The Downtown Taylorsville Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 6, 2024. The National Register nomination was submitted through a partnership between the Alexander County Historic Preservation Commission and the Town of Taylorsville. ACME Preservation Services from Asheville researched, documented, and photographed the proposed district and prepared the nomination submitted to the NC Historic Preservation Office and the National Park Service.
The Downtown Taylorsville Historic District encompasses a portion of the central business district in Taylorsville, the seat of Alexander County. Following the creation of the county in 1847, town lots were laid out in a modified gridiron pattern around the courthouse square, and Taylorsville became the commercial and governmental center of the county. Taylorsville was incorporated in 1851.
Resources within the district reflect the twentieth-century development of the town as frame buildings and residences gave way to a dense, compact development of one- to three-story brick commercial buildings. The district includes the greater portion of five blocks extending north and east from the courthouse square and covering approximately 10.6 acres. The district inventory includes 33 properties (27 contributing resources and six non-contributing resources) consisting of more than 171,000 square feet of commercial and residential space with a 2024 assessed tax value of $7.2 million.
The district boundary is drawn to include the concentration of largely intact commercial and governmental resources from the 1906-1973 period on Main Avenue, Main Avenue Drive, and Center Street.
For more information about the Downtown Taylorsville National Register Historic District, please contact the Alexander County Historic Preservation office at 828-352-7757.