Oxford Tree-Ring Laboratory - North Carolina


North Carolina

William R. Davie House

William R. Davie House, Halifax, North Carolina (36.331089, -77.592104)


(a) Primary House, Felling Dates: Summer 1781, Winter 1781/2


(b) Secondary Phase (Repairs for Removed Chimneystack), Felling Date: Winter 1800/1


(a) Rafters (1/2) 1781 (C); Studs (0/3); King post (1/1) 1780 (½C); Braces (0/3); Ceiling joist (0/1). (b) Floor joists (2/2) 1800 (C). Site Master 1644-1800 WRDx1 (t =9.61 SUNAx1; 7.67 VAPINE2B; 7.52 CPZ3).


The William R. Davie House is a spacious, two-story, seven-room dwelling built on a side-passage plan. It was originally built with a central interior chimney, which was later removed and replaced by exterior end chimneys. The house was built by William R. Davie, a lawyer originally born in England who became a leading figure in eighteenth-century North Carolina. Davie was a member of the 1787 Constitutional Convention, the 10th governor of North Carolina, and the founder of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.


Dendrochronological analysis has shown that the original structure was built from timbers felled in the summer of 1781 and the winter of 1781/2. The inserted timbers that replaced the space originally occupied by the interior chimney stack were felled in the winter of 1800/1.


Worthington, M J, and Seiter J I, 2011‘The Tree-Ring Dating of the William R. Davie House, Halifax, North Carolina’ unpublished Oxford Tree-Ring Laboratory Report 2013/20.



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Oxford Tree-Ring Laboratory

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Michael Worthington
Jane Seiter, Ph.D

25 E. Montgomery St.
Baltimore, MD 21230

410-929-1520

michael@dendrochronology.com