{"nrhp_refnum":"73001344","name":"Dallas Historic District (Additional Documentation)","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Bounded by Holland, Main, Gaston and Trade Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Dallas","county":"Gaston County","state":"NC","lat":35.31624351250005,"lon":-81.17619477770576,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-07-26","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Politics/Government"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A historic district in Dallas, North Carolina, made up of the courthouse square and the blocks facing it along Holland, Main, Gaston and Trade streets. Dallas was the Gaston County seat from 1847 to 1911, and its nineteenth-century buildings date mostly from soon after 1847.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that the district is a remarkably preserved Greek Revival county seat with an idyllic small-town atmosphere. It highlights the Hoffman Hotel, described as perhaps the largest and best preserved mid-nineteenth century hotel remaining in the state. It also cites the small Classical Revival courthouse, rebuilt in 1875 on the old walls, as architecturally significant, with mentions in Johnston and Waterman's Early Architecture of North Carolina and Talbot Hamlin's Greek Revival Architecture in America.","narrative":"Dallas, the Gaston County seat from 1847 to 1911, centers on a shaded, grassy courthouse square surrounded by nineteenth-century commercial and residential buildings. The small stuccoed brick courthouse, rebuilt in 1875 on the walls of the 1847 building after a fire, is reached by a steep double granite stair with a delicate cast-iron balustrade, and it now serves as the town hall. Around the square stand the county jail, the three-story Hoffman Hotel with forty-four rooms, the Rhyne Store, and the vernacular Smyre-Pasour House, all built soon after the town was laid out. Later buildings include the Matthews Hotel, the Wilson-Spargo House and the Setzer General Store. Together they form a well-preserved Greek Revival county seat. The hotel, built for lawyers and judges attending court week, was also used as a student dormitory in the 1880s. The district was listed for its architecture and its record of county government life before the seat moved to Gastonia.","period_of_significance":"1840-1900","architect_builder":"Courthouse rebuilding specified by county commissioner A. B. Titman and superintended by M. D. Friday and A. B. Titman; Rhyne Store built by Moses Rhyne; courthouse balustrade reportedly cast by Henry Fulenwyder.","architectural_style":"Greek Revival, with a Classical Revival courthouse and vernacular and late Victorian buildings","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition is marked as a mix of excellent, good and fair, with some alteration. The old courthouse serves as the Dallas Town Hall, the jail houses a civic club, and the Hoffman Hotel and Matthews Hotel are private residences. The Rhyne Store remains a store and residence.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:56.456578-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/95/7203/47720395/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/73001344.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001344/c93258a197-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001344/c93258a197-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Upstateherd","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gaston_County_Jail_-_Ca._1848.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:Gaston_County_Jail_-_Ca._1848.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47720395","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q19461257"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/gaston-county/dallas-historic-district-additional-documentation-73001344/"}