Alexander Manufacturing Company Mill Village Historic District

This mill village southeast of downtown Forest City grew around the Alexander Manufacturing Company textile mill, begun in 1918. The district covers roughly sixty-five acres and 102 primary resources, including the brick mill complex, worker housing, the former Alexander School, and Alexander Baptist Church. The eastern section, probably built in 1918, follows a curvilinear plan by landscape architect Earle Sumner Draper, while the western section, built around 1920, runs in straight rows beside the railroad tracks. Most homes are one-story frame Craftsman bungalows with brick foundations and porches on tapered posts; eleven house types are identified, and some may have been built from Minter Homes kits. A few larger houses served a supervisor, boarders, and teachers. The company sold the houses to individuals beginning in 1956, and many now have vinyl or aluminum siding. The mill once ranked among the county's largest and most productive textile operations. It closed in 2005 and is now used for storage. The district was recognized for industry, community planning, and architecture.