The Steadfast Face of Main Street’s Historic Core-#3

109 S.E. Main Street (c. 1907)

A two-story brick commercial building on S.E. Main, immediately south of the 1918 Rocky Mount National Bank. Historic forms describe a pilastered upper façade with round-arched second-story openings over a storefront, a look typical of Main Street construction just after 1900.

Over time, alterations (a replacement storefront, bricked-in arches, and metal casements) eroded the original fabric, which is why today it’s treated as non-contributing in the district.

The architect and builder are not identified in available records, but the building shows the scale and style of Rocky Mount’s early-20th-century boom that set the stage for the landmark bank next door.

Though altered over the decades, 109 S.E. Main Street still whispers its early 20th-century story. Sanborn fire insurance maps from 1907 and 1912 show the 100-block of Main lined with two-story brick shops much like this one, each with a ground-floor storefront and offices or meeting rooms above. 

The arched window bays on the second floor are a telltale sign of that era, when even modest commercial blocks carried a touch of architectural flourish.

City directories from the 1910s through the 1920s list a rotating cast of merchants and professionals in this spot, suggesting it served as a classic Main Street “front door” for small businesses. Its neighbor to the north, the 1918 Rocky Mount National Bank, was designed by noted architects Milburn & Heister and built in grand Beaux-Arts style.

109 S.E. Main Street reflects the more common fabric along the street.

Today, despite its peeling paint and patched masonry, the building still holds the scale and presence of Rocky Mount’s commercial boom years.

The contrast between its worn brickwork and the towering stone bank beside it tells a story of how Main Street mixed everyday commerce with landmark ambition, a story worth preserving, even when the details have weathered away.

I stand looking at this building, perplexed at why it has not long ago been embraced as part of Main Street’s revitalization. My usual pollyanna point of view falters here, replaced by a deeper wondering: why does a place with such history and presence stand waiting, unclaimed in the story we are trying to tell about our city’s future?

Who owns this building? That question cannot be brushed aside. Too much of Main Street’s fate rests in the portfolios of a few, whose grip determines which buildings see new life and which are left deteriorating.

When the future of downtown depends on such concentrated ownership, the buildings outside that circle are too easily left to languish. This is a problem that leaves promising properties sitting idle while the city’s heartbeat weakens.

I plead with the Downtown Development Office to take up the cause, to lift this building into the public eye with intentional plans like storyboards, architectural renderings, and vision that invites investment.

Surely, a building like 109 S.E. Main deserves more than neglect. It should not be held hostage to inertia or private disinterest. It deserves to be claimed as part of our shared heritage, marketed not as an afterthought but reimagined, so it can once again stand as a front door to the life of downtown.

In the end, Main Street will be remembered not only for its shining landmarks but also for how we cared for the quieter companions that stood beside them. If we can find the will to preserve and reimagine even the overlooked, then Rocky Mount’s future will carry the strength and dignity of its past.