This old Bell Buckle home sits just about spittin’ distance from the railroad tracks. Trains have been click-clacking by since the day this home was built. It’s seen a lot in it’s day next to the tracks.
While I’m not sure of the exact build date of the home, my guess would be between 1898 and the early 1900s. The farthest deed that I could trace was back to 1913 when the McQuiddy family purchased it from the estate of S. P. Jones. He had died that year and the estate was sold off to the McQuiddy family. S. P. Jones was mayor of Bellbuckle for a time.
This house was in the McQuiddy family for 54 years.
William Brandon “Will” McQuiddy was a preacher at the Church of Christ in town and a well-known figure. At the time of his death in 1933, his obituary read, “Elder McQuiddy was one of the most highly esteemed residents of Bell Buckle. He had been a figure here for years.” It also noted that he was the former station master for the N. C. & St. L. Railway.
The last member of the McQuiddy family to live in the home was Annie McQuiddy Cortner who sold the home after she was widowed in 1967.
The Smiths bought the home in 1979 and it has belonged in their family for over 40 years now.
