“Because of both its historical associations and its architectural distinction, the William Lindsey House is a pivotal building in the Reidsville Historic District.”
— National Register nomination for the Reidsville Historic District
The Lindsey House is as impressive inside as it is from the street. And, being in one of the Triad’s smaller cities, the $434,900 price ($83 per square foot) is probably, say, a third of what it might be in Greensboro or Winston-Salem.
Interestingly, the towering columns out front weren’t an original feature. “Early in the 20th century, a new porch was constructed across this facade, in the Neo-Classical Revival style,” the NRHP nomination says. “It consists of a one-story, full-facade porch supported by corinthian columns which are repeated in monumental fashion in the central projecting two-story pedimented portico.” The original porch was apparently wide enough only to span the entrance.
308 S. Main Street, Reidsville, Rockingham County
The William Lindsey House
- $434,900
- 5 bedrooms, 3 1/2 bathrooms, 5,205 square feet, 0.91 acre
- Price/square foot: $83
- Built in 1870
- Listed April 5, 2021
- Last sale: $322,000, August 2002
- Neighborhood: Reidsville Historic District
- Listing: “Has cottage on property with 1 Bedroom, 1 Bath, living area. Spa building 30′ x 19’8” Michael Phelps pool [apparently inside the spa], sauna, 1 full baths. 2-car garage and a 1-car garage.”
- The vacant lot to the right of the property belongs to St. Thomas Episcopal Church, around the corner on Lindsey Street.
- The house next door is one of the Piedmont’s finest Painted Ladies, 312 S. Main, the Tallulah A. Richardson House.
- The date of the house in county records is 1848, before William Lindsey came to Reidsville. The district’s National Register nomination gives “ca. 1870,” which seems more likely, given the context the document provides.
- District NRHP nomination: The house is “a two-story, single-pile brick Italianate dwelling with a three-bay facade, one-story bays on the side elevations, and a one-story brick ell spanning the rear of the main section. The hip-roofed house features elaborate Italianate trim, including deep paneled and bracketed eaves, decorative hoods over slender paired windows on the second floor, segmental arched window and door openings on the first, and paneled interior chimneys.”
- “William Lindsey (1829-1889) is believed to have moved to this area of Rockingham County from Virginia in 1852 and opened a tobacco factory in the late 1850s …. In the early 1880s, he built a large brick factory on the west side of N.W. Market St., where he produced the following brands: “Johnnie Reb,” “Our Statesman,” “Edna Lindsey,” “Lindsey’s Leader,” and “Our Level Best.” In partnership with H.K. Reid, he operated a general store, and he was a founder of many local businesses. Lindsey owned several hundred acres of land in the new town of Reidsville, and his name appears on many land transactions as the town grew.
- “He was married to Sarah Holderby [1833-1893], daughter of Joseph Holderby [1803-1875], who was prominent in the early development of Reidsville. The Lindseys first lived in the early 19th century home of Reuben Reid (demolished) which was at this location until they built a new home and moved the earlier house to a site on nearby Lindsey Street. Occupied for many years by the Lindseys’ daughter, Edna [1868-1961], and her husband, tobacconist Eugene Watt [1868-1941], the house [remained in August 1986] in the Lindsey family, occupied by his granddaughter, Sarah Watt [1901-1990] and her husband, William C. Stokes [1900-1986].”
- Bonus Reidsville history: Reuben Reid and his wife, Elizabeth Williams Settle, founded the town. In May 1814, they moved to a 700-acre farm in the area. In addition to farming, he opened a store and an inn. In his spare time he served as a constable and justice of the peace.
- The name Reidsville appeared on a post office they secured in 1829. Their eldest child, David Settle Reid, then 16, was the first postmaster. It was his first step toward becoming “the father of the modern Democratic Party” in North Carolina. He served as a state senator, militia commander, member of Congress, two-term governor and U.S. senator. After the war he took a prominent stand against the Ku Klux Klan.
- H.K. Reid, William Lindsey’s business partner, was one of David’s younger brothers.
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