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Maple Grove Historical Museum |
Built in 1883 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this restored Italianate style house features authentic Victorian furnishings.
Museum self-guided tour Hours:
Monday through Friday 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM.
(guided tours by appointment only) |
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Built in 1883 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this restored Italianate style house features authentic Victorian furnishings.
Museum and self-guided tour Hours:
Monday through Friday 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM.
guided tours by appointment only) |
Maple Grove (1875/1883) was the home of Adolphus Lafayette Shuford and his family, and is one of the oldest remaining houses in Hickory. It is a simple but handsome representation of the Italianate style. A.L. Shuford was a prominent early citizen of Hickory. When in 1863 the first attempt was made to incorporate the village of Hickory Tavern, Shuford was one of the six founding commissioners. He was also the first agent in Hickory of the Western North Carolina Railroad, and he played an important role in the founding of Claremont College. Shuford is credited with having imported the first Jersey cattle to Catawba County. In the early 1870's Shuford began acquiring acreage north of the town of Hickory in order to begin a dairy. On the farm Shuford began building the nucleus of his Jersey herd and a house large enough to accommodate his wife and guests. With the growth of Hickory, Shuford's house became part of an increasingly urban area. (It is now part of the Claremont Historic District.) After A. L. Shuford's death in 1885, members of his immediate family occupied the house until 1912, when it was sold to D. H Boyd. Around 1970 Mrs. Wade H. Shuford, widow of one of Adolphus Shuford's sons, donated funds to the Hickory Landmarks Society for purchase of the property, thus ensuring its preservation. Maple Grove is a two-story frame house with weather-board siding, a pedimented-gable roof, gable-end brick chimneys, a three-bay facade, and a two-story rear ell. One of the most distinctive features of the house is its two-tier front porch with paired chamfered posts, bracketed cornices, and decorative sawn work balustrades. The main body of the house has a center-hall plan with simple detailing. One of the most striking interior features is the closed-string stairs with its heavy chamfered and molded newel and unusual sawn work balustrade reminiscent of the front porch balustrades. In 1973 it was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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