Four Oaks Commercial Historic District

Four Oaks is a small railroad town whose commercial core forms a historic district of one- and two-story brick storefronts along North and South Main Street, Railroad Street and Wellons Avenue. The railroad laid out the town in 1886, and most of its buildings were built between 1904 and about 1957. Its earliest brick store, Blake Adams' building of 1904, is the oldest intact brick building in the district. Farmers brought cotton to the railroad platform and nearby gins, and the town was the leading cotton market in Johnston County from about 1900 to about 1930. The district holds several Commercial Style buildings, including the Lassiter Building, a Spanish Colonial Revival gas station and a 1957 Moderne-style Esso station. The Wade Stanley Stable, a brick mule stable from about 1945, is one of the few such buildings remaining in the county. The district is important for its cotton-era trade history and its well-preserved brick commercial architecture.