Construction of Fort Defiance began in 1788 under William Lenoir and was completed in 1792. Lenoir, a Revolutionary War officer for whom the home is named, chose the site near the location of the earlier Fort Defiance, a frontier stronghold built before the Revolution and later abandoned. Originally surrounded by five outbuildings—a smokehouse, loom house, dairy, summer kitchen, and corn crib—the property operated as a working homestead, though only the smokehouse remains today.
Over time, the Lenoir family altered the house to accommodate changing needs, adding to and rearranging portions of the structure. A later restoration removed those additions and restored the home to its 1792 appearance. Parts of the building were also used as a lumber office and a U.S. Post Office, reflecting its continued role in community life.
Stories from Fort Defiance
Frontier surveyor turned Patriot officer, William Lenoir carried the Revolution into North Carolina’s backcountry—fighting at Kings Mountain, surviving the chaos of Pyle’s Massacre, and emerging from war as one of Wilkes County’s most enduring civic leaders.
Also known as the Alston House, the House in the Horseshoe served as a Patriot outpost where a four hour skirmish took place on July 29, 1781.
Born in England in 1723 and trained as a physician in London, John Pyle brought his family to Alamance County, North Carolina, where he later emerged as a steadfast Loyalist colonel. In 1781, his misidentification of Patriot troops as British escorts led to the brutal clash known as Pyle’s Defeat, leaving him wounded and maimed—yet ultimately tending to the very Patriot soldiers who had struck down his force.