Goldsboro on list of historical bargains
By Anessa Myers
Published in News on July 1, 2008 1:46 PM
Goldsboro is listed on the This Old House Web site as one of the best places in the country to find an older home ready for refurbishing.
A story ran in the magazine several months ago featuring the Molly Smith Thompson House on Virginia Street, and since then the magazine has taken special notice of the efforts being made to bring Goldsboro back to its glory days.
The city is listed as No. 10 out of the 16 best places to find a bargain home for fixing up.
"The city of Goldsboro is hell-bent on making a comeback," the Web site says. "For the past two years, the city, the Downtown Goldsboro Development Corp. (DGDC), and Preservation North Carolina (PNC) have been buying up houses in an effort to rebuild the area and increase owner-occupancy. So far, 17 fine old homes have been snatched; a dozen or so more are still up for grabs. The DGDC homes are located blocks from downtown Goldsboro's lively mix of restaurants, taverns, and theaters, as well as the site of a new recreation center (with swimming pool), set to open next year. Goldsboro, located 55 miles east of Raleigh near the 90-foot cliffs of the Neuse River, is the governmental seat of Wayne County and home to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base."
DGDC Promotions Coordinator Lara Landers said that the publicity for Goldsboro is a "huge plus."
"The city is moving into upward dynamics, and it's wonderful," she said. "And people around the rest of the country are noticing that, too. We have people that come here from Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia. We even have people from Vancouver. These people are not only buying houses -- they are buying the city itself."
As for the houses, the site says that Queen Annes, Victorians and Italianates are all available in the city, ranging in size from 1,100 to 6,400 square feet.
The site also touts the prices of the homes available.
"DGDC homes are priced to sell, at $19,000 to $45,000," the site says.
The site asks the rhetorical question, "Why Buy Now?", and the site's reply is, "Good, cheap historical housing for something close to pocket change. Need we say more?"
Also on the list of places to find an old house at a bargain are Selma, Ala.; Walker Park, Fayetteville, Ark.; Washington, Ga.; Galena, Ill.; Madison, Ind.; Sherman Hill, Des Moines, Iowa; Eastport, Maine; Dayton's Bluff, St. Paul, Minn.; Near South, Lincoln, Neb.; Cathedral District, Bismarck, N.D.; Brady Heights, Tulsa, Okla.; Albany, Ore.; Centre Park Historic District, Reading, Pa.; Hampton Heights Historic District, Spartanburg, S.C.; and Central Bench Historic District, Ogden, Utah.
The Web site for This Old House is www.thisoldhouse.com