{"nrhp_refnum":"04000585","name":"Main Street Historic District (Boundary Expansion)","other_names":["Florence Mill"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"186 Mill St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Forest City","county":"Rutherford County","state":"NC","lat":35.33179212750005,"lon":-81.86507061394607,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2004-06-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A five-acre former textile mill complex, the Florence Mill (later Cone Mills Florence Plant), at 186 Mill Street in Forest City, Rutherford County, North Carolina, added to the Main Street Historic District. The original mill building dates to 1897, with warehouses and other buildings added later.","why_significant":"The complex is locally significant under Criterion A in the area of industry. Florence Mill operated continuously from 1897 to 2001, making cotton sheeting, flannel, corduroy and denim. It played a role in the growth of the textile industry in Rutherford County and in Forest City, whose population tripled after the mill and railroads arrived.","narrative":"Florence Mill is a five-acre textile complex at 186 Mill Street in Forest City, North Carolina, added to the Main Street Historic District as a boundary expansion. The red brick mill was built in 1897 with heavy timber interiors, a packer house, boiler house, engine house and a 125-foot smokestack. Warehouses followed in 1922-23, 1932 and 1941, the 1932 one originally a Hewitt Motor Company showroom. Later Cone Mills additions and equipment are counted as noncontributing. The mill was financed by Raleigh Rutherford Haynes and partners, and it produced cotton sheeting, flannel, corduroy and denim until 2001. Cone Mills gained majority ownership by 1940 and renamed it the Florence Plant in 1953. The complex is considered important for its part in the textile industry of Rutherford County and the growth of Forest City. Its period of significance runs from 1897 to 1954. The property is currently vacant.","period_of_significance":"1897-1954","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Other: Heavy Timber Mill Construction","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Current function is listed as vacant, not in use. The original mill's windows were bricked in and 1970s-80s additions cover much of its front.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:54.668066-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/1/7222/47722201/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/04000585.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47722201","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/rutherford-county/main-street-historic-district-boundary-expansion-04000585/"}