Facade	Right Oblique	Outbuilding Large Barn	Outbuilding Small Barn	Facade, undated
Facade, ca. 1920

The Adam Ivy house is an example of mid-nineteenth century vernacular Greek Revival architecture with early twentieth century additions. The house was built ca. 1849-1850 by Ivy and replaced an earlier log cabin on the property. According to tradition, Ivy’s second wife helped finance the house with proceeds from the sale of gold dust. Ivy founded two Methodist churches in Lancaster County in the first half of the nineteenth century. Ivy also served as president of the Indian Lands Bible Society. His other interests included his farm, which included over 1,600 acres when this house was built; service as an agent to the Catawba Indians; a partnership in Turkey Point Merchant Mills, and a flour and grist mill later known as the Ivy Mill Place. Ivy lived here until he moved to Florida in the 1880s. He sold the house to James D. Nisbet, a prominent area physician and the son of his stepdaughter Mary Jane Nisbet, in February 1888. While Nisbett practiced medicine for nearly forty years in New York City his mother and a brother lived in the house. The additions and renovations took place around 1920, before Nisbet retired and returned to the house in 1923. After his retirement, Nisbet became a “gentleman farmer” and operated the property as a working farm. The home’s outbuildings, large and small barns near the house, date from this period. They are significant as intact examples of agricultural buildings built after ca.1920, when farmers began to diversity and end their long reliance on cotton as their major product. Listed in the National Register September 4, 1990.

View the complete text of the nomination form for this National Register property. In addition, the Historic Resources of Lancaster County, ca. 1745-ca. 1940 includes historical background information for this and other related National Register properties.

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