Enshrining local history, Currituck Board designates Boswood-Morris House as historic landmark

By Mark Jurkowitz | Outer Banks Voice on August 18, 2026

The Boswood-Morris House.

The Boswood-Morris House.

 

By Mark Jurkowitz | Outer Banks Voice

The Currituck County Commissioners enshrined some county history at their Aug. 17 meeting when they approved designating the Boswood-Morris House as a Local Historic Landmark.

The single-family dwelling that sits on 2.98 acres of property located at 4379 Caratoke Highway, was built in an I-House design in 1901 on the property using local timber. It has been continuously lived in by the same family since its construction. The current owner, Rhonda Morris, is a tenth generation Currituck County native and a member of the fourth-generation of her family to reside in the house.

Morris submitted the application for the historic designation and in remarks to the Board, she displayed some emotion when declaring that “I feel my people in that house and on that property.”

At the meeting, Currituck County Commissioner Chair Paul O’Neal reported that he had seen the Dec. 16, 1902 tax bill on the property which added up to a total of $4.81. The next year, he noted, “it jumped up to $18.98, so I know there was a whole new board of commissioners after that.”

According to information from the county and Rhonda Morris, her grandmother Edna Earle Boswood played a large role in local civil life and among other things, was the first president of the Elizabeth City Library. She married Judge Chester Morris who was a distinguished public figure who also served as county attorney for a dozen years. Their son, Earl Travis Morris, who died in 2017 and was Rhonda’s father, founded the county’s first real estate company, Currituck Realty.

Prior to the Aug. 17 commissioners meeting, the Historic Preservation Commission recommended that the commissioners approve the Local Historic Landmark designation for the property.  County staff also recommended approving the designation.

Being designated as a Local Historic Landmark means the owner is eligible for a 50% tax deferral as long as the important historic features are maintained. In addition, any exterior work at the site would require a Certificate of Appropriateness review by the Historic Preservation Commission.

Addressing the commissioners at the Aug. 17 meeting, Currituck County Director of Planning and Inspections Jennie Turner explained that “to be designated as a Historic Local Landmark, a property must be found to possess special significance in terms of its history, pre-history, architecture, archeology or cultural importance.”

When she spoke, Rhonda Morris pointed out that only about a quarter of current Currituck County residents are natives, adding that “I think it is so important that people learn about the history of this county that they’re coming into.”