Simpson, Herbert Woodley (1870-1945)
Birthplace:
New Bern, North Carolina, USA
Residences:
- New Bern, North Carolina
- Norfolk, Virginia
Trades:
- Architect
Building Types:
Styles & Forms:
Colonial Revival; Gothic Revival; Queen Anne; Romanesque Revival
Herbert Woodley Simpson (January 19, 1870-October 21, 1945) was a New Bern-born architect who practiced extensively in that city and elsewhere in eastern North Carolina. From the 1890s through the 1920s, he designed most of New Bern’s principal edifices, and many others in the region. He was among the first generation of native-born, resident architects to practice in the state, and for many years he was one of the few architects in New Bern or eastern North Carolina outside of Wilmington.
Herbert Woodley Simpson was the son of John Archibald Simpson, a New Bern builder and undertaker, and Mary Higgins Simpson. No information has been found about Herbert’s early education, but he probably attended local schools. He apparently did not enroll in an academic architectural curriculum but followed a longstanding practice of studying with an established architect. In August 1888 he was accepted for a year of study with Baltimore architect W. Claude Frederick, with whom he studied from October 1888 to October 1889, and in March 1890 he received a recommendation from him.
Simpson soon returned to New Bern, where he probably assisted his father in his building business but began to establish himself as an architect. His first known project is the modest Queen Anne style John R.B. Carraway House (ca. 1890-1893), noted as Simpson’s design in the November 29, 1890, Manufacturers’ Record, confirming the family tradition of Simpson’s authorship. (This was the lifelong home of noted New Bern historian and advocate for Tryon Palace, Gertrude Carraway.) Simpson followed this with the Queen Anne style Christ Church Rectory (ca. 1893), and other similar residences. In 1896 he advertised in the local newspaper, “plans prepared at short notice.”
Fortunately for young Simpson, New Bern was undergoing a building boom spurred by the local timber industry and other manufacturing. Lumber magnates wanted to build the most impressive residences and commercial buildings money could buy, and as the principal resident architect, Simpson was well placed to plan them. He is credited with the design of almost every major structure built in New Bern in the first two decades of the 20th century. A versatile designer, he excelled in the Queen Anne and neoclassical revival styles, and often combined the two. He especially favored the Southern Colonial residential style with massive porticoes. He also employed the Romanesque and Gothic Revival styles for church designs. He displayed a penchant for dramatic forms both in overall massing of buildings and forceful details.
Four key religious buildings in New Bern demonstrate Simpson’s range. For one of the city’s largest congregations, he planned Centenary Methodist Church (1904) in collaboration with New York architect Charles Granville Jones, producing a massive tan brick edifice in eclectic Romanesque Revival style, with a complex form and roofline dramatizing the corner location. Like many other Protestant churches of the day, the church centers on a large auditorium with radiating pews. For St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church (1910-1912), home of the city’s leading black Episcopal congregation, Simpson designed a strongly composed red brick building in Gothic Revival style with a massive tower and broad gables, likewise accentuating a corner site. Simpson also planned two smaller, temple-form houses of worship for the small First Church of Christ, Scientist (1907) and Temple Chester B’nai Sholem (1908), differentiating them with an Ionic portico for the Christian Science church and a Corinthian one for the Temple. Several miles away, in Greenville, Simpson planned Jarvis Memorial Methodist Church (1904-1907) in a towered, Romanesque style with auditorium plan akin to Centenary church. His principal civic building, the Carteret County Courthouse (1907) in Beaufort, displayed his favorite neoclassical mode with tall porticoes and a dome. Simpson also encompassed many other types of buildings. In New Bern he planned the Athens Theatre (1911), featuring two large arched openings and an ornate, curved façade parapet, and in Kinston and Rocky Mount he designed handsome corner banks with classical detailing. One of the most distinctive designs attributed to him—which is also credited to William P. Rose—is the Goldsboro City Hall (1902), a small but bold civic building featuring a portico, dome, and towering figures of Blind Justice and Liberty.
Simpson is probably best known for his Colonial Revival residences in New Bern and elsewhere. Among his early clients was the Blades family of the regional lumbering business. In the William B. Blades House (1903) he incorporated the neoclassical columns, pediments, and modillions of the Colonial Revival into a towered corner residence of Queen Anne massing. In this richly detailed home of a lumber baron, Simpson copied the Federal style motifs of New Bern’s early 19th century architecture in the interior woodwork, thus creating a local rendition of the Colonial Revival. Simpson’s most spectacular residence (now lost) was the James B. Blades House (1913), a granite and yellow brick mansion “of colonial style” and “one of the most imposing mansions in the state,” according to the New Bern Sun of May 2, 1913. It had a towering portico in Corinthian order, overlapping matching 1-story porches. In addition to new residences in this style, Simpson also accommodated clients who wanted substantial older houses remade in the new image. At the Coor-Bishop House, a fine 18th century Georgian dwelling, and at the J.A. Jones Residence (Hughes-Jones House), a striking antebellum residence of crenellated Gothic style, he transformed existing houses into columned Southern Colonial mansions. For William Blades’s daughter, Ivy Blades Robinson, who married another lumberman and settled in Elizabeth City, Simpson designed one of that city’s grandest residences, the Charles O. Robinson House (1913) in full-blown Southern Colonial style akin to the James B. Blades House. Simpson also planned more restrained versions of the Queen Anne-Colonial Revival style, such as the Walter Duffy House (ca. 1905) in New Bern, and he worked in other residential styles, such as the brick and shingled William Dunn House (1912) and others in New Bern.
Shortly after establishing his professional practice, Simpson married Nettie Tolson on April 21, 1897. They had two children, John Arch Simpson (January 14, 1898-January 1968) and Helen Elizabeth Simpson (February 22, 1890-May 1968). Simpson participated in the early development of the profession in North Carolina. He was one of the architects who met on September 16, 1913, in Greensboro, to form the North Carolina chapter of the American Institute of Architects (see Glenn Brown); there were five “institute members”—meaning members of the national AIA—and seven “chapter members,” including Simpson. He was also a member of the Methodist church and the Masonic order, and accomplished architectural projects for both groups in New Bern—a new church for the Methodists, and an enlargement and installation of a theater in St. John’s Masonic Lodge and Theatre. In addition to the projects included in the building list, Simpson probably designed many other buildings. A few are noted in the Manufacturers’ Record, such as a hotel for J. B. Blades (MR 10/18/1906) in New Bern; a hotel for the Beaufort Hotel Company (MR 8/27/1908) in Beaufort; and a hotel for Charles L. Abernathy (MR 8/5/1909) in Beaufort.
Simpson left New Bern in 1914 for Norfolk, Virginia, where he continued his practice until his death and still designed some buildings for North Carolina clients. In the 1920s, John Arch Simpson joined his father’s practice, which became Herbert W. Simpson and Son, and they worked together until the elder man’s death in 1945. Most of the buildings planned by the partnership were in the Norfolk area. Herbert Woodley Simpson was buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery in New Bern. A photographic portrait of him exists in the Herbert Woodley Simpson Collection, North Carolina State Archives. That collection also contains an extensive list of his works and drawings and other images of many of them.
Note: There are two principal collections of Simpson’s drawings and photographs of his projects. One is held by the New Bern Historical Society and has been posted on the website of the Kellenberger Room at the New Bern-Craven County Public Library. It may be viewed at http://newbern.cpclib.org/digital/nbhs/simpson/index.htm
The other is the Herbert B. Simpson Collection at the North Carolina State Archives, Archives and History. This set of images will be digitized and posted in an ongoing project, “Beaux Arts to Modernism,” by the NCSU Libraries’ Special Collections Research Center in collaboration with Archives and History.
Several projects are represented by either drawings or photographs (or both) in Simpson’s “Portfolio” and/or in the Herbert W. Simpson Collection at Archives and History for which information about location and status is incomplete. Some of these were built and destroyed and their locations are not ascertained. Some were probably not built. For others, their fate is still unlearned. If more information is located for these, they will be added to the building list. Beaufort County: Aurora, A. B. Styron House. Carteret County: Morehead City, J. B. Blades Summer House. Craven County: New Bern Graded School No. 3; E. H. Meadows House; W. A. Mitchell House. Edgecombe County: Battleboro, M. C. Braswell House. Halifax County: Scotland Neck, A. McDowell House. Lenoir County: Kinston, Henry Tull House; J. W. Braxton House, W. G. Jones House; and Lagrange, Lagrange Graded School.
- Catherine W. Bishir and Michael T. Southern, A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Eastern North Carolina (1996).
- M. Ruth Little, Coastal Plain and Fancy: The Historic Architecture of Lenoir County and Kinston, North Carolina (1998).
- Michelle Ann Michael, “The Rise of the Regional Architect in North Carolina as Seen Through the Manufacturers’ Record, 1890-1910,” M.H.P. thesis, University of Georgia (1994).
- St. Paul’s Catholic Church Records, New Bern, North Carolina.
- Peter B. Sandbeck, The Historic Architecture of New Bern and Craven County, North Carolina (1988).
- Janet K. Seapker, “Herbert Woodley Simpson,” in William S. Powell, ed., Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, 5 (1994).
- Janet K. Seapker, personal contacts with Charlotte E. (Mrs. John Arch) Simpson, West Pittstown, Pennsylvania, Nov. 30, 1971-Sept. 15, 1975, correspondence in files of Janet K. Seapker, Wilmington, North Carolina.
- Herbert Woodley Simpson Collection, North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, North Carolina.
- Simpson Scrapbook, private collection, New Bern, North Carolina, Kellenberger Room website, New Bern-Craven County Public Library, http://newbern.cpclib.org/digital/nbhs/simpson/index.htm.
Athens Theatre
Contributors:Herbert W. Simpson, architectDates:1911
Location:New Bern, Craven CountyStreet Address:414 Pollock St., New Bern, NC
Status:Altered
Type:Commercial
Images Published In:Peter B. Sandbeck, The Historic Architecture of New Bern and Craven County, North Carolina (1988).
Branch Banking and Trust
Contributors:Herbert W. Simpson, architectVariant Name(s):National Bank of Kinston
Dates:1908
Location:Kinston, Lenoir CountyStreet Address:136 N. Queen St., Kinston, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Commercial
Images Published In:M. Ruth Little, Coastal Plain and Fancy: The Historic Architecture of Lenoir County and Kinston, North Carolina (1998).
Note:The bank was expanded in 1925.
C. S. Hollister House
Contributors:Herbert W. Simpson, architectDates:Ca. 1912 [remodeled]
Location:New Bern, Craven CountyStreet Address:614 Craven St., New Bern, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Residential
Images Published In:Peter B. Sandbeck, The Historic Architecture of New Bern and Craven County, North Carolina (1988).
Carteret County Courthouse
Contributors:Porter and Godwin, contractors; Herbert W. Simpson, architectDates:1907
Location:Beaufort, Carteret CountyStreet Address:Corner of Broad St. and Craven St., Beaufort, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Public
Images Published In:Catherine W. Bishir and Michael T. Southern, A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Eastern North Carolina (1996).
Note:The brick edifice features tall, Corinthian porticoes on two sides and a tall cupola. It is one of Simpson’s principal civic buildings.
Centenary Methodist Church
Contributors:Charles Granville Jones, architect; Herbert W. Simpson, architectDates:1904
Location:New Bern, Craven CountyStreet Address:SE corner Middle St. and New St., New Bern, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Religious
Images Published In:Catherine W. Bishir and Michael T. Southern, A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Eastern North Carolina (1996).
Peter B. Sandbeck, The Historic Architecture of New Bern and Craven County, North Carolina (1988).Note:The large, Romanesque Revival style church in tan brick features a spacious auditorium plan sanctuary.
Charles O. Robinson House
Contributors:Joseph Perry Kramer, builder; Herbert W. Simpson, architectDates:1914
Location:Elizabeth City, Pasquotank CountyStreet Address:201 E. Main St., Elizabeth City, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Residential
Images Published In:Catherine W. Bishir, North Carolina Architecture (1990).
Catherine W. Bishir and Michael T. Southern, A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Eastern North Carolina (1996).
Thomas R. Butchko, On the Shores of the Pasquotank: The Architectural Heritage of Elizabeth City and Pasquotank County, North Carolina (1989).Note:The massive frame house was built for Elizabeth City’s lumber magnate Charles O. Robinson and his wife Ivy Blades Robinson by her father, New Bern’s lumber leader James B. Blades. It is among the state’s most imposing surviving examples of the full-blown “Southern Colonial” style complete with portico, wraparound porches, and lavish classical detailing.
Christ Church Rectory
Contributors:Herbert W. Simpson, architectDates:Ca. 1893
Location:New Bern, Craven CountyStreet Address:300 block Craven St., New Bern, NC
Status:No longer standing
Type:Residential
Images Published In:Peter B. Sandbeck, The Historic Architecture of New Bern and Craven County, North Carolina (1988).
Citizens Saving Bank
Contributors:Herbert W. Simpson, architectDates:Ca. 1900-1910
Location:Kinston, Lenoir CountyStreet Address:201 N. Queen St., Kinston, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Commercial
Images Published In:M. Ruth Little, Coastal Plain and Fancy: The Historic Architecture of Lenoir County and Kinston, North Carolina (1998).
City Hall
Contributors:Porter and Godwin, contractors; Rose and Eaken, supervising architects; William P. Rose, supervising architect; Herbert W. Simpson, architectDates:1902
Location:Goldsboro, Wayne CountyStreet Address:214 N. Center St., Goldsboro, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Public
Images Published In:Catherine W. Bishir and Michael T. Southern, A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Eastern North Carolina (1996).
Note:The Manufacturers’ Record reported on April 3, 1902, that plans for the city hall and market in Goldsboro had been accepted from W. P. Rose, and on July 10, 1902, that a contract had been let for the city hall and market to Porter and Godwin, with Rose and Eaken of Raleigh “architects in charge.” However, the distinctive design has been credited generally to architect Herbert W. Simpson of New Bern.
Claudius E. Foy House
Contributors:Herbert W. Simpson, architectDates:Ca. 1901
Location:New Bern, Craven CountyStreet Address:512 Middle St., New Bern, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Residential
Images Published In:Peter B. Sandbeck, The Historic Architecture of New Bern and Craven County, North Carolina (1988).
Note:The Manufacturers’ Record (Nov. 7, 1901) credits the Foy House to Simpson.
Coor-Bishop House
Contributors:James Coor, attributed builder (ca. 1767-1778); Herbert W. Simpson, architect (1904)Variant Name(s):E. K. Bishop House
Dates:Ca. 1767-1778; 1904 [remodeled]
Location:New Bern, Craven CountyStreet Address:501 E. Front St., New Bern, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Residential
Images Published In:Peter B. Sandbeck, The Historic Architecture of New Bern and Craven County, North Carolina (1988).
Note:Peter Sandbeck notes that Coor bought the property in 1767 for 140 pounds and sold it in 1778 to one Thomas Emery for 3000 pounds, who sold the property in 1798. The 18th century house was overbuilt as an imposing Southern Colonial residence for merchant Edward K. Bishop from designs by New Bern architect Herbert Simpson, but many elements of the original late-Georgian style house survive including the fine stair.
Dunn Building
Contributors:Herbert W. Simpson, architectDates:1924
Location:New Bern, Craven CountyStreet Address:248-250 Craven St., New Bern, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Commercial
Images Published In:Peter B. Sandbeck, The Historic Architecture of New Bern and Craven County, North Carolina (1988).
Note:The neatly detailed, 4-story commercial building was a late work by Simpson’s firm.
F. M. Clarke House
Contributors:Herbert W. Simpson, architectDates:Ca. 1900-1910
Location:Beaufort, Carteret CountyStreet Address:Front St., Beaufort, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Residential
Note:Simpson’s papers include a plan for a Beaufort residence for Clarke, and a photograph of a large Colonial Revival house believed to show the Clarke house. It appears to be the house on Front St. that originally stood near Pollock St. but was moved to make way for the U. S. Post Office.
Fields-Raspberry House
Contributors:Herbert W. Simpson, architectDates:Ca. 1907
Location:Kinston, Lenoir CountyStreet Address:108 Park Ave., Kinston, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Residential
Images Published In:M. Ruth Little, Coastal Plain and Fancy: The Historic Architecture of Lenoir County and Kinston, North Carolina (1998).
First Church of Christ, Scientist
Contributors:Herbert W. Simpson, architectDates:1907
Location:New Bern, Craven CountyStreet Address:406 Middle St., New Bern, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Religious
Images Published In:Peter B. Sandbeck, The Historic Architecture of New Bern and Craven County, North Carolina (1988).
First Presbyterian Church
Contributors:Herbert W. Simpson, architectVariant Name(s):Rocky Mount Presbyterian Church
Dates:Ca. 1900-1910
Location:Rocky Mount, Nash CountyStreet Address:Church St., Rocky Mount, NC
Status:No longer standing
Type:Religious
G. Hoffman Residence
Contributors:Herbert W. Simpson, architectDates:1911
Location:Scotland Neck, Halifax CountyStreet Address:1403 Main St., Scotland Neck, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Residential
Gaston Hotel
Contributors:Herbert W. Simpson, architect (ca. 1900-1910)Dates:Ca. 1850s; ca. 1900-1910
Location:New Bern, Craven CountyStreet Address:300 block S. Front St., New Bern, NC
Status:No longer standing
Type:Commercial
Note:The Gaston Hotel was a landmark of New Bern from the mid-19th century onward; Simpson’s drawings may be for a remodeling.
Goldsboro City Hall
Contributors:Porter and Godwin, contractors; Rose and Eaken, supervising architects; William P. Rose, supervising architect; Herbert W. Simpson, architectDates:1902
Location:Goldsboro, Wayne CountyStreet Address:214 N. Center St., Goldsboro, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Public
Images Published In:Catherine W. Bishir and Michael T. Southern, A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Eastern North Carolina (1996).
Note:The Goldsboro Daily Argus reported on March 26, 1902, that architects from “all over the State” had submitted drawings and explained the advantages of their designs for the Goldsboro City Hall, and the building committee chose W. P. Rose, “whose work was by far the most handsome from an artistic standpoint.” The Manufacturers’ Record reported on April 3, 1902, that plans for the city hall and market in Goldsboro had been accepted from W. P. Rose, and on July 10, 1902, that a contract had been let for the city hall and market to Porter and Godwin, with Rose and Eaken of Raleigh “architects in charge.” The Goldsboro Daily Argus of September 9, 1902, reported that W. P. Rose of Raleigh, “the architect who furnished the plans and specifications for the new City Hall,” had arrived to inspect the work on the building and adjudged that Porter and Godwin were doing the work in a “very satisfactory manner.”
Graded School Building
Contributors:Herbert W. Simpson, architectVariant Name(s):Lewis School
Dates:Ca. 1893
Location:Kinston, Lenoir CountyStreet Address:300 block E. King St., Kinston, NC
Status:No longer standing
Type:Educational
Images Published In:M. Ruth Little, Coastal Plain and Fancy: The Historic Architecture of Lenoir County and Kinston, North Carolina (1998).
H.B. Marks House
Contributors:Herbert W. Simpson, architectDates:Ca. 1912
Location:New Bern, Craven CountyStreet Address:202 Johnson St., New Bern, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Residential
Images Published In:Peter B. Sandbeck, The Historic Architecture of New Bern and Craven County, North Carolina (1988).
Note:The simply detailed 2-story house shows Simpson’s more restrained use of the Colonial Revival mode.
J.A. Jones Residence
Contributors:Hardy B. Lane, Sr., builder (1851-1853); Herbert W. Simpson, architect (ca. 1905)Variant Name(s):Hughes-Jones House
Dates:1851-1853; ca. 1905 [remodeled]
Location:New Bern, Craven CountyStreet Address:500 block, N side of Broad St., New Bern, NC
Status:No longer standing
Type:Residential
Images Published In:Peter B. Sandbeck, The Historic Architecture of New Bern and Craven County, North Carolina (1988).
Note:The brick house (pictured by Sandbeck) was built in castellated Gothic Revival style by Hardy B. Lane, Sr. for Isaac Hughes, one of New Bern’s richest men in the 1850s. In one of the city’s most thorough-going residential remodelings, Herbert Simpson redesigned it as a Colonial Revival residence with tall classical portico. It was demolished in the mid-20th century.
J.R. Moye House
Contributors:Herbert W. Simpson, architectDates:1902-1903
Location:Greenville, Pitt CountyStreet Address:408 W. 5th St., Greenville, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Residential
Images Published In:Michael Cotter, ed., The Architectural Heritage of Greenville, North Carolina (1988).
James B. Blades House
Contributors:Herbert W. Simpson, architectDates:1913
Location:New Bern, Craven CountyStreet Address:300 block, Broad St., New Bern, NC
Status:No longer standing
Type:Residential
Images Published In:Peter B. Sandbeck, The Historic Architecture of New Bern and Craven County, North Carolina (1988).
Note:The James Blades House, in brick with massive Corinthian porticoes, was regarded as one of the finest mansions in the state in its day, and the epitome of Simpson’s Southern Colonial style. It was razed ca. 1967.
Jarvis Hall
Contributors:C. C. Hook, architect; Hook and Rogers, architects; Willard G. Rogers, architect; Herbert W. Simpson, architect; C. V. York, contractorDates:1909
Location:Greenville, Pitt CountyStreet Address:East Carolina University, Greenville, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Educational
Images Published In:Michael Cotter, ed., The Architectural Heritage of Greenville, North Carolina (1988).
Note:Jarvis Hall is one of the most intact of several buildings designed at present East Carolina University by Hook and Rogers and Herbert W. Simpson, typically in red brick with red tile roofs. The college was established in 1907, and these architects designed the earliest part of the campus.
Jarvis Memorial Methodist Church
Contributors:Herbert W. Simpson, architect; C. V. York, contractorDates:1904-1907
Location:Greenville, Pitt CountyStreet Address:510 S. Washington St., Greenville, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Religious
Images Published In:Michael Cotter, ed., The Architectural Heritage of Greenville, North Carolina (1988).
John R. B. Carraway House
Contributors:Herbert W. Simpson, architectDates:Ca. 1890
Location:New Bern, Craven CountyStreet Address:207 Broad St., New Bern, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Residential
Images Published In:Peter B. Sandbeck, The Historic Architecture of New Bern and Craven County, North Carolina (1988).
Note:The Manufacturers’ Record (Nov. 29, 1890) noted that Simpson had planned this house, which confirms longstanding family tradition.
Kinston Graded School
Contributors:Porter and Godwin, contractors; Herbert W. Simpson, architectDates:1902
Location:Kinston, Lenoir CountyStreet Address:E. Lenoir Ave., Kinston, NC
Status:No longer standing
Type:Educational
Note:The graded school of 1902 was one of several Kinston buildings designed by Herbert Woodley Simpson. In 1901, the New Berne Weekly Journal of June 28 noted that Simpson’s drawing of the Kinston Graded School, designed by Simpson, was on display at a local shop window.
Larry I. Moore House
Contributors:Herbert W. Simpson, architectDates:1908
Location:New Bern, Craven CountyStreet Address:511 E. Front St., New Bern, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Residential
Images Published In:Peter B. Sandbeck, The Historic Architecture of New Bern and Craven County, North Carolina (1988).
Masonic Building
Contributors:C. C. Hook, architect; Hook and Rogers, architects; Willard G. Rogers, architect; Herbert W. Simpson, architectDates:1902
Location:Greenville, Pitt CountyStreet Address:Greenville, NC
Status:No longer standing
Type:Fraternal
Images Published In:Michael Cotter, ed., The Architectural Heritage of Greenville, North Carolina (1988).
Masonic Temple Building, Concord Lodge
Contributors:Herbert W. Simpson, architectDates:1908-1910
Location:Tarboro, Edgecombe CountyStreet Address:301 S. Main St., Tarboro, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Fraternal
New Bern Graded School
Contributors:Porter and Godwin, contractors; Herbert W. Simpson, architectDates:1904
Location:New Bern, Craven CountyStreet Address:Hancock St., New Bern, NC
Status:No longer standing
Type:Educational
Note:On June 13, 1904, the Goldsboro Daily Argus reported that Porter was returning to Goldsboro from New Bern where he had a “graded school” project underway. The New Berne Weekly Journal of June 9, 1905, carried a history of the New Bern Graded School for whites, which stated that in 1904 the foundations were laid for an additional building at the school site, which already had two earlier buildings (see Samuel Sloan). The existing buildings had become too crowded. The “modern” building with four rooms, an office, and hallways, cost $10,000 and had its main entrance toward Hancock Street. The New Bern Daily Journal of June 14, 1903, carried a call for bids from contractors and noted that plans and specifications could be obtained from architect Herbert Woodley Simpson. The new building was newly completed in December, 1904 (New Bern Daily Journal, December 3, 1904) and blackboards, window shades newly installed; pictures “taken from the masterpieces of great artists will soon adorn the rooms.”
Pepsi-Cola Factory
Contributors:Herbert W. Simpson, architectDates:1900-1910
Location:New Bern, Craven CountyStreet Address:NW corner Hancock St. and Johnson St., New Bern, NC
Status:No longer standing
Type:Industrial
Note:Simpson designed the 3-story Pepsi-Cola factory building, adjoining a 1-story building that had been part of Bishop’s Mill of the 1850s. Pepsi-Cola was invented by New Bern pharmacist Caleb Bradham.
Planter's Bank
Contributors:Central Carolina Construction Company, contractors; Herbert W. Simpson, architectDates:1906
Location:Rocky Mount, Nash CountyStreet Address:100 S.W. Main St., Rocky Mount, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Commercial
Images Published In:Catherine W. Bishir and Michael T. Southern, A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Eastern North Carolina (1996).
R. Duval Jones House
Contributors:Herbert W. Simpson, architectDates:Ca. 1907
Location:New Bern, Craven CountyStreet Address:505 E. Front St., New Bern, NC
Status:No longer standing
Type:Residential
Images Published In:Peter B. Sandbeck, The Historic Architecture of New Bern and Craven County, North Carolina (1988).
Note:An early photograph shows the irregularly massed Shingle Style residence, which was demolished in 1980.
River Forest Manor
Contributors:Herbert W. Simpson, attributed architectDates:1899-1904
Location:Belhaven, Beaufort CountyStreet Address:E. Main St. at Riverview, Belhaven, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Residential
Images Published In:Catherine W. Bishir and Michael T. Southern, A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Eastern North Carolina (1996).
Note:Although not documented as Simpson’s work, the large Southern Colonial residence, built for John Aaron Wilkinson, president of the Roper Lumber Company, resembles his other houses of the period, and the circumstances of its date, location, and type of client also fit Simpson’s patronage patterns.
Sarahurst
Contributors:S. M. Harrell, contractor; Herbert W. Simpson, architectDates:1902-1904
Location:Kinston, Lenoir CountyStreet Address:1201 N. Queen St., Kinston, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Residential
Images Published In:M. Ruth Little, Coastal Plain and Fancy: The Historic Architecture of Lenoir County and Kinston, North Carolina (1998).
Note:Sarahurst, a Colonial Revival style showplace of Kinston, was built for Daniel T. Edwards and his wife Capitola Grainger.
St. Cyprian's Episcopal Church
Contributors:Herbert W. Simpson, architectDates:1910-1912
Location:New Bern, Craven CountyStreet Address:604 Johnson St., New Bern, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Religious
Images Published In:Catherine W. Bishir and Michael T. Southern, A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Eastern North Carolina (1996).
Peter B. Sandbeck, The Historic Architecture of New Bern and Craven County, North Carolina (1988).Note:St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church, founded by 1866, was one of the earliest if not the earliest African-American Episcopal congregations in the state. The congregation met in a frame building, formerly a Baptist church, on this site until 1910, when construction began on the imposing brick edifice designed by Simpson. The cornerstone reads, “St. Cyprian’s Church, Built 1910, H. S. Simpson, architect.”
St. John's Masonic Lodge and Theater
Contributors:John Dewey, builder (1801-1809); Benjamin C. Good, carpenter for cupola (1801-1809); Herbert W. Simpson, architect (1904)Dates:Ca. 1801-1809; 1904 [remodeled and addition]
Location:New Bern, Craven CountyStreet Address:516 Hancock St., New Bern, NC
Status:Altered
Type:Fraternal
Images Published In:Catherine W. Bishir, North Carolina Architecture (1990).
Peter B. Sandbeck, The Historic Architecture of New Bern and Craven County, North Carolina (1988).Note:Simpson did a remodeling and enlargement for the theater of the lodge, of which he was a member.
Temple Chester B'nai Sholem
Contributors:Herbert W. Simpson, architectDates:1908
Location:New Bern, Craven CountyStreet Address:505 Middle St., New Bern, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Religious
Images Published In:Catherine W. Bishir and Michael T. Southern, A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Eastern North Carolina (1996).
Peter B. Sandbeck, The Historic Architecture of New Bern and Craven County, North Carolina (1988).
Walter Duffy House
Contributors:Herbert W. Simpson, architectDates:Ca. 1905
Location:New Bern, Craven CountyStreet Address:212 New St., New Bern, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Residential
Images Published In:Peter B. Sandbeck, The Historic Architecture of New Bern and Craven County, North Carolina (1988).
Wayne County Courthouse and Jail
Contributors:John E. Becton, contractor (1849-1850); Benjamin Gardner, architect (1849-1850); Herbert W. Simpson, architect (ca. 1900-1910)Dates:1849-1850; ca. 1900-1910
Location:Goldsboro, Wayne CountyStreet Address:Goldsboro, NC
Status:No longer standing
Type:Public
Images Published In:History of Wayne County, North Carolina (1979).
Note:Detailed specifications survive in Wayne County Records, North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh. Herbert Simpson produced drawings for a proposed alteration of the 19th century courthouse, which may not have been executed. The building was demolished in 1914.
William B. Blades House
Contributors:Herbert W. Simpson, architectDates:1903
Location:New Bern, Craven CountyStreet Address:602 Middle St., New Bern, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Residential
Images Published In:Catherine W. Bishir, North Carolina Architecture (1990).
Catherine W. Bishir and Michael T. Southern, A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Eastern North Carolina (1996).
Peter B. Sandbeck, The Historic Architecture of New Bern and Craven County, North Carolina (1988).
William Dunn House
Contributors:Herbert W. Simpson, architectDates:1912
Location:New Bern, Craven CountyStreet Address:1404 National Ave., New Bern, NC
Status:Standing
Type:Residential
Images Published In:Catherine W. Bishir and Michael T. Southern, A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Eastern North Carolina (1996).
Peter B. Sandbeck, The Historic Architecture of New Bern and Craven County, North Carolina (1988).