Edgemont, a subdivision three blocks east of Main Street in Rocky Mount, was platted in 1914 by Rocky Mount civil engineer Luther D. Harper on farmland. The principal avenue of Tarboro Street, with flanking Sycamore and Hill Streets, compose the core of the subdivision, with four crossing streets and service alleys through the centers of the blocks. As the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, which had its repair shops in Rocky Mount, and the town’s tobacco market boomed in the early twentieth century, Edgemont developed as one of the most stylish of the town’s suburbs. For the next twenty-five years doctors, lawyers, tobacconists, salesmen, clerks, and employees of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad built bungalows, Foursquares, and Colonia and Tudor Revival style houses on the spacious, flat lots in the Edgemont subdivision. Along the alleys they erected matching garages, and occasionally maids’ quarters, that form stylish ensembles. The Edgemont Historic District is listed in the National Register of Historic Places because of its significance in the area of community development as one of the major subdivisions of the city’s pre-World War II boom period. The district is one of the most intact collections of historic residential design in Rocky Mount and the extremely well-preserved streetscapes of houses and garages of matching architectural design have strong architectural significance.

Edgemont Historic District National Register of Historic Places Listing

Edgemont Historic District Boundary Expansion National Register of Historic Places Listing

The Falls Road Historic District, an extremely well-preserved residential district containing one-hundred historic buildings, primarily houses, developed beginning in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to 1950 grew northwestward from downtown Rocky Mount and is associated with many important tobacconists, businessmen, and physicians in Rocky Mount’s history. Rocky Mount experienced a burst of construction from the late 1890s into 1920s generated by the establishment of the Rocky Mount Tobacco Market and the Atlantic Coast Line’s repair shops. Like other main streets adjacent to downtown, stylish houses were built along Falls Road in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Falls Road, essentially an extension of Main Street, experienced resurgence in development during the 1920s as large brick homes were built for doctors associated with Park View Hospital, which opened on Falls Road in 1914.

The residences of the Falls Road neighborhood reflect building practices in Rocky Mount from 1900 to 1950, when local architects and builders supplied nationally popular house designs to their clients. Contractors such as D. J. Rose, Sam Toler and architects, John C. Stout and Thomas Herman, built solid stylish houses along Falls Road, often from architects’ plans. The district exemplifies popular architectural styles of the period, including the Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, Neoclassical Revival, Georgian Revival and Craftsman styles. A small scattering of houses built in the early 1900s stand as a reminder of Rocky Mount’s early boom of residential development. Several brick Colonial and Georgian Revival style homes represent the 1920s expansion of the neighborhood.

Falls Road Historic District National Register of Historic Places Listing

The Lincoln Park Historic District is located in the northeast section of Rocky Mount, in west Edgecombe County, North Carolina. The residential district is an intact collection of single-family Minimal Traditional-style houses and one restaurant and motel. The neighborhood commenced in 1948, under the direction of local real estate firm, Wimberley and Gregory and the Tar River Housing Corporation, with the construction of the first homes in 1948, and continued through 1953 with the completion of the restaurant and motel. The new neighborhood was marketed exclusively to middle-class African American families seeking the opportunity to become homeowners and was the first modern suburban development of its size in Rocky Mount to do so. The neighborhood was able to successfully attract working families armed with the advantage of new policies enacted by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). The realtors quickly amassed commitments for every home in the development. The Minimal Traditional-style houses were designed by regionally-prominent architect Thomas B. Herman of Wilson, North Carolina. The development of this suburban neighborhood assisted in ushering in a new way of living for African Americans in Rocky Mount, as most families had previously lived in dense urban neighborhoods in and around the central city and mill village areas.

Lincoln Park Historic District National Register of Historic Places Listing

The Rocky Mount Mills Village Historic District is a remarkably intact mill village straddling Falls Road (NC 43/48), south of the Tar River, in the northwest section of Rocky Mount in Nash County. Built between 1835 and 1948, the historic structures that make up the district comprise historic mill and mill village associated with the second oldest cotton mill in North Carolina. Encompassing six blocks, the district consists of industrial and residential resources, from the antebellum, post-bellum, and twentieth century development of Rocky Mount Mills. Located on approximately 98 acres and irregular in shape, the district is roughly bounded by the south side of the Tar River to the north, Spring Street to the south, and Columbia Avenue and Carr Street to the east and west, respectively.

The Rocky Mount Mills Village Historic District contains seventy-four contributing principal resources; made up of eight industrial buildings and two dwellings located in the 1100 block of Falls Road, and sixty-four mills houses located on River Drive, Falls Road, Carr Street, Elm Street, and Spring Street.

Rocky Mount Mills Village Historic District National Register of Historic Places Listing

Rocky Mount Mills National Register of Historic Places Listing

Villa Place, a roughly nine-block neighborhood located three blocks west of Main Street, is the most intact turn-of-the-century residential subdivision in the city of Rocky Mount. The densely developed neighborhood is filled with well-preserved Queen Anne, Foursquare, Craftsman, Colonial Revival and Neoclassical Revival style houses built between 1900 and the 1940s by employees of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and other businesses in the bustling railroad and tobacco town. The West End Land Development Company laid out the east half of the district in 1891 and sold lots until 1907 when the American Suburban Corporation took over the development. In 1913 this company platted the west half of the district as Villa Place. The entire area is now known by this name. West School, the first public graded school in Rocky Mount, was built in the district in 1901. Its successor, the James Craig Braswell School, a brick Moderne style building, was erected on the Pearl Street site in 1940 and is still in use. The principal district landmark is Machaven, a spectacular Neoclassical Revival style brick mansion built in the middle of the subdivision in 1908 from a design by Raleigh architect H. P. S. Keller. The strong local significance of Villa Place in the history of Rocky Mount’s community development and architectural development render it eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. Villa Place is undergoing a renaissance as young families move back to the inner city and restore the delightful architectural features of its dwellings.

Villa Place Historic District National Register of Historic Places Listing

West Haven Historic District is a roughly twenty-five block neighborhood located approximately one mile wet of downtown Rocky Mount and adjacent to the Tar River. This largely intact neighborhood represents the high point of residential development in Nash County following World War I. The neighborhood is one of the first planned developments in Rocky Mount to move away from the grid system. West Haven’s broad curvilinear streets, spacious lawns and initial residences, built in popular variations of the traditional Colonial Revival style, reflected the desire for a sylvan retreat removed from the bustle of the center city. Developed by local civil engineer, John Wells, the 1928 plan incorporated two multi-acre sties reserved for small parks. Architects Thomas Herman of Wilson and Harry Harles of Rocky Mount, along with local contractors led by D. J. Rose and Samuel Toler built excellent Colonial Revival-style houses for prosperous clients. While the Colonial Revival prevailed in the West Haven Historic District, an assortment of Spanish Colonial, Dutch Colonial, and Tudor Revival styles appeared as well. Post World War II houses included more modest minimal traditional and ranch houses.

West Haven Historic District National Register of Historic Places Listing

Photographs and drawings depicting the proposed changes will be required for the review process. Applications are forwarded to the Historic Preservation Commission for review.

Certain minor changes that do not substantially affect properties can be approved by staff through the Minor Works process. This includes such things as replacement of in-kind roof coverings, removal of siding, and replacement of missing architectural elements when there is no change in design or materials from the original. If you have any questions, the City’s Department of Development Services can help you.

• View chart of major/minor works (PDF)

The local historic district designation does not require you to make any alterations or changes to your property. General maintenance work that does not change the exterior appearance is not reviewed, nor are interior alterations.

Yes. Owning property in a local historic district ensures that your neighborhood will be protected from unmanaged change. Because the review process requires public comment, neighboring property owners are given more involvement with the development and alterations in their area than if no district were in place.

The Department of Development Services provides professional staff support for the Historic Preservation Commission. Staff can make site consultations at your property and provide technical assistance in solving problems typically encountered by historic property owners, such as, persistently peeling paint and exterior cleaning methods. Also, the Commission maintains a library of preservation resource materials in the Department of Development Services which you may consult or copy.

Yes. Public comment is an important part of the designation process. By law, property owners in a proposed local historic district must be notified of the proposal so they may testify for or against it during the public hearings. Neighborhood meetings are held to discuss the impact of the proposed designation. A contact person will be identified in each neighborhood to assist with any questions.

Neighborhood change is affected by forces that occur independently of historic district designation. Economic pressures of development and shifting population trends may affect property values. Many local historic districts have experienced improvement in the appearance of the area and an increase in home ownership. This is not guaranteed. However, studies show absolutely no evidence of decline in property values from historic district designation. Indeed, designation consistently encourages reinvestment and may result in higher property values. At this time, there is no special tax assessment for local historic districts; therefore, your taxes should not increase more than others in the community.

Districts can be designated for a variety of reasons relating to the social, architectural, historical, and/or cultural significance of the area. Local historic district designation is designed to protect and enhance the existing character of a community, not to change it.

For more information, contact the City of Rocky Mount Department of Development Services at 252-972-1108 or email Stephanie.Goodrich@rockymountnc.gov.