The Tyson T. Ferree Drawings and Papers

Special Collections is pleased to announce the recent acquisition of a new architecture collection, the Tyson T. Ferree Drawings and Papers. This collection documents Tyson Ferree’s work in and around High Point, North Carolina. Ferree was one of High Point’s principal architects in the 1930s and 1940s, and he is responsible for designing numerous residential, commercial, religious, theater, and manufacturing buildings there. His work extended to the nearby communities of Thomasville, Greensboro, Archdale, Burlington, Winston-Salem, and Lexington.

Ferree enrolled in North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering in 1926. While in school, he took part in designing local homes, stores, studios, and theaters, and was also a knighted member of the Order of Saint Patrick. After graduating in 1930, Ferree worked for Greensboro architect, W. C. Holleyman, Jr., and proceeded to open his own firm in High Point in 1933. From that point until World War II, Ferree and his firm designed several buildings in and around High Point, including the Enterprise Building in 1935.

Ferree closed his office during the war and went to work for the City of Charlotte as its Chief Building Inspector. In 1943, he began working with the Plant Planning division of Fairchild Aircraft Corporation in Burlington, North Carolina, where he spent eighteen months. Ferree returned to High Point in September 1944 to reopen his practice, which he continued until his death in 1948.

Ferree’s papers document his time at NC State and his successful career in and around High Point. They are comprised mostly of drawings for residential projects there.

The collection also includes a scrapbook compiled by Ferree which thoroughly documents his projects and their mentions in local newspapers.

The scrapbook is evidence of the success of Ferree’s career as well as his meticulous nature. He also captured his humor by including a comic on the final page:

The Tyson T. Ferree Drawings and Papers is now available for research. For more information or to request access to these records, please use our online request form. To learn more about Ferree and other High Point architects, The Architecture of High Point, North Carolina by Benjamin Briggs is an excellent resource.  Special Collections also holds the Voorhees and Everhart Architectural Drawings of the High Point Meeting House, showcasing a project from other significant High Point architects, Louis Voorhees and Eccles D. Everhart.