Grimes Brothers Mill
Also known as: Lexington Roller Mill; Excelsior Mill
Why it's listed
Lexington's brick flour mill was built around 1885 as a four-story addition to a frame mill begun in 1879 by brothers John D. and Thomas J. Grimes. The building's painted brick facade has corbeled and dentiled cornice, quoined pilasters and segmental-arched hood molds in the Italianate manner. Inside, timber posts, bolsters and beams survive on the basement, third and fourth floors, along with grain chutes and storage bins. The brothers installed rollers soon after founding the mill, and the nomination states this made it the first roller-process mill in North Carolina. Roller milling produced finer, more uniform flour at higher prices, and it displaced older buhrstone grist mills across the region. The mill operated into the mid-twentieth century, and the brick building is now the only part of the complex left in Davidson County.
Significance in brief: The building is associated with the introduction of the roller process to flour milling in North Carolina. The nomination states the Grimes brothers' mill was the first roller-process mill in the state and the only surviving roller mill from that era in Davidson County. Its significance is locally recognized for its role in the late-nineteenth-century development of the regional flour milling industry.
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 02000443, listed May 2, 2002. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 2 North State St., Lexington |
|---|---|
| County | Davidson County |
| Listed | May 2, 2002 |
| Reference number | 02000443 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | ca. 1885-1945 |
| Architectural style | Italianate |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Industry |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Converted to bank use in the early 1960s; a December 1999 fire damaged the north addition; the building is described as vacant, with the bank additions removed in 2001. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Within district | Lexington Residential Historic District |
| Coordinates | 35.82545, -80.25439 (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 02000443.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q18346247
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.