{"nrhp_refnum":"88000137","name":"South Main Street Historic District","other_names":["See Also:Korner's Folly"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"100--600 blks. of S. Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Kernersville","county":"Forsyth County","state":"NC","lat":36.11607899300006,"lon":-80.07765883692167,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1988-02-25","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Commerce","Exploration/Settlement","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A historic district of about 45 acres along the 100-600 blocks of South Main Street (NC 150) in Kernersville, Forsyth County, North Carolina, with 84 resources not previously listed, mixing houses, commercial buildings and churches dating from ca. 1834 to the mid-20th century.","why_significant":"The district preserves the architectural development of Kernersville from the 1830s through the 1950s, including early dwellings, brick houses of the Kerner family, Victorian frame houses and decorative commercial buildings. Twenty-one buildings predate 1900, which the form cites as the best indicator of its architectural significance. It also includes Korner's Folly, already listed separately.","narrative":"Six blocks of South Main Street in Kernersville, once the stage road to Salem, make up this district of roughly 45 acres. Houses, shops, two churches and a small park sit among mature street trees. The oldest house, the Spears House, dates to about 1834. Many 1850s and 1870s brick homes were built by members of the Kerner family, who developed land that once belonged to Joseph Kerner. Frame cottages with elaborate sawn and turned woodwork, late Victorian houses, and early twentieth century Colonial Revival and bungalow dwellings follow. Commercial buildings include the 1884 Greenfield and Kerner Tobacco Factory and the ornate brickwork of the 1903 Bank of Kernersville. Korner's Folly, an 1880 showcase house with 22 rooms, is already separately listed. Of 84 additional resources, 57 contribute to the district's character. Twenty-one buildings predate 1900, which underlines its value as a record of the town's growth and architecture.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"W. S. Linville (builder of the Bank of Kernersville); Elias Kerner Huff (carpenter); Jules Gilmer Korner (Korner's Folly)","architectural_style":"Mid-19th Century; Late Victorian; Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals","criteria":[],"status_note":"Mostly in continued use as houses, shops and churches; Korner's Folly has sometimes stood vacant and is being restored by a corporation that opens it for tours. Two inventoried buildings were demolished in August 1987.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:49.187422-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/33/7178/47717833/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/88000137.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88000137/6474ae14e1-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88000137/6474ae14e1-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Pubdog","credit_html":"Pubdog, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kernersville_Moravian_Church_South_Main_Street_Historic_District_Kernersville_NC_Jan_2015.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47717833","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Main_Street_Historic_District_(Kernersville,_North_Carolina)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18589326"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/forsyth-county/south-main-street-historic-district-88000137/"}