Fidler House
(ca. 1919)
The Fidler House is Cornelius’ best preserved example of the Craftsman-style bungalows once prevalent across Mecklenburg County.
21112 Catawba Ave., Cornelius, NC 28031
Built in approximately 1919, the Fidler House was the family home of local farmer William Caldwell “W.C.” Fidler (1880-1958), his wife Margaret Elizabeth “Maggie” Goodrum (1892-1975), and their six children. Although primarily a cotton farm, the Fidler farm cultivated a range of crops including several different orchards. W.C. was a man of many talents. He used wood harvested from the farm to build the family house as well as coffins for the local community. A skilled blacksmith, W.C. also made shoes and worked at Puckett’s Grocery on Catawba Avenue. He and Margaret had three sons and three daughters. Family members inhabited the Fidler House until 2005.
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Sons Carl and Burke both graduated from Appalachian State University. A World War II veteran, Carl later became a school principal in Boone for many years. Burke became a referee for the National Football League and once refereed a Super Bowl game. Daughters Ruth and Margaret became school teachers in Charlotte and Cornelius, respectively. Daughter Willie Fidler married Keith Howard, who served as mayor of Cornelius from 1951 to 1956 and as the town’s postmaster for several years.
The Fidler House is the best preserved example in Cornelius of the Craftsman-style bungalows once common in Mecklenburg County’s smaller towns in the early twentieth century. The house evolved over the years with the addition of a new kitchen in the 1920s and a half-story with bedrooms and storage space in the 1930s but retains most of its original features and materials.