A dear friend and loyal reader asked us about the significance of the McNairy House. First, dating to the mid-1700s, it is often cited as the oldest known house in Greensboro. This simple Scots-Irish log structure served as a field hospital after the Battle of Guilford Courthouse in 1781. Prominent local minister, educator, ardent revolutionary, and self-taught physician David Caldwell provided emergency medical treatment there.*

While the home was originally a log house, log houses are difficult to maintain, so exterior weatherboarding was added in the early 1800s. The half-story beneath the roof may have served as slave quarters. Although the house is decorated and filled with period-appropriate items, these objects did not come from the McNairy estate. The house is situated beside Mary Lynn Richardson Park, across from the Greensboro Children’s Museum.

*Reference HERE.

Here is the verbiage on the historic marker about the McNairy