Stonewall takes its name from the heavy granite wall that borders the front lawn along U.S. 64 By-pass.    The house, set in a superb oak grove, was built on the banks of the Tar River circa 1830 by Bennett Bunn, who was a well established and prosperous planter in Nash County. In its prime, Stonewall was the center of a large antebellum plantation.  Its scale and sophistication of design make it one of the truly elegant plantation houses in North Carolina.       

After Bennett Bunn’s death in 1849, Stonewall, with its 126 acres, was purchased by another planter, and was then passed through the hands of several others before the abolition of slavery in 1868 which brought the plantation to a final turning-point.  Most of the farmland was sold to pay the debts of its latest land owner.  Its role as the focal point of a vast plantation was therefore effectively ended.  It wasn’t until 1916, when the property was purchased by Rocky Mount Mills for $15,000 that renovations to this historical landmark began. 

In 1975, the Nash County Historical Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and interpreting the history of Stonewall Manor, acquired a 30 year lease on Stonewall.  After 5 years, Rocky Mount Mills donated the house and grounds to the Nash County Historical Association.  Over the last 3 ½ decades, the association has been responsible for Stonewall’s dramatic restoration, and presently this brick mansion that overlooks the Tar River is among the state’s finest restored antebellum homes. 

Today Stonewall Manor is on the National Register of Historic Places and is administered by the Nash County Historical Association, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and interpreting the history of Stonewall Manor, and managed by a Historical Coordinator and Board of Directors.  The site is open to the public and guided tours are offered as scheduled (see calendar of events for further details).