The Tripp-Jackson House, Pitt County, NC
Taken in September 2025
The Tripp-Jackson House has quietly watched over generations of the same families who once called it home. For more than a century, the Tripps and Jacksons lived and worked on the surrounding farmland, their lives woven into the very walls of this house.
When Hurricane Irene struck in 2011, the home suffered heavy damage and has stood vacant ever since. Now weathered and worn, it still stands by the roadside—a humble reminder of the lives once lived there. Many who pass by likely have no idea of the rich history held within its frame.
January 2025
For descendants Jesse and Jonathan Riggs, uncovering that history has become a personal mission. Through years of research—drawing on family stories, old land deeds, and careful study of the structure—they’ve discovered that the house isn’t just old, but layered with time. Each addition tells a different chapter of its past.
The earliest clear record dates to 1861, when Benjamin Franklin Tripp conveyed his farm, including the house, to his son Caleb. But evidence suggests the oldest portion may date as far back as the 1790s. That first section—likely a modest one-room home with a corner staircase and interior chimney—matched the style of rural dwellings common in late-18th-century North Carolina. Even the towering oaks near the road may have taken root around the same time.
Side profile of the house from September 2025, where one chimney once stood.
By the 1830s or 1840s, the home had been expanded into a full two-story residence, and traces of soot beneath the floors hint that part of it may have been rebuilt after a fire. In 1893, George Edgar “Eddie” Jackson purchased what was then known as the Tripp Place and began modernizing it to match the farmhouses of his day—alterations that masked its true age for generations.
Family lore also tells of an even earlier homestead “down in the swamp” along an old roadbed that once crossed the Tripp-Jackson farm, possibly on land first settled as early as 1777. Whether the earliest portion of the house once stood there or nearby remains a mystery.
In September, I had the pleasure of meeting Jesse and Jonathan Riggs at the old homestead, where they gave me a full tour and shared much of what you’ve just read—drawn from their research and a piece Jonathan wrote about the house’s history. It was truly an honor to explore such a meaningful place and hear its story firsthand, witnessing the layers of history it holds.
Today, the Tripp-Jackson House endures as a quiet relic of eastern North Carolina’s rural past, holding its secrets close while descendants of the old homestead continue their efforts to preserve and share its story.
