Kinston Commercial Historic District (Boundary Increase)( Boundary Decrease)

Downtown Kinston's commercial core is a grid of brick storefronts, most built in the first third of the twentieth century, and most one or two stories tall. The district extends along North Queen, North Herritage, West North and Blount streets, and it expands an earlier Queen-Gordon Streets district listed in 1989. Buildings sit flush with the sidewalk and share common walls, with concrete sidewalks and plantings throughout. Many storefronts keep original transoms, corbelled or stepped cornices, and multipaned windows. Art Deco influence appears in the 1935 Carolina Theatre, whose facade uses cream and black tile spandrels, and in the 1920s and 1930s buildings along North Herritage Street. The Cash Supply Store Building at 222 North Herritage, built around 1914, has a molded brick cornice and a relatively intact first floor. Several buildings reflect the arrival of the automobile, including the Overland Garage Company Building on West Blount Street and the Ellis Carriage Works, later an automobile showroom. The district is significant for its concentration of commercial buildings across this period and for how they document the town's growth.