The Sandford House
Heritage & Lore
Famous Residents
Timeline
1797
Mark Russel originally owned the land on which the house stands, and John McLeran built the home. Duncan McLeran purchased the home from John, his kinsman. Duncan McLeran was one of the first elders of the historic Presbyterian Church in Fayetteville.
1804
John Adam purchased the home. Sarah Donaldson Adam, John's wife, also links to the Presbyterian Church because her father donated the land on which the church was built.
1820
Under new ownership, the Sandford House was transformed into the first federal bank in North Carolina.
1832
John William Sandford (the current namesake and former cashier at the bank) purchased the building and made it a home with Margaret Halliday, his new wife. Interestingly, The Oval Ballroom (also at Heritage Square) is the room Margaret's step-mother had built for Margaret and John's wedding. Originally, the Oval Ballroom was the North Wing of the Halliday-Williams house. 1865
According to local legend, Sherman's troops used the house as barracks during the Union occupation of Fayetteville in March 1865. 
Whether that legend is true or not, a bullet from the occupation did fly into the home. It chipped the marble mantle in the north room. Unfortunately, a former president had the chipped marble mantle repaired, innocently thinking it needed to be done. (Yankee, of course!) Fortunately, the repair does not match well, and we can still see where the bullet hit today.
"The Civil War Trail" runs through the backyard of the Sandford House today.
1873
Former Confederate Captain John E.P. Daingerfield purchased the home. Elliot Daingerfield, John's son and renowned North Carolina artist, lived here throughout his teenage years.
Circa 1897
A.H. Slocumb (of Massachusetts), husband of Lillian Taylor (a Fayetteville belle) purchased the home. A.H. Slocumb worked in Fayetteville's naval stores with the A.E. Rankin Company. Subsequently, W.H. Powell and his family resided in the Sandford House.
World War II
Around 1941, the Woman's Club rented The Sandford House from its owners. The Club opened the doors to the home and provided suitable living quarters for unmarried working women flooding into the city at that time. Thirty young, single women, a housemother and hostess packed the second floor dormitory style. (Thirty women and four bathrooms?!)
 The Woman's Club also provided space for any other women's' organization to meet in the house free of charge in an effort to accommodate the town's growing need for social outlets. This period was marked with parties to which many of Fort Bragg's young soldiers would flock to meet the houseful of eligible single women and their friends.
In 1941, the club purchased the "Slocumb House" but later renamed it the "Sandford House."
|
Back 
