Second Street Historic District

Albemarle's Second Street Historic District is a compact group of nineteen buildings and one object at the intersection of North Second Street and West North Street, within the town's original 1841 grid. Built between 1903 and 1960, the resources reflect the prosperity that came with paved streets, utilities, new mills and growing automobile travel in the early twentieth century. The district includes three prominent churches: Central Methodist (1908, Gothic Revival), First Baptist (1919, Beaux Arts) and First Presbyterian (1924, Beaux Arts). Other landmarks are the four-story Colonial Revival Albemarle Hotel of 1923, the 1916 Alameda Theater, the 1936 former post office, the 1938 City Hall and the Art Moderne Wilhelm Service Station of 1950. Italianate commercial buildings with shops and upper floors line the west side of North Second Street. Twelve resources contribute to the district's character, while later remodeled or newer buildings and a relocated Confederate memorial statue do not.