Green Level, Wake County, North Carolina

Template:Short description Template:For Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox NRHP Green Level is an unincorporated community in southwestern Wake County, North Carolina, United States.<ref name="nrhpinv" /> It was founded Template:Circa and is one of the best preserved crossroads communities in the county.<ref name="nrhpinv" /> Although historically connected to the town of Apex, Green Level now lies within the municipal jurisdiction of the town of Cary.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>

History

The community started as a crossroads along the stage route between Raleigh and Pittsboro in the first half of the 19th century.<ref name="nris" /> It formed where the stage route crossed the Holly Springs to Hillsborough Road.<ref name="nrhpinv" /> The community was literally named because it was "green" and "level".<ref name="nrhpinv" /> Green Level was a resting spot for the stagecoach and also became a social and commercial hub for people who lived several miles out in the surrounding countryside.<ref name="nrhpinv" /> Families living in the area included Council, Ferrell, Mills, Upchurch, Utley, and Yates.<ref name="nrhpinv" />

A post office was established in Green Level in 1847. Its postmasters included Thomas S. Johnson, Sidney W. Mitchell, Golden H. Upchurch, James H. Upchurch, and Thomas J. Utley.<ref name="nrhpinv" /> Its post office closed in 1888.<ref name="nrhpinv" />

Green Level started growing after the Civil War and included a Baptist church, two grist and sawmills, a Masonic Lodge (founded in 1867), two schools, and seven stores by the early 1870s.<ref name="nris" /><ref name="nrhpinv" /> The church was founded in 1870 by Rev. Matthew Ferrell and was originally known as the Providence Baptist Church but was later renamed Green Level Baptist Church in 1871.<ref name="nrhpinv" />

Green Level continued to function as a commercial center through the early 20th century, important to the local bright-leaf tobacco farmers.<ref name="nris" /> This tobacco was a lucrative cash crop that grew especially well in Western Wake County because of its rich Triassic soils.<ref name="nrhpinv" /> However, with the arrival of the railroad and the automobile, the stage route and local community center was no longer as significant.<ref name="nrhpinv" /> Although Green Level began declining in the mid-20th century, its church and Masonic Lodge continued to be active.<ref name="nrhpinv" /> In the later part of the 20th century, the community became part of in an area of Wake County that was suburbanizing with commuters.<ref name="nrhpinv" />

Green Level Historic District

The core of the community was designated the Green Level Historic District in 2001.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="nris" /> This national historic district encompasses some Template:Convertthat includes 31 contributing buildings, one contributing site and four contributing structures in the crossroads community of Green Level.<ref name="nrhpinv" /><ref name=":0" /> It also includes a cemetery.<ref name="nrhpinv" /> Its boundaries are the intersection of Green Level Church Road and Green Level West Road, and Green Level Church Road north for approximately Template:Convert.<ref name=":0" />

The district developed sometime during the period between roughly 1890 and 1945 and includes notable examples of Colonial Revival and Gothic Revival, style architecture.<ref name=":0" /> One of the central buildings of the community is Green Level Baptist Church (1907), located near the crossroads of Green Level Church Road and Green Level West Road.<ref name="nrhpinv" /> It features Gothic Revival details and is one of the best-preserved country churches in Wake County.<ref name="nrhpinv" />

Other notable buildings include the Green Level Community Store (1945), A. C. and Helon Council House (late 19th century), the Vick and Mattie Council House. (Template:Circa), and the Alious H. and Daisey Mills Farm and Store (1916).<ref name="nrhpinv">Template:Cite web</ref> The historic district also includes the. M. and Vallaria Council Farm, a well-preserved tobacco farm complex.<ref name="nrhpinv" /> Its National Register application form notes, "The district as a whole remains remarkably intact, retaining integrity of setting, location, design, materials, feeling, and association."<ref name="nrhpinv" />

External links

• Green Level Historic District (Waymarking.com)
• Cary’s Heritage: Green Level Baptist Church (Cary Citizen)