Downtown Main Street Historic District

Along Main Street in downtown North Wilkesboro, a row of thirty-five buildings, most of them two stories, forms the town's densest commercial core. The town was founded in 1891 as the western terminus of the Northwestern North Carolina Railroad, and its brick stores were built in rapid succession uphill from the depot. Most of the district was built between 1891 and about 1930, giving it a homogeneous character. Standard commercial buildings share segmental or round-arched windows with brick hood molds and layered corbeled cornices. Several buildings stand out for their design. The 1892 former Bank of North Wilkesboro at 901 Main Street has terra cotta decoration, and 823 Main Street has a pressed metal facade from before 1904. Benton and Benton of Wilson designed three buildings: the 1923 former bank at 832 Main Street, the 1926 Hotel Wilkes at 830 Main Street, and the 1939 former Town Hall at 801 Main Street. The district is valued for its architecture and for its role as the area's commercial center through the mid-twentieth century.