Downtown Albemarle Historic District

Downtown Albemarle's early commercial core spans portions of South Second Street, West Main Street, and North and South First streets. It contains twenty-two one-, two- and three-story masonry buildings built between 1898 and 1940, twenty of which contribute to its character. Most are plain to moderately detailed commercial-style buildings with arched window lintels, corbelled cornices, dentil bands, stepped parapets, and pressed metal trim, and some retain patented Crane storefronts and leaded glass transoms. The 1907 Starnes Opera House, built by local contractor L.A. Moody, is the most distinctive building. Dr. O. D. King built several of the Second Street buildings in 1898. The district reflects the town's growth after the Yadkin Railroad arrived in 1891 and the Efird and Wiscasset textile mills opened, when brick stores replaced earlier wooden ones. It was listed for its architecture and its role in the commercial development of Albemarle between 1898 and 1950.