{"nrhp_refnum":"79003348","name":"Manufacturers Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"220 E. Washington St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Rockingham","county":"Richmond County","state":"NC","lat":34.93939689600006,"lon":-79.77280065799994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-05-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Commerce"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick commercial building at 220 East Washington Street in Rockingham, Richmond County, North Carolina, built about 1904 as the shared headquarters of several textile mills.","why_significant":"The building housed the administrative offices of five major Richmond County textile corporations from 1904 until the mid-1930s. Decisions on wages, prices, and operations for the county's dominant industry were made there. It is also tied to the Steele, Cole and Leake families, who developed the textile industry and influenced local politics and business.","narrative":"Built about 1904 on East Washington Street in Rockingham, this two-story brick building served as the common headquarters for five textile corporations: Pee Dee Manufacturing Company, Steele's Mills, Roberdel Mills, Midway Mills, and Hannah Pickett Mills. The front elevation is faced in cream-colored brick with quoins, a modillion cornice, and a balustrade above a slate-covered hipped roof. Inside, a center hall is lined with offices on the first floor, including two brick vaults that still hold mill safes. The second floor held a meeting and counting room and a ballroom used for civic and social events. For roughly three decades, decisions on wages, prices, and working standards for the county's mills were made here. The Steele family, led by Robert L. Steele, Sr., and his son Robert Jr., linked the companies. Mill offices moved out in the 1920s and 1930s, and the building was sold in 1937. Later tenants included medical offices, a radio station, and shops.","period_of_significance":"1900-","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","B"],"status_note":"Described as in fair condition and altered. The owner intends to restore the building and lease office space. Offices were rented to various businesses after 1937.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:58.586855-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/26/7219/47721926/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/79003348.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79003348/6b05a16388-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79003348/6b05a16388-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Mauser1488","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Manufacturers_Building2.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Mauser1488</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:Manufacturers_Building2.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47721926","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturers_Building_(Rockingham,_North_Carolina)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q19986929"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/richmond-county/manufacturers-building-79003348/"}