Kesler Manufacturing Co.-Cannon Mills Co. Plant No. 7 Historic District

This district in eastern Salisbury, North Carolina, combines a textile mill complex with the village built around it. The Kesler Manufacturing Company organized in 1895 and erected its first mill building that year. Under J. W. Cannon, who took control at the end of 1899, the mill expanded with a second building in 1904, a machine shop, cotton warehouses and later additions. The surrounding village grew to about 100 frame dwellings by 1928. Most are standardized mill houses set in rows, in several types built as the company grew, with a few individually designed private houses and three bungalows for supervisors built in 1921. The mill buildings are sturdy brick structures with thick firewalls, tall arched windows and heavy timber interiors, plus brick and tin warehouse sheds, a chimney, a water tower and a wooden rail trestle. The form describes it as the only Salisbury textile complex to survive with a high degree of architectural integrity and preservation.