Becoming a Historic District

The Main Street Historic District

When a county or city wants to be recognized as a National Historic District, it's not just a matter of approving a request. There are many requirements that must be met, mainly in the area of architectural and historical significance. Beginning in September 1990 and lasting a year, a "comprehensive historic and architectural survey of Transylvania County was conducted" by an independent consultant. That consultant, Deborah J. Thompson, co-authored a book with Laura A.W. Phillips discussing many historic properties in the County in a 1994 book titled "Transylvania: The Architectural History of a Mountain County".

For each type of property, including log dwellings, private residences, commercial buildings, and summer camps, the study had to document a description, the significance of the property in a historical context, and the satisfaction and consideration of registration requirements. The study she conducted included an in-depth look at the history of the County, transportation (particularly the railroads), early history of the area, the impact of the Civil War, and an overview of the economic impact of these things on the area's development. These long statements of historic contexts were followed by information on each property type. Finally, before an extensive section on bibliographical references, there was a summary of the methods used to perform all property identification and evaluation methods.

The initial report stated its purpose as being to "identify and describe all structures fifty years of age or older which possess some architectural and/or historic integrity." Before they began the survey, there were already several properties on the National Register Study List. Among these, the commercial properties that were closest to downtown were the Red House on Probart Street and Keystone Camp about two miles southwest of West Main Street. Quite a few other properties were added to the Study List in 1992, soon after the study was completed. Some of the closest commercial properties to downtown that were added were the McMinn Block, St. Phillips Episcopal Church, and the former Brevard Country Club.

Each property listed in the report was assigned a site number, which was preceded by the letters "TV" and which appear not only in the report, but in the book mentioned above.

The study also described a brief history of schools and churches in the area, as well as Post Offices and provided good summaries of tourism and economic conditions.

In a separate document (National Register of Historic Places, partial form submitted by Sybil Argintar Bowers of Bowers Southeaster Preservation on April 10, 2002), filed in 2002, the Main Street Historic District as a "nominated district." The forms defined the boundaries of the district, and stated that it consisted of "thirty-two contributing buildings, fourteen non-contributing buildings, one non-contributing structure, and one vacant lot." Contributing properties were defined to be fifty or more years old (at that time) and having only minimal architectural changes from the original building, "primarily at the storefront level". Twelve buildings met the age requirement, but had either had too many changes or had a loss of integrity.

The entire Main Street Historic District occupies about thirteen acres, with the range of building ages between 1874 and the 1950s. The McMinn Building was listed in the National Register in 1994, while the Courthouse was listed in 1979.

Associated with the 2002 filing about the Main Street Historic District was a hand-drawn map outlining its boundaries. The only copies of this map that were found were spread across several pages. To better examine it, the pages were laid out and taped together. The district boundary was then highlighted and a photo taken of the result.

In the drawing, the contributing buildings are shown without highlighting. Non-contributing buildings are shaded. The district extends to Gaston on the east, just past West Jordan on the south, almost to England on the west, and no further than Probart to the north.