Five Points Historic District
Why it's listed
Built along East Main Street and Fourth Street at the low point where a creek was piped underground around 1917, the Five Points district brings together five early-twentieth-century commercial buildings and the Lillian Knitting Mills. The mill was founded by A. L. Patterson in May 1905 and named for his wife, and it was completed late that year by Concord contractor R. A. Brown. It is regarded as Stanly County's best preserved early textile mill, with a design showing Italianate influence. The district's buildings date from 1922 onward and include a granite-block Auten-Wolfe Motor Company building, later the Morgan Motor Company, and a Neoclassical Model Tailoring Company building with Doric capitals. The district is considered significant for documenting how commerce and industry shifted toward automobile-oriented and truck-dependent activity away from the rail lines. Its buildings retain a high degree of integrity, which is why they are valued as Albemarle's only surviving group of their kind.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the district is locally significant for its cohesive group of masonry buildings tied to commercial and industrial growth in Albemarle in the early twentieth century. It is described as the town's only such intact collection. Lillian Knitting Mills is presented as the most intact of the county's remaining textile factory complexes.
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 02001179, listed October 16, 2002. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Jct. of E. Main St., Pee Dee Ave., and 4th St., Albemarle |
|---|---|
| County | Stanly County |
| Listed | October 16, 2002 |
| Reference number | 02001179 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | 1905 - ca. 1950 |
| Architect / builder | Holbroook, D.A. (builder) |
| Architectural style | Commercial Style |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Commerce, Industry, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Three buildings are described as vacant; the Anderson Grocery and Morgan Motor Company buildings are currently vacant, and the Model Tailoring Company building is now used as a residence and offices. |
| Acreage | 3.4 |
| Coordinates | 35.35053, -80.19440 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
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 02001179.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q19946144
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.