{"nrhp_refnum":"01000513","name":"Central School Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly N. Battleground Ave., N. Piedmont Ave., E. King St., E. Ridge Ave., and N. Gaston St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Kings Mountain","county":"Cleveland County","state":"NC","lat":35.24298181950007,"lon":-81.34250466563299,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2001-05-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Community Planning and Development","Transportation"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A residential historic district of about two blocks by two blocks in northwestern Kings Mountain, Cleveland County, North Carolina, centered on the former Central High School site on North Battleground Avenue, North Piedmont Avenue, North Gaston Street, East King Street and East Ridge Street. It contains 56 contributing and 6 non-contributing resources, dating from circa 1870 to 1950, including houses, two churches, a commercial building and a railroad depot.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the district is significant under Criterion A for community planning and development and transportation, because its layout and buildings reflect how the railroad shaped the growth of Kings Mountain's textile mill town. It is also significant under Criterion C as an intact collection of late nineteenth and early-to-mid twentieth century domestic architecture representing small-town building types, with examples of Second Empire, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival and Craftsman styles.","narrative":"Kings Mountain's Central School Historic District is a residential neighborhood of about four city blocks in the northwestern part of town, built mainly between about 1870 and 1950. Its houses range from Victorian and Queen Anne dwellings to Colonial Revival, Craftsman and bungalow types, many set back uniformly from grid streets with alleys behind. The district is regarded as significant for two reasons. Its grid layout and buildings reflect how the arrival of the railroad in 1872 shaped the growth of Kings Mountain into a textile mill town. It also holds a largely intact group of domestic architecture from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The neighborhood grew around the Central School, first built on Ridge Street and rebuilt in 1933, and around two Protestant churches. Many of the original residents were mill owners, executives, professionals and merchants, including members of the Mauney family, whose houses survive in the district.","period_of_significance":"C. 1870-1950","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Late Victorian: Second Empire; Queen Anne; Late 19th and 20th century revivals: Colonial Revival; Classical Revival; Tudor Revival; Late Gothic Revival; Late 19th and 20th century American movements: Bungalow/Craftsman; Commercial Style","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Contributing and non-contributing resources are listed; the former Central School building houses school district administration offices while its gymnasium and auditorium are still used for public events.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:42.245385-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/62/7196/47719662/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/01000513.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01000513/276ddd2d8f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01000513/276ddd2d8f-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Upstateherd","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kings_Mountain_Central_School.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Upstateherd</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kings_Mountain_Central_School.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47719662","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_School_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18148888"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/cleveland-county/central-school-historic-district-01000513/"}