The North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources is pleased to announce that five individual properties across the state have been added to the National Register of Historic Places. The following properties were reviewed by the North Carolina National Register Advisory Committee and were subsequently nominated by the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Officer and forwarded to the Keeper of the National Register for consideration for listing in the National Register.
“These historic places are part of North Carolina’s rich and diverse story, and they need our protection,” said Secretary Susi H. Hamilton, N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. “The National Register is a vital tool in the preservation of our state’s historic resources, and North Carolina has long been a leader in the nation’s preservation movement.”
The listing of a property in the National Register places no obligation or restriction on a private owner using private resources to maintain or alter the property. Over the years, various federal and state incentives have been introduced to assist private preservation initiatives, including tax credits for the rehabilitation of National Register properties. As of Jan. 1, 2020, over 3,933 historic rehabilitation projects with an estimated private investment of over $3.043 billion have been completed.
In Eastern North Carolina
H.B. Sugg School, Farmville, Pitt County, listed 11/9/2020
The H. B. Sugg School is significant under Criterion A at the local level in the areas of Education and Ethnic Heritage: Black. The school complex has evolved on site from 1922 to the 1960s prior to its closure in 1999. The H. B. Sugg School’s history reflects many themes common to African American education in North Carolina. These themes include white philanthropy, the initiative taken by the community to procure the resources needed for a good education during the Jim Crow era, the investment in facilities during the equalization period through integration, and ultimately the closure of the school. African American educator Herman Bryan Sugg’s leadership from 1918 when he began teaching in a predecessor building to his retirement in 1959, was largely responsible for the continued investment in the school and the high quality of education provided.
In Central North Carolina
Blue Bell Company Plant, Greensboro, Guilford County, listed 11/27/2020
The Blue Bell Company Plant exemplifies both early to mid-20th-century development of the textile industry in Greensboro and a state-of-the-art 1920s open-plan factory. Constructed in three major phases for the Blue Bell Company, founded by Charles Crump Hudson at another location in 1904, the plant comprises a 1921 building with a 1924 addition and a 1927 wing. The building served as a factory and the headquarters for Blue Bell, one of the world’s largest overall manufacturers during the 20th century and, as such, an important contributor to Greensboro’s economy as a manufacturer, employer, consumer of goods and services, and taxpayer. Most of the workers hired at the plant were women, provided an opportunity at a time when factory work was scarce for females. As an example in Greensboro of a 1920s factory with a reinforced concrete and steel structural system, low-pitched gable roof, and multi-light steel industrial sash, the Blue Bell Company Plant is locally important as a largely intact example of its era’s progressive, fire resistant industrial design.
Melrose Hosiery Mill No. 1, High Point, Guilford County, listed 11/3/2020
Melrose Hosiery Mill No. 1 possesses local significance under Criterion A due to its industrial importance and Criterion C as a representative example of industrial and commercial architectural design in High Point during the 20th century’s second quarter. Established in 1922 by brothers Robert Thomas Amos and Charles Lee Amos, the concern was High Point’s second-largest hosiery manufacturer for much of its history and a driving force in High Point’s economy until its 1971 closure. Melrose Hosiery Mill No. 1 remains a cohesive collection of largely intact 1922-1956 buildings that display the evolution of industrial and commercial design during that period. The 1924 factory and dye house and 1928 and 1931 additions are characterized by heavy-timber and steel post-and-beam interior structural systems, load-bearing brick exterior walls, double-thickness wood and concrete floors, and kalamein doors, all typical in early-20th-century fire-resistant industrial architecture. Large multipane steel sash with hoppers, long roof monitors, and skylights provided ample light and ventilation. The 1928 and early 1950s additions incorporate structural-steel framing systems frequently used during the mid-20th century. The 1928 storefronts, enlivened by classical and Art Deco stylistic elements, variegated patterned brick with cast-stone accents, prismatic and leaded-glass transoms, copper cornices, and brick and ceramic-tile kneewalls, exemplify the Commercial Style.
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, listed 11/5/2020
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, constructed between 1928-1929, meets Criterion C for listing in the National Register for its local architectural significance as a monumental and richly detailed late Gothic Revival-style church reflecting Winston-Salem’s “Era of Success.” It is also architecturally significant as the work of an architect of national prominence, Ralph Adams Cram. Cram designed St. Paul’s sanctuary with massive sandstone columns, slate and marble floors, wood-beamed ceilings, stained-glass windows, and rich wood carving throughout the chancel. With its south wing and floors beneath the sanctuary, the church was planned to provide for all the needs of the congregation within one building. In 1957, architect Luther Lashmit designed an education building that was minimally attached to the north side of the church. During the years 2002 to 2005, that addition was remodeled and enlarged according to designs by Marianna Thomas Architects. However, the topography of the site was used to advantage, and the size of the addition was minimized in relationship to the church, as was its physical connection to the church.
Trenton Cotton Mills, Gastonia, Gaston County, listed 11/3/2020
Trenton Cotton Mills, Gastonia’s oldest extant textile mill, is locally significant under Criterion A in the area of Industry for its role in the development of Gastonia and Gaston County’s textile industry. Following the establishment of the Gastonia Cotton Manufacturing Company by G. W. Ragan in 1887, Gastonia soon became a hub of textile manufacturing in North Carolina. Trenton Cotton Mills, established in 1893 as Gastonia’s second textile mill and also organized by Ragan, experienced immediate and continuing success that led to expansion with a second mill on the property in 1900 and later substantial additions in 1922 and 1954. Trenton Cotton Mills began contributing to Gaston County’s renown for production of combed yarns ca. 1910 when the company added the machinery necessary to convert to production of this high-quality yarn. The mill retains a relatively high level of historic integrity that conveys all major period of the operation’s growth. Its period of significance begins in 1893 with the completion of Mill No. 1 and ends in 1972 when the mill ceased operations.
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About the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the nation's official list of buildings, structures, objects, sites, and districts worthy of preservation for their significance in American history, architecture, archaeology, and culture. The National Register was established by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 to ensure that as a matter of public policy, properties significant in national, state, and local history are considered in the planning of federal undertakings, and to encourage historic preservation initiatives by state and local governments and the private sector. The Act authorized the establishment of a State Historic Preservation Office in each state and territory to help administer federal historic preservation programs.
In North Carolina, the State Historic Preservation Office is an agency of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. Dr. Kevin Cherry, deputy secretary of Archives, History, and Parks, is North Carolina's State Historic Preservation Officer. The North Carolina National Register Advisory Committee, a board of professionals and citizens with expertise in history, architectural history, and archaeology, meets three times a year to advise Dr. Cherry on the eligibility of properties for the National Register and the adequacy of nominations.
The National Register nominations for the recently listed properties may be read in their entirety by clicking on the National Register page of the State Historic Preservation Office website. For more information on the National Register, including the criteria for listing, see this page.