Double Shoals Cotton Mill
Also known as: Double Shoals Manufacturing Company; Lucky Stride Yarn Mill
Why it's listed
Built about 1880 on a hillside above the First Broad River in Double Shoals, Cleveland County, this two-and-a-half-story brick mill was constructed with heavy timber post-and-beam framing, thick plank floors laid without joists, and separate stair towers, a design known as slow-burning mill construction. Its exterior has Italianate details including segmentally arched window openings with hood moldings, a lancet-arched doorway in the stair tower, and decorative rafter tails. The mill was founded by Double Shoals Mill Company after E. A. Morgan replaced an earlier wood mill building, which had been powered by an overshot waterwheel and operated during the Civil War. It was the county's oldest surviving textile mill of its type, and its original interior machinery and water-power works are still in place. The building ceased operating as a mill in the mid-1980s and has been vacant for several years.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the mill is locally significant under Criterion C as a representative late nineteenth-century example of heavy timber slow-burning textile mill construction. It is described as the oldest of the remaining textile mills in the county, with its riverside siting, original interior framing, and surviving mill race, stone wall, and timber dam reflecting the building practices of the time.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 08000775, listed March 24, 2009. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 199 Old Mill Rd., Double Shoals |
|---|---|
| County | Cleveland County |
| Listed | March 24, 2009 |
| Reference number | 08000775 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | ca. 1880 |
| Architectural style | Italianate |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Vacant for several years after use as storage, according to the document. |
| Acreage | 7 |
| Coordinates | 35.38149, -81.54632 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For an income-producing building, listing (individually or as a contributing building in a district) is the gateway to the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit on qualified rehabilitation costs, often stackable with state credits. Work claiming the credit must follow the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and be approved in advance.
Listing does not restrict a private owner acting without federal money or permits; where federal funding or licensing is involved, Section 106 review applies.
Noted as vacant in the nomination. Nomination documents can be decades old; current status may differ. If you are considering buying an empty listed property, read the due-diligence checklist.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 08000775.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q18149939
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.