Honoring the Past, Building a Future
When I look up at the Rocky Mount National Bank, I don’t just see architecture. I see a standard that still asks something of us, about stewardship, pride, and whether we believe our Main Street is worth the same care today. This Beaux Arts building was designed to do something specific. It was meant to … Continue reading An Invitation to See Main Street With Fresh Eyes
The New Year has a way of pressing a question upon us, whether we ask for it or not. After the holidays pass and the decorations come down, there is a pause, a moment when we ask, What’s next? Sitting on my bench, looking down Main Street, I ask a version of that same question: … Continue reading Happy New Year !!! The Quiet Work of What’s Next
When future historians look back on this era of preservation and renewal, they will find that, it is the stories they uncover that give this movement its heartbeat. The world of preservation in America emerged from a growing awareness that progress, unchecked, was erasing the very places that told our nation’s story. As postwar development … Continue reading Stories Give Preservation Its Heartbeat
A two-story brick commercial building was constructed circa 1917 for I. W. Rose. It housed Rose Drug Store and remained in operation in that location at least through 1980, making it one of the longest continuously operating drugstores in Rocky Mount’s Central Business District. Built by contractor R. T. Fountain, the structure reflected the optimism … Continue reading The Dentist Upstairs: Circa 1917 – #2
Winstead Electronics at 126 N.W. Main, the Philips Building, also known as the Bulluck Phillips Building, has been part of Rocky Mount’s downtown streetscape since 1907. Designed by local architect John C. Stout, the two story brick building is an impressive example of Beaux Arts architecture. Four Corinthian pilasters frame the upper story, arched windows … Continue reading The Steadfast Face of Main Street’s Historic Core -#1
The Prosecutors Summation to the Jury. It is not easy to hold two truths at once. That OIC has brought real good to this community: yes. That the tutoring programs, the workforce training, the wraparound services have helped people climb out of hardship: yes again. But it is also true that when council members sit … Continue reading The Prosecutors Summation: OIC and the Question of Public Trust
