The Main Street Historic
District in Brevard was added to the National Register of Historic Places in
2002.  The district is located in the
center of town and covers approximately thirteen acres.  The district includes three blocks of Main
St. and one block on each of South Broad, Jordan, North Caldwell and Probart
streets, plus buildings in the Times Arcade Alley.

In January 2014 the end building from this row of four building on North Caldwell was torn down because of structural problems. It was a contributing building to the Main Street Historic District.

To be considered buildings had
to be at least 50 years old at the time and have only slight renovations.  Within the area there were originally 32
buildings that met the criteria.  Twelve
additional buildings are considered non-contributing because they have undergone
extensive architectural changes and loss of integrity.

Two others are non-contributing
because they were less than 50 years old in 2002.  The former county administration building was
originally built as the Transylvania County Library in 1956 and Love’s Jewelry
was constructed in 1965.

The oldest building is the Transylvania
County Courthouse, which was completed in 1881. 
The jail was constructed in 1921 behind the courthouse.  An addition completed in 1984 connects the two buildings. 

The McMinn Building, located
across Broad St. from the courthouse, is the oldest commercial building in the
district.  Built in 1899, the McMinn
Building was the first brick commercial building in Brevard and set the tone
for the style of buildings in the downtown business district.

These two buildings are also
individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The majority of the other
buildings were constructed prior to the Depression.  The buildings range from one to three stories
and most are common brick bond or stucco. 

Those that are non-contributing
have had their facades replaced with siding, parapet walls removed and windows
and doors replaced. 

Around 1970 Patterson’s, on the
south side of West Main St., replaced their storefront with modern brick
veneer.  That has since been removed returning
the building to its earlier look.

The Aetholdwold, constructed in
1905, was also a non-contributing building because its entire third floor and
the one-story portico with balustrade on the Broad St. side had been
removed.  The building has undergone major
restoration work, including rebuilding the third floor in recent years.

These two photographs, taken nearly 90 years apart, illustrates how major changes to the exterior of buildings eliminated them from being contributing structures.

The summary and inventory of the
properties in the Main Street Historic District, along with photographs from
the 1991 architectural survey are available in the Local History Room.  More information is also available in Transylvania:
The Architectural History of a Mountain County.

Photographs and
information for this column are provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina
Room, Transylvania County Library.  Visit
the NC Room during regular library hours (Monday-Friday) to learn more about
our history and see additional photographs. 
For more information, comments or suggestions contact Marcy at [email protected] or
828-884-3151 X242.