A DIY Network TV show, which showcased a home in Hamlet, premiered on Dec. 13 and has since replayed many times.
“Salvage Dawgs” is a show on the DIY Network channel that follows Robert Kulp and Mike Whiteside, co-owners of an architectural salvage company called Black Dog Salvage, as they travel the world buying condemned houses and buildings.
These homes are at risk of being demolished and can contain vintage pieces including doors, mantels and windows. Kulp and Whiteside recover the pieces and then sell them to clients who use the pieces to restore other historical buildings or add character to newer structures.
The show travelled to Hamlet to salvage the house of the late Dr. William Daniel James and Lilian Duer James, who are best known for establishing Hamlet Hospital and the Hamlet Hospital School of Nursing.
James was a native of Laurinburg and attended the University of North Carolina before graduating from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. He served his surgical residency at St. Mark’s Hospital and the University of the State of New York where he met his future wife, Lilian, according to the historical website ourhamlet.org.
Lilian was a native of New York State and a graduate of St. Mark’s Hospital School of Nursing. The two were married in 1909 and returned to Laurinburg where they both established James Sanatorium and opened the School of Nursing in 1910.
In 1915, they moved the location of their hospital to Hamlet because of the railroad center there, which made the hospital available to a larger audience.
The hospital was sold to Health Management Associates, Inc., in Florida, which began to improve the facility and equipment. In the 1990s, HMA decided that Hamlet Hospital needed to be replaced, and in 1997 ground was broken for Sandhills Regional Medical Center, said ourhamlet.org.
The Hamlet Hospital School of Nursing program was ended in 1981 and the Lilian Duer James Nursing Building was given to Richmond Community College, then called Richmond Technical College, to expand the associate degree nursing program.
The house in Hamlet, affectionately called the James House, sits on about 13 acres and was built around the 1890s. The home was bought by the James’ around 1920 and they did several repairs and improvements on the house.
After Lilian died in 1970, the home was rented for nearly 40 years, said David Lindsey, grandson to the James’. After 40 years of being rented, the house had gotten some wear on it and would have taken too much money to fix up, Lindsey said.
Lindsey said he decided to salvage the house, and began researching salvage businesses on the Internet. He came across Black Dog Salvage and contacted them.
They began salvaging the house and Lindsey said they took wood doors, mantels and a marble fireplace.
He said that having the house salvaged was hard on him but that “the house will live on.”
— Staff Writer Laura Edington can be reached at 910-997-3111, ext. 18, or by email at ledington@civitasmedia.com.
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