Page 13 - Robeson Living Fall 2020

railroad buildings to house businesses. Lost Courthouses

Flora MacDonald College was the result of a movement in the
late 1800s to provide higher education for women. The Fayette-
ville Presbytery decided to establish a seminary for girls some-
where in the area. Red Springs came forward with the promise
of $2500, four acres of land, and forty students, if the school
was located there. The Red Springs Seminary opened in 1896
and in 1903 the name was to Southern Presbyterian College and
Conservatory of Music. In 1916 an effort to honor the memory of
Scottish heroine Flora MacDonald the name was changed once
again. In 1961 it merged with Flora McDonald College merged
with Presbyterian Junior College to form St. Andrews Pres-
byterian College and moved to Laurinburg. In the years since
the building has housed Vardell College, Robeson County Day
School, Flora MacDonald Academy and is currently home to
Highland Academy. Considerable damage was done to the main
building by a 1984 tornado. The town citizens and alumni have The snow-covered ground of the 1848 courthouse
worked tirelessly to on the restoration of the building and Dr.
Vardell’s beautiful gardens.

Riverwood Home
Lumberton’s historic Riverwood was built in 1873 by Confed-
erate Colonel Alfred Rowland and his wife Susan Blount. The
lawyer is the namesake of the Town of Rowland and served in
the North Carolina House of Representatives. The large white
two-story is built in the transitional Greek Revival/Italianate
Style. The home was a double-tier, pedimented porch features
balustrades, slightly tapered square posts with molded caps, and
a wide paneled frieze on both levels. Dick and Lenore Taylor
have carefully maintained the historic home with little alteration
since it became home in 1961.

Proctor Law Office A beautiful color postcard of the 1909 courthouse
Lumberton’s oldest building, the Proctor Law Office, is owned
by Historic Robeson. The lot was owned by Lumberton found- All four of the county courthouses have been located in the center
er Jacob Rhodes and after his death in 1822 it inherited by his of downtown Lumberton on land given by General John Willis
son, Dr. Richard Clinton Rhodes. It is thought that the building in 1787. The first building was a log residence that served the
was the home of the Rhodes before they moved to Arkansas. Dr. county for 60 years. The second Robeson County Courthouse was
Rhodes’s widow, Susan Davis Rhodes, sold the property on De- built in 1848 to replace the original courthouse which had become
cember 9, 1869 to Edward Knox Proctor. The deed referred to expensive to maintain and repair. An advertisement appeared in
the property containing the building known as “the Brick Store”. a Fayetteville newspaper asking for bids to construct a two-story
brick courthouse on the style of the new Richmond County court-
From the time Proctor purchased the building until the 1930s it house. The paper later reported “the new courthouse is finished
served as law offices for Proctor, Lawrence and McIntyre. The and is a handsome building and probably larger than any other in
name of the firm changed over the years as lawyers joined and the circuit, but is not as convenient as some we have seen … we
left the firm. Lumberton’s first telephone and water works are understand that it cost $7,500”.
said to have been installed on the lot in 1893. After the late 1930s
the building was used for various commercial establishments. It George Alfred Townsend thought to be the youngest war corre-
was purchased from the Proctor heirs in 1966 by Owen Clinton spondent during the American Civil War visited Robeson County
Norment. Historic Robeson acquired the building in 1975. Many in 1872. His publication, The Swamp Outlaw, about Henry Berry
were responsible for the restoration of the building including the Lowry and his gang was published later that year. His writing
Lumberton Junior Woman’s Club. The iron fence and fountain contains a great description of Lumberton and the courthouse:
are from the former Lumberton home of Governor Angus Wilton The Court House is built of brick, with a frame pediment above
McLean and Margaret French McLean and were donated by their the eaves in the gable end, and the court room in the second story
heirs. The mansion stood behind the courthouse. is covered with sawdust to keep the peace while Judge Clarke,

Robeson Living ~ Fall 2020 Page 13