By Miles Layton

EDENTON — A proposed relocation of North Carolina’s oldest known house and a call for more trash and recycling receptacles framed a wide-ranging public comment period Tuesday night, as residents Steve Karl and Susan Inglis addressed the Edenton Town Council with sharply different concerns but a shared focus on the town’s future.

Karl, who lives on East Queen Street near the historic Lane House, urged council members not to support moving the 18th-century structure from its longtime neighborhood, warning that the relocation would diminish the east side of town and disrupt a setting he said fits the building’s character. 

Inglis, speaking as a member of the Mayor’s Task Force on the Environment, asked the council to budget for additional trash and recycling cans downtown, arguing that inadequate infrastructure undermines cleanup efforts and recycling participation.

The comments came as town officials continue planning for Edenton’s America 250 commemoration, which includes a proposal to relocate the Lane House — also known as the 1718 House — from 304 E. Queen St. to West Eden Street. While the move has been discussed publicly, town officials have said the specific site on West Eden Street has not yet been finalized.

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‘We don’t want it to happen’

Karl said that the people he’s talked to don’t want the Lane House moved. During a special meeting on Dec. 22, 2025, Town Council approved a deal that would transfer ownership of a property on West Queen Street from Southern Bank to the Town of Edenton. The deal also approved moving the Lane House, which was given to the Penelope Barker Foundation, from East Queen Street to West Eden Street.

Both homes would be under the care of the Edenton Historical Commission. The not-for-profit group was created by the state but isn’t a state agency. Its mission is “to effect and encourage preservation, restoration, and appropriate presentation of the Town of Edenton and Chowan County, as a historic, educational and aesthetic place, to the benefit of the citizens of the place and state and of visitors.”

Since the council approved the deal, two large crepe myrtle trees in front of the Lane House have been removed.

“It has recently come to my attention that there’s been a rumor that a foundation wants to move the oldest house in North Carolina from the 300 block of East Queen to a place in a parking lot on the other side of West Eden. And talking to almost all of the neighbors and people in that East Eden area, we don’t want it to happen.”

Karl emphasized that the Lane House has been part of the neighborhood for generations, noting that it was relocated once before — from East Water Street — and has stood on East Queen Street for more than a century.

“The house, where it is has been moved to, has been there for over a hundred years,” he said. “It was a small bungalow style house occupied by residents, and until it was started to be taken apart by Mr. Lane, nothing was noticeable about it. Now that it has become noticeable, there are parties that want to move it to the west side of town and create a mini historic district in Edenton, which we don’t want to see.”

Karl argued that the existing setting is appropriate and that moving the house would amount to taking something meaningful from one neighborhood to enhance another.

“It belongs in the neighborhood where it is,” he said. “The houses there are not totally identical, but outside you wouldn’t really notice unless you were an architectural person looking at that type of stuff. The site where it’s at is perfect for what it is.”

He suggested that nearby vacant land could be used to support the site without relocating the structure.

“There’s a large area that used to be a trailer park right across the street,” Karl said. “It could be a park and parking area for it. So instead of removing parking spaces, I really suggest that the council not promote moving the oldest house.”

Karl framed the issue as one of equity between different parts of town.

“It fits the neighborhood and the neighborhood fits it, and I think that it should stay there,” he said. “Most of the neighbors in that area believe the same thing. It is part of our neighborhood. We don’t want to decrease East Eden or East Edenton. We need to improve it as we should all other areas of town. We should not be removing areas that are significant to other areas that are already significant.”

He closed by inviting council members to speak with him individually and by stressing that the house is not currently interpreted or advertised for visitors.

“The house is not advertised,” Karl said. “I tell people all the time where it is. They’re standing on the corner of (East Queen and) Oakum Street wondering with their map, ‘Where is this house?’ I say, ‘It’s the little house just past the three-story houses that have been redone.’ It’s just sitting there. It’s never open. There’s no signs on any of the streets that advertise it, and at this point in time, it’s just occupying the lot.”

Karl warned that moving the house could change the character of East Queen Street by opening the door to new construction that does not fit the neighborhood.

“If it was sold, if it was moved, somebody would buy the lot and put up a house there, kind of like the house over on East Church Street that they’re building right now for $470,000,” he said. “It’s not the neighborhood for that. We want to keep the house. I like walking by it. I like driving by it.”

As his allotted time expired, Carl joked with the council members before thanking them for their time.

“I’ll gladly talk to any of you individually about what to do,” he said. “Thank you for listening to me.”

A house older than Edenton’s name

The Lane House occupies a singular place in North Carolina history. A one-and-a-half-story structure whose earliest parts date to the winter of 1718-19, it predates the renaming of the town as Edenton in 1722. The house originally measured about 16 feet by 25 feet and was divided into two rooms on the first floor and two in the attic.

Its age was confirmed in January 2013, when dendrochronologist Michael Worthington of Oxford Tree-Ring Laboratory announced that tree-ring analysis dated the building’s earliest timbers to the winter of 1718-19.

Historic preservation enthusiasts Steve and Linda Lane acquired the small residence in 2009 for use as a rental property. During renovations, restoration carpenter Wayne Griffin and cabinetmaker Don Jordan uncovered hand-hewn beams, wooden pegs, handmade nails, and oyster shell whitewash — features consistent with early 18th-century construction.

Subsequent archaeological investigations by East Carolina University determined that the house does not stand on its original site. Research refined the date of its first relocation to between 1894 and 1910, meaning that a planned move to West Eden Street would mark the second relocation in the house’s more than 300-year history.

According to Chowan County GIS records, the house currently sits on property owned by the Penelope Barker Foundation.

In public discussion surrounding the proposed move, historian Michael L. Marshall, who co-authored “Edenton’s 1718 House, Mr. Ogilby’s Tavern,” has raised reservations. Marshall has noted that the house was built by joiner Patrick Ogilby as a tavern and served as a waterfront tavern throughout the 1700s. Its original site was at 205 E. Water St. before it was moved around 1804 to East Queen Street and reconfigured internally as a tenant house.

Marshall has expressed concern about relocating the building from “the oldest part of Edenton — the east side laid out into half-acre lots by Edward Moseley in 1712 — to the west side of Edenton, where the lots date from 1722 and later.” He has emphasized that the house “has been on its present site on East Queen for more than 220 years since it was moved there.”

Town officials, however, have said the move is intended to make the house more accessible to residents and visitors and to support its potential use as a museum or interpretive site as part of America 250 planning.

Call for trash and recycling infrastructure

Following Karl’s remarks, Susan Inglis addressed the council with a separate request focused on environmental stewardship and public cleanliness.

Inglis, of East Water Street and a member of the Mayor’s Task Force on the Environment, wants more trash cans.  

“We notice that there are not enough trash cans around town.”

Inglis praised recent progress in restoring recycling services but said the current setup remains inconsistent.

“We are very glad that the recycling program is effectively in place again, but it looks like some of the existing trash cans don’t have both recycling and trash,” she said.

As the council prepares for upcoming budget discussions, Inglis urged members to dedicate funds for additional receptacles, acknowledging the cost while offering a potential solution.

“So as you go into your planning process in the coming week, I hope that you will set aside a modest amount of the budget for more trash cans,” she said. “I know that street trash cans are surprisingly expensive.”

She suggested involving students as a way to manage costs and build community ownership.

“I suggest that the shop class at the high school could build nice wooden frames for them, and that would be an inexpensive way for more of them to be put,” Inglis said.

Inglis also highlighted a practical challenge faced by volunteers and residents who pick up litter.

“Those of us who do pick up trash often have to carry it several blocks before we find a place to drop it,” she said. “So please put in more and please make sure they have trash and recycling holes and that the trash is picked up distinctly, trash and recycling.”