Goldston Commercial Historic District

Goldston's commercial core in southern Chatham County grew up around a railroad depot built in 1884, with stores facing the tracks along South Bellevue and South Main streets. The district holds fifteen contributing buildings dating from about 1890 to about 1935. On the west side stand three narrow frame stores with gable roofs hidden behind parapeted false fronts and bracketed cornices, typical of railroad 'boom town' architecture. Brick and stucco stores from the 1910s to the 1930s line the east side, many with corbelled facades. The two-story A.J. Goldston store, about 1890, is the oldest. Two of the frame stores were linked to the Farmer's Alliance and Farmer's Union cooperatives, which helped farmers bypass merchant middlemen, and the 1908 Union store is one of few survivors of its kind. The district is significant for its commerce, agriculture and architecture. Once highways replaced the railroad in the 1930s, growth stopped, and that decline helped preserve these buildings.