National Park Service lists Magnolia House as Green Book resource, opens path for 327 North Carolina sites

The National Park Service has approved listing the historic Magnolia House on the National Register of Historic Places as a Green Book resource and also approved the North Carolina Green Book multiple property documentation form. The federal action establishes a formal pathway for documented Green Book sites in North Carolina to apply for national recognition.

The designation makes North Carolina only the second state with a Green Book multiple property listing, and the Magnolia House becomes the first Green Book site in the state recognized on the National Register. The announcement noted that the decision expands opportunities to preserve buildings and places — including businesses, churches, homes and safe havens — that served Black travelers during segregation.

Advocates say the move matters because it recognizes a network of places whose histories were at risk of being overlooked. The transcript frames the designation as honoring "the people who refused to let this history disappear" and as helping to increase representation of Black American history on the National Register.

The announcement also included a statistic that only approximately 4% of National Register listings are recognized primarily for contributions to Black American history; the transcript did not specify the source or date of that figure. The action likewise emphasized that North Carolina’s 327 documented Green Book sites now have a clearer route to pursue individual listings or grouped nominations under the approved multiple property documentation form.

Next steps were described as a pathway for the 327 documented sites to pursue national recognition and preservation; the transcript did not state a timetable or list specific next administrative steps. The National Park Service approval is the formal federal action recorded in the announcement.