Osborne House
(ca. 1890)
The William and Cora Osborne House represents profitable impact of cotton farming in the late nineteenth century.
12445 Ramah Church Rd, Huntersville, NC 28078
The William and Cora Osborne House represents the flourishing cotton economy of Mecklenburg County during the “New South” era of the late nineteenth century. With the establishment of the Charlotte Cotton Mills in 1881, Charlotte and Mecklenburg County experienced rapid industrial growth, especially in textiles. Local farmers found ready local and regional markets for their cotton. Those who had the ability and the resources to take advantage of the expanding economic opportunity prospered. With rising incomes, successful farmers like the Osbornes could build impressive vernacular farmhouses.
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Wed in January 1887, William Eldridge Osborne (1861-1930) and Mary Cora Watts Osborne (1865-1954) acquired several parcels of land before building the extant house. Originally located about 1.6 miles northeast of Huntersville, the house was built by local craftsman John Ellis McAuley (1861-1929). He built several structures in the Huntersville vicinity in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, including the sanctuary and rectory for St. Mark's Episcopal Church and the Lindsey Parks House on Neck Road. The Osbornes raised three sons in the house, one of whom predeceased William. Upon their father’s death, surviving sons Thomas Preston Osborne (1892-1968) and Herman L. Osborne (1905-1975) divided the family land and livestock, with Herman receiving the Osborne House. Cora lived in the family home until her own death in 1954.
Herman married Norma Spain Gray (1907-1954) in 1928. The couple moved into the Osborne House in 1930 and lived there for the rest of their lives. Herman worked as a farmer until his retirement. The mother of two children, Norma passed away at the early age of 45. In 1954, Herman married Mary Vance (1906-1975), who brought two children from a previous marriage into the family. Herman and Mary both died in 1975 less than a month apart. They bequeathed the house to Herman’s oldest child Otis Gray Osborne (1933-2009). Otis’ nephew Martin Osborne acquired the Osborne House in the mid-1990s and moved the house to its current Ramah Church Road location in 1996. The William and Cora Osborne House is a well-crafted example of the two-story frame I-houses built in the county’s rural areas in the late 1800s and retains several of its original features, including heart pine wood floors, beaded board ceilings, mantles, and the main staircase.