The North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources celebrates the addition of two new historic districts and five individual properties from across the state that were added to the National Register of Historic Places. The following properties were reviewed by the North Carolina National Register Advisory Committee, 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.
"North Carolina’s historic resources are essential to understanding our state's journey and the people who built it," N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources Secretary Pamela Cashwell. "The newest additions to the National Register highlight our ongoing commitment to safeguarding these irreplaceable treasures for generations to come."
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 January 1, 2025, there have been 4,391 completed historic rehabilitation projects with private investments of almost $3.85 billion statewide.
In Western North Carolina
Pineburr Hosiery Mill, Valdese, Burke County, listed 4/9/2025
Pineburr Hosiery Mill (Plant No. 2 of Waldensian Hosiery Mills), with a period of significance of ca. 1923-75, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places at the local level under Criterion A in the area of Industry for its contributions to the industrial history of Valdese. The beginning of the period of significance is the earliest known construction date for a small section of the mill that was originally in use as a shoe factory but was quickly incorporated into the later mill expansions.
From the beginning the Pineburr Plant, later as Pilot Full-Fashioned Mills and later Alba-Waldensian Mills, focused uniquely upon the production of women’s full-fashioned hosiery. In its later years, especially with the 1969-70 addition, as pantyhose production was predicted to become a multi-billion-dollar industry in the United States, Pineburr produced women’s pantyhose and knitted fabrics, which none of the other Valdese hosiery plants did. The mill played a significant role in the modernization and expansion of the women’s hosiery line productions of the Waldensian Hosiery Mills, growing through the years with many later additions as the need increased.
In Central North Carolina
Bynum Historic District, Bynum, Chatham County, listed 4/15/2025
Bynum Historic District is locally significant under Criterion A in the area of Community Planning and Development as a planned mill village with related rural development dating from the late 19th century and continuing into the 20th century. The district comprises the planned mill village; 20th-century commercial and institutional buildings; and 19th- and 20th-century rural residential development. The district is also locally significant under Criterion C in the area of Architecture for the collection of mostly vernacular architecture that exemplifies construction and stylistic trends in the county in the same period. The period of significance is ca. 1800-1972, which reflects the time span represented by the construction and significant use of the majority of properties in the district. The J.M. Odell Manufacturing Company’s operation of the cotton spinning mill that established the mill village ended in 1972 when management changed to another company and production switched to synthetic yarns, marking the end of the period.
John E. and Jean Anne Ferrier Ramsay, Sr. House, Salisbury, Rowan County, listed 4/15/2025
The locally significant John E. and Jean Anne Ferrier Ramsay, Sr. House is listed in the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion C in the area of architecture for its embodiment of, at the time of construction, an innovative architectural design and the introduction of ground-breaking passive-solar technology to heat and cool the dwelling.
The Ramsay House was one of the first modernist houses constructed in Salisbury. John Ramsay was an architect, and this house became a design laboratory for many of his future commissions. Rooted in the design ethos of Frank Lloyd Wright with Ramsay’s own innovative ventilation techniques, the August 1952 issue of the Architectural Record featured the Ramsay residence. The house was given an Award of Merit by AIA North Carolina in 1955. Other modernist houses by Ramsay were featured in both Good Housekeeping (January 1956) and Southern Architect, published by the North Carolina Chapter, American Institute of Architects, December 1962. The Period of Significance is 1951, the year of completion of the dwelling’s construction.
Gladstone Academy, Misenheimer, Stanly County, listed 4/10/2025
The Gladstone Academy is significant at the local level under Criterion A in the area of education. The school was the only school in the Village of Misenheimer filling a critical educational need for local children and boarders, until the Ebenezer C. Mitchell Home and School relocated to Misenheimer in 1910, absorbed Gladstone Academy, and grew to become Pfeiffer University.
Gladstone Academy was sponsored by agencies of the Methodist Episcopal Church, a denomination that had considerable educational outreach in the post-Civil War South, augmenting the meager educational offerings by local governments prior to the era of rural school consolidation in the 1920s.
The building’s period of significance begins with its construction and initial operation ca. 1894 and ends in 1910, when the building was converted for use as a church. Owned and supported by Methodist organizations the building housed a church for a time after the period of significance, Gladstone Academy can be considered a religious property under National Register Criteria Consideration A. It is still eligible for listing as it being nominated for its original role as a school, significant for its role in education.
In Eastern North Carolina
Herbert and Ann Creef, Sr. House, Manteo, Dare County, listed 4/11/2025
The Herbert and Ann Creef House is a ca. 1941 Modernist house designed by Norfolk, Va.-based architect Alfred M. Lublin. The original owners were Manteo businessman Herbert A. Creef Sr., and his wife, Ann Burrus Creef.
The two-story masonry house, veneered in variegated warm-toned brick, has blocky massing and a low-pitched hipped roof of flat appearance. Steel-framed windows in a variety of shapes and sizes, glass block windows, and decorative front porch metalwork are other exterior features. The interior has arched doorways, decorative metal stair detail, and a Craftsman/Modernist-inspired brick fireplace mantel.
The Herbert and Ann Creef House is listed in the National Register of Historic Places at the local level of significance under Criterion C in the Architecture area of significance as a unique, sophisticated, and well-preserved blend of stylistic influences current on the eve of World War II. The period of significance corresponds to 1940-41. The house lot was purchased in October 1940 and most evidence suggests construction of the house was well underway in 1941.
F. D. Wharton House, Tarboro, Edgecombe County, listed 4/9/2025
The F.D. Wharton House is listed in the National Register under Criterion B at the local level of significance in the areas of Agriculture, Government, and Social History for its association with Fletcher Decatur (F.D.) Wharton (1889-1977), who built a wide-ranging career as an African American Agricultural Extension Agent in Edgecombe County, from 1935-51.
Wharton worked diligently to improve conditions for Black sharecroppers and tenants at a time when they supplied much of the farm labor in Edgecombe County and prejudice and Jim Crow laws limited their opportunities. Independent of his work for the Extension Service, Wharton co-founded the Tarboro Civic Forum in ca.1942 to address problems affecting the town’s Black residents. At a time when state and local regulations essentially prohibited Blacks from voting and they had no representation in local government, the forum provided an organized voice.
Although Wharton’s professional accomplishments were completed before the house was constructed in 1954, it is the only remaining building associated with his cumulative contributions.
Sunset Avenue Public Works Historic District, Rocky Mount, Nash County, listed 4/10/2025
The Sunset Avenue Public Works Historic District is significant at the local level under Criterion A in the areas of Community Planning and Development and Engineering. The period of significance begins in 1909 with the construction of Clear Well Two, the earliest extant resource within the district, and ends in 1971 when the Sunset Avenue Water Treatment Plant became a backup water treatment facility for the city.
The district served as the historic electric power and water utilities core of the city of Rocky Mount. The district illustrates the city’s industrial and residential growth from the early twentieth century to its last quarter. It reflects early and mid-twentieth century advances in technology and engineering related to power generation and water treatment. Rocky Mount’s population growth from 8,051 in 1910 to 21,412 in 1930 resulted in increased electric power and water consumption in the city. The population growth was indicative of the city’s prospering railroad hub, and the successful tobacco and textile industries in the early twentieth century that attracted employees and their families to the city.
NOTE TO EDITORS — The above images are available in a higher resolution on our Dropbox Site.
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 a unit of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. Dr. Darin Waters, the Department's 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. Waters 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 on the NC Listings in the National Register of Historic Places page of the State Historic Preservation Office website. For more information on the National Register, including the criteria for listing, visit the NC State Historic Preservation Office National Register page.
About the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources
The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DNCR) manages, promotes, and enhances the things that people love about North Carolina – its diverse arts and culture, rich history, and spectacular natural areas. Through its programs, the department enhances education, stimulates economic development, improves public health, expands accessibility, and strengthens community resiliency.
The department manages over 100 locations across the state, including 27 historic sites, seven history museums, two art museums, five science museums, four aquariums, 35 state parks, four recreation areas, dozens of state trails and natural areas, the North Carolina Zoo, the State Library, the State Archives, the N.C. Arts Council, the African American Heritage Commission, the American Indian Heritage Commission, the State Historic Preservation Office, the Office of State Archaeology, the Highway Historical Markers program, the N.C. Land and Water Fund, and the Natural Heritage Program. For more information, please visit www.dncr.nc.gov.