Rocky Mount is a small service, factory, and courthouse town sited near the center of Franklin County, within view of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the rolling, rural terrain of the Piedmont plateau. One hundred and eighty-four primary resources and 67 secondary resources comprise the Rocky Mount Historic District. The district contains three distinct areas: the commercial downtown area; the governmental “uptown” area; and intact residential neighborhoods. The extant buildings within the Rocky Mount Historic District are associated with Franklin County’s tobacco and grain production, commerce, lumber and textile manufacturing, government, and the advent of the automobile and railroad. Important buildings include the 1827 Taliaferro Building, Reynolds Restaurant, circa 1900 Lodge Rooms (Colored), N&W Freight Depot, Franklin County Courthouse and 1938 County Jail, N. Morris Department Store, Central Garage, and 1940 Exchange Milling. Various historic churches, a large cemetery, a public park, excellent examples of Greek Revival, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, and Bungalow-style dwellings, and a Lustron house round out the many resources and styles of architecture found in the Rocky Mount Historic District.

In 2008, the boundary of the Rocky Mount Historic District was expanded along the northernmost two blocks of Orchard Avenue, located to the south of East Court Street and terminating at Patterson Street. This area was contiguous to Rocky Mount’s central business district. All of the resources in the increase area are single-family dwellings and associated outbuildings.  The majority of the development on Orchard Avenue occurred during the 1920s.
[VLR Listed: 3/20/2008; NRHP Listed: 5/15/2008]