Morrisville’s Pugh House, one of the town’s oldest homes, is once again being considered for the National Register of Historic Places.

The 1870 home was automatically taken off the register in January 2008 when it was moved 200 feet, across a railroad crossing, from its original spot on the corner of Aviation Parkway and N.C. 54. The relocation, which drew over 100 spectators, was deemed necessary to make road improvements at the intersection of Morrisville-Carpenter Road and N.C. 54.

Repairs to the old house were estimated to cost taxpayers over $200,000, so in the spring of this year, town volunteers organized to make some of the repairs themselves and solicit donated materials. The Morrisville Public Works Department also organized volunteers to spruce up the yard with azaleas, hollies and rose buses. Morrisville dubbed 2009 the “Year of Volunteerism.”

The house’s most recent resident, Billy Hartness, who lived in the Pugh House for about 40 years, passed away in October 2008, months before the relocation.

For now the house is on the State Historic Preservation Offices Study List, a preliminary screening that a property has to go through before it can be placed on the national registry. Town officials have high hopes to eventually restore the house to its original splendor and keep it a town landmark as long as possible.

“The town has a limited inventory of historical structures, and we are proud to have saved this significant historical home,” said Morrisville Planner Ashley Jones.