One house among the six involved with the Department of Housing and Community Development’s (DHCD) housing rehabilitation program in Dillwyn is facing setbacks due to an eligible historic designation the area surrounding the house has. Those locally, however, take issue with the setbacks, questioning whether the house has historical significance.

The town received a grant award amount of $445,400 from the Community Development Block Grants, an increase from the $176,300 initially awarded, to complete the project.

The Commonwealth Regional Council (CRC), which has been assisting the Town of Dillwyn with the housing project, reported on the development during its Dec. 19 meeting.

Deputy Director Todd Fortune spoke about the historical concern. He said the town, CRC and the Department of Historic Resources (DHR) would meet in January to discuss the determination. The historical aspect caused delays in opening bids for the house’s rehabilitation.

The house in question, located at Culbreth Street, is located in a boundary that was determined by the DHR to be eligible for designation as a historic site. The house or boundary has not received this designation.

Fortune said the CRC or DHCD isn’t expected to know anything further until later in January.

Marc Holma, a representative with the DHR’s Richmond office, said that the DHR, in 2010, determined that the Dillwyn Historic District was eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Resources and Virginia Landmarks Register.

“This determination was made after reviewing a Preliminary Information Form (PIF) submitted by the Town of Dillwyn,” Holma said. “Although the PIF contains enough information for us to evaluate the historic district and make a recommendation for inclusion … it is only a preliminary step.”

The nomination stage of the historic designation process, Holma said, includes identifying individual properties within the identified historic district as contributing (historic) or non-contributing (not historic).

The full nomination process was never pursued by the Town, Holma said, meaning that it is not known whether the house on Culbreth Street is a contributing resource or not.

DHR also suggested a period of significance for the historic district as 1879 to 1965.

“Therefore, if the property at … Culbreth Street is located within the recommended boundaries and was constructed between those dates AND if it retains enough of its historic integrity (materials, design, etc.) to convey its architectural and historic character then it may be that the dwelling is contributing to the Dillwyn Historic District and can be considered ‘historic,’” Holma said.

According to the 2010 application provided by the DHR, applicant Julie Dixon of The Rosney Co. Architects described the current Dillwyn Town Hall, the Buckingham Farm Supply building, Ellis Acres Memorial Park, which had been the site of the first African-American secondary school built in Buckingham County, the Buckingham Branch Depot building and the building that operated as the Ransome Brothers store were defined as significant sites.

The Town of Dillwyn, according to the application, represents the typical rural railroad depot town in the South with a well-preserved congregation of buildings and types.

Dillwyn was founded in the early nineteenth century to serve the nearby gold and copper mines and their associates, according to the application. Prior to early 20th century it consisted of little more than post office, boarding house and a small collection of houses.

H.M. White, described as legendary in the application, intervened, purchased 316 acres of property in Dillwyn and opened a lumber business.

The business, White Hall Company, was an integral component to the railroad coming through the area. The Town prospered, according to the application, but suffered two large fires in 1923 and 1928 that resulted in the loss of integral property in the town, including the C&O passenger and freight rail station.

Ellis Acres Memorial Park was named after Stephen J. Ellis, a prominent African-American resident who overcame a resistant board of supervisors to establish the first African-American secondary school in the county, according to the application. After the board denied the project, Ellis was able to, in collaboration with the church community in the county, raise the $3,000 needed to apply for the Rosenwald School project. Ellis pushed for improvements to existing African-American schools, in collaboration with other prominent African-American leaders.

While the town could arguably be a historic site, a local representative is uncertain if the same could be said for the house on Culbreth Street.

Dillwyn Mayor Linda Venable Paige, concerning the historical significance of the house, said she has “no idea” why it was included in the boundary designated as eligible.

“This is why we want them to come up and see,” Paige said concerning the DHR. “We don’t know of any historical value.”

Providing further updates on the project, Fortune said the first two houses in the project were opened for bids, and work is expected to begin on rehabilitating the homes after the new year. Paperwork for the remaining four houses is also expected to be underway after the first of the year, Fortune said