Academy Hill Historic District

Academy Hill is a small neighborhood southwest of downtown Statesville where schools, factories and houses developed side by side. It takes its name from the Statesville Male Academy, built in 1874 and later converted to a residence. Across Mulberry Street, the Statesville Graded School of 1892 was the first building constructed for the city's public school system and remains in use as the Mulberry Street School. At the south end are the J. C. Steele & Sons Brick Machinery Plant, the O. W. Slane Glass Company and the former Ash Tobacco Factory. Between them are frame and brick houses, mostly built from 1885 to 1930, in Queen Anne, Classical Revival, Bungalow and other modest styles. The J. C. Steele House is the only domestic Second Empire example in Iredell County. The district was recognized for its links to local education, industry, and figures such as educator J. H. Hill and brickmaker J. C. Steele.