ Record, June 27, 1912, said that Benton and Moore were preparing plans for a 4-story hospital in Fayetteville. On Aug. 1 the journal said that the Fayetteville Infirmary Co. had awarded a contract to Wilkins Construction Co. of Wilson—a 58 x 88 foot, 3-story facility of “mill construction,” with hot water heat, electric lighting, and a hand-operated elevator, to cost $15,000. It later became Cumberland General Hospital and still later a hotel.


  • Fidelity Mutual Life Building

    Contributors:
    Charles C. Benton, Sr., architect; Benton and Moore, architects; Solon B. Moore, architect
    Dates:

    1926

    Location:
    Wilson, Wilson County
    Street Address:

    100 block Goldsboro St., Wilson, NC

    Status:

    No longer standing

    Type:

    Commercial

    Note:

    The large, columned building, a major work by the firm, was among the most imposing commercial structures in Wilson.


  • Greenville Banking and Trust Building

    Contributors:
    Charles C. Benton, Sr., architect; Benton and Moore, architects; Solon B. Moore, architect
    Dates:

    Ca. 1910

    Location:
    Greenville, Pitt County
    Street Address:

    471 S. Evans St., Greenville, NC

    Status:

    Altered

    Type:

    Commercial

    Note:

    The Manufacturers’ Record of Jan. 2, 1913, reported that the Greenville Banking and Trust would erect a bank building from plans by Benton and Moore.


  • Hassell-James Building

    Contributors:
    Charles C. Benton, Sr., architect; Benton and Moore, architects; Solon B. Moore, architect
    Variant Name(s):

    James and Hassell Office Building

    Dates:

    1914

    Location:
    Greenville, Pitt County
    Street Address:

    105 W. 3rd St., Greenville, NC

    Status:

    Standing

    Type:

    Commercial

    Note:

    Manufacturers’ Record, Feb. 5, 1914.


  • Mercy Hospital

    Contributors:
    Charles C. Benton, Sr., architect; Benton and Moore, architects; Solon B. Moore, architect
    Variant Name(s):

    Wilson Hospital and Tubercular Home

    Dates:

    1912-1913

    Location:
    Wilson, Wilson County
    Street Address:

    504 E. Green St., Wilson, NC

    Status:

    Standing

    Type:

    Health Care

    Note:

    The Manufacturers’ Record, Jan. 1, 1912, reported that F. S. Hargraves, secretary of a company interested in building a hospital, had plans from Benton and Moore for a hospital 47 by 80, mill construction, electric lights, slate roof, steam heat, to cost $8,000. Built by Dr. Hargraves to serve black patients, the brick building with Doric portico was soon named Mercy Hospital. After years of being endangered, it has been rehabilitated for a new use.


  • Moore-Herring Hospital

    Contributors:
    Charles C. Benton, Sr., architect; Benton and Moore, architects; Solon B. Moore, architect
    Dates:

    1914

    Location:
    Wilson, Wilson County
    Street Address:

    SW corner of Douglas St. and Greene St., Wilson, NC

    Status:

    No longer standing

    Type:

    Health Care

    Note:

    The postcard view of the hospital features a rare example of a drawing signed by Benton and Moore.


  • Rainey Hospital

    Contributors:
    Charles C. Benton, Sr., architect; Benton and Moore, architects; Solon B. Moore, architect
    Variant Name(s):

    Alamance General Hospital

    Dates:

    1915-1916

    Location:
    Burlington, Alamance County
    Street Address:

    Rainey St., Burlington, NC

    Status:

    Altered

    Type:

    Health Care

    Images Published In:

    Don Bolden, Burlington (2009).

    Note:

    The Manufacturers’ Record of Jan. 14, 1915, reported that Benton and Moore of Wilson were architects for a hospital to be erected in Burlington, 75 x 80 feet, electric elevator, to cost $20,000. Sponsored by Dr. Rainey Parker and known as the Rainey Hospital, it is similar to but somewhat simpler than the Elizabeth City hospital. Later known as Alamance General Hospital and succeeded in the mid-20th century by a new facility, the large neoclassical building has been converted to a new use and has been altered with the addition of large wings.


  • St. John's African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church

    Contributors:
    John Barnes, brickmason; Charles C. Benton, Sr., architect; Benton and Moore, architects; Solon B. Moore, architect
    Dates:

    1914-1915

    Location:
    Wilson, Wilson County
    Street Address:

    119 S. Pender St., Wilson, NC

    Status:

    Standing

    Type:

    Religious

    Images Published In:

    Kate Ohno and Robert C. Bainbridge, Wilson, North Carolina, Historic Buildings Inventory (1980).

    Note:

    The Manufacturers’ Record, of Feb. 5, 1914, reported that the firm had produced plans for an African Methodist Episcopal Church Building, 60 x 75 feet, $15,000. The handsome Gothic Revival church was erected in 1915 by local brickmason John Barnes.


  • W. E. Pace House

    Contributors:
    Charles C. Benton, Sr., architect; Benton and Moore, architects; Solon B. Moore, architect
    Dates:

    1914

    Location:
    Wilson, Wilson County
    Street Address:

    Wilson, NC

    Status:

    Unknown

    Type:

    Residential

    Note:

    The Manufacturers’ Record, of April 2, 1914, noted that Benton and Moore had planned a brick veneered house for W. E. Pace.


  • W. L. Best House

    Contributors:
    Charles C. Benton, Sr., architect; Benton and Moore, architects; Solon B. Moore, architect
    Dates:

    1914

    Location:
    Greenville, Pitt County
    Street Address:

    537 Evans St., Greenville, NC

    Status:

    No longer standing

    Type:

    Residential

    Note:

    Manufacturers’ Record, Feb. 5, 1914.


  • Wilson Hotel

    Contributors:
    Charles C. Benton, Sr., architect; Benton and Moore, architects; Solon B. Moore, architect
    Dates:

    1912

    Location:
    Wilson, Wilson County
    Street Address:

    Wilson, NC

    Status:

    Unknown

    Type:

    Commercial

    Note:

    The Manufacturers’ Record of June 27, 1912, reported that the Wilson Hotel Company had plans by Benton and Moore for a hotel with electric elevator and asbestos roof, to cost $45,000. It is not clear whether it was built or what name it was known by.


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