Asheboro Hosiery Mills and Cranford Furniture Company Complex
Also known as: Cranford Industries. National Chair Company
Why it's listed
Along the railroad in downtown Asheboro, a complex of brick mill and factory buildings occupies much of a city block. C. C. Cranford began investing in the site in 1908, and in 1917 he built a two-story brick hosiery mill there for Asheboro Hosiery Mills. The plant grew from about thirty employees operating thirty seamless hosiery machines to a works that employed six hundred workers and produced sixty thousand pairs of hose daily in 1937. Adjacent to it, the Cranford Furniture Company factory, built around 1918, made bedroom and dining room furniture from Randolph County hardwoods. The buildings are regarded as significant for industrial history, because they were the core of the Cranford Industries group, and for architecture, because they show load-bearing brick walls combined with heavy timber framing and, later, steel framing. A 1945 Art Moderne façade with glass block windows marks the mill's later modernization.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the complex is significant under Criterion A for industry, as the home of Asheboro Hosiery Mills and the Cranford Furniture Company within the Cranford Industries group, which was one of the county's largest industrial concerns. It is also significant under Criterion C for architecture, reflecting advances in industrial building design from the 1910s through the 1950s, including load-bearing brick mill construction with heavy timber framing and an Art Moderne-style façade added in 1945.
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 11000891, listed December 7, 2011. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 133 & 139 S. Church St., 230 W. Academy Sts., Asheboro |
|---|---|
| County | Randolph County |
| Listed | December 7, 2011 |
| Reference number | 11000891 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1917-1961 |
| Architectural style | Classical Revival; Art Moderne |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Industry |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Asheboro Hosiery Mills remained in business until 1998; the complex is currently owned and operated by B & H Panel Co. according to sign bands on the mill. |
| Acreage | 3 |
| Within district | Asheboro Downtown Historic District |
| Coordinates | 35.70410, -79.81679 (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 11000891.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q19864814
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.