Chatham County is fortunate that its architectural heritage has been documented and at least some of its architectural treasures preserved.  Among the sources of information about Chatham’s architectural heritage are:

The Architectural Heritage of Chatham County, North Carolina was published in 1991 by the Chatham County Historic Architecture Committee and continues to be distributed by the Chatham County Historical Association. The book is based on intensive research conducted in the 1970s and early-1908s that documented more than 500 historic sites in the county. Copies of The Architectural Heritage of Chatham County, North Carolina are available from the Chatham County Historical Association—for sale in the Museum Gift Shop and online. Copies are also available in Chatham County libraries.

Architectural Update 2019-2021, here on our website, reports the results-to-date of the work of CCHA volunteer Kimberly Steiner, who has photographed and documented historic structures in the Bynum community and in Williams and New Hope Townships. This information supplements that in the Architectural Heritage publication, which is now more than 30 years old. Some of the structures the book describes are now gone; others have deteriorated and some have been restored. Sill others were missed in the original survey. The pandemic has interfered with Kimberly's update work but she has recently added inventories of Baldwin and Center Townships and intends to add Pittsboro when conditions allow. 

Links to National Register Nomination Forms for Chatham County provides links to documents describing more than 50 properties in Chatham County that have been listed in the National Register of Historic Places. These properties are documented in nomination forms, which provide an architectural description and historical background, as well as photographs.

Descriptions of Chatham's National Register Historic Districts and links to the completed nomination forms are also available here on our website.

Research articles about some of Chatham's architectural treasures can be found on our website.

Help CCHA preserve Chatham’s architectural heritage. Please share your photographs and memories of Chatham sites and structures. Take photos of houses, barns, other structures for our collection, or share your old photos of structures to document their history. Contact us at Preservation@chathamhistory.org