Mount Holly Cotton Mill
Also known as: Alsace Manufacturing Co.
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Why it's listed
Begun in March 1875 beside Dutchman's Creek, this brick cotton mill in Mount Holly was the fourth textile mill in Gaston County and is now the oldest still standing there. A partnership of Abel Peterson Rhyne, Daniel E. Rhyne and Ambrose Costner built it, and it opened with 2,000 spindles and water power. The complex grew in stages: an original 1875 block, a three-story west addition built after the 1916 flood, and a one-story machine shop and boiler house. Its plain, functional Italianate styling is typical of the industrial buildings that spread across the county. The mill's presence prompted the 1879 renaming of the nearby settlement from Woodlawn to Mount Holly. Later owners renamed it Alsace Manufacturing Company and merged it into American Yarn and Processing Company in 1920. It was stripped in 1932, used for research from 1953, and abandoned in the early 1960s. Since 1973 it has housed industrial and commercial uses.
Significance in brief: It is the oldest surviving textile mill in Gaston County, which later claimed more textile mills than any other US county. Its Industrial Italianate form represents the functional industrial architecture of the New South. Its founding in 1875 led to the town being renamed Mount Holly in 1879 and to the growth of a textile community.
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 96000830, listed August 1, 1996. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 250 N. Main St., Mount Holly |
|---|---|
| County | Gaston County |
| Listed | August 1, 1996 |
| Reference number | 96000830 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1875-1946 |
| Architect / builder | unknown |
| Architectural style | Other: Industrial Italianate |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Industry |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Used for industrial and commercial purposes, including a specialty store, after being abandoned in the early 1960s and sold in 1973. |
| Acreage | 2.8 |
| Coordinates | 35.30073, -81.01476 (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.
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 96000830.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q19987221
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.