Stanly County History Center

Stanly County History Center The Mission of the Stanly County History Center is to research, record, conserve, and interpret the history of Stanly County, NC.

We are open Monday through Friday 9 AM to 5 PM and the last Saturday of the month from 9 AM to 1 PM. The Stanly County History Center is open the following days:

Monday through Friday 9am to 5pm

Our friends at the Stanly County Historical Society have two upcoming free concerts planned for the Historic 1852 Isaiah...
09/01/2026

Our friends at the Stanly County Historical Society have two upcoming free concerts planned for the Historic 1852 Isaiah Snuggs House. See the flyers for all the details! We hope you will make your plans to join us!

Look at what fun things we have planned for History Hunters this month! We hope to see you there!!!
08/31/2026

Look at what fun things we have planned for History Hunters this month! We hope to see you there!!!

Today’s picture is a full-page ad from the April 20, 1956 edition of the Stanly News & Press. It shares information abou...
08/31/2026

Today’s picture is a full-page ad from the April 20, 1956 edition of the Stanly News & Press. It shares information about a fundraising event being held by the local Jaycees group as they were trying to fund the purchase of a resuscitator for the local rescue squad. This event, along with the soft drink fundraiser, did allow them to raise the money that was needed.

When Stanly County was established in 1841, widow Nancy Almond Hearne and her family donated 50 acres that became the To...
08/30/2026

When Stanly County was established in 1841, widow Nancy Almond Hearne and her family donated 50 acres that became the Town of Albemarle. The first picture today is the original town plat that shows the land they donated. It covered the area between First and Fourth Streets and between North and South Streets. The pictures that follow the map are the original deed.

One item of note is that during 1898 the town was looking to sell some of the land around the square. When trying to make sure there was clear title to the property, they found that the original deed from March of 1841 had not been recorded in the Register of Deeds office. After some searching through the county records, in March (1898) the deed was finally found and recorded by W.T. Huckabee, Sr, who was the Register of Deeds at the time.

The Badin Historic Museum has launched a wonderful new FREE tour app that will enable everyone to enjoy learning about B...
08/29/2026

The Badin Historic Museum has launched a wonderful new FREE tour app that will enable everyone to enjoy learning about Badin and its rich history. The three tours of historic Badin can be viewed from home on a computer or via the app downloaded onto a smart phone.

The first tour is a walking tour which includes an interactive map that will lead you through the streets of Badin. It includes historic photos, oral history audios, and detailed narratives. The second tour is a history of the growth of the area that became Badin and the third is a history of the West Badin community. (The second and third tours are not walking tours but can still be enjoyed from any cell phone or home computer.)

To download the app to your cell phone, use the QR code at the bottom of the picture. To enjoy the tours from home, visit the tour website at https://badinhistoricmuseum.stqry.app/ {See today's picture for more details!}

Thanks to the volunteers at the Badin Historic Museum for making these amazing tours available for us all to enjoy!

Today’s first four pictures are from a collection of negatives from Pat and Chris Bramlett. The pictures show what Court...
08/28/2026

Today’s first four pictures are from a collection of negatives from Pat and Chris Bramlett. The pictures show what Courthouse Square Park looked like in the late 1970s. The “old timey well” was installed during the summer of 1977. The last picture shows a Google Street View from August 2021 of what Courthouse Square Park looks like over 40 years later.

According to the September 9, 1988 Stanly News & Press, the Harristown-Badin Optimist Club in Stanly County sponsored th...
08/27/2026

According to the September 9, 1988 Stanly News & Press, the Harristown-Badin Optimist Club in Stanly County sponsored the new Albemarle-Badin club that became the first all-female Optimist Club in the N.C. Central District and the second in the state.

Officers of the newly-organized club were installed August 31 by Dr. J. C. Boone, Official Representative of Optimist International for New Club Building and 1988-89 chairman of the International Leadership Development Committee.

From left are: Barbara Apperwhite, treasurer; Brenda James Stanback, external vice president; Juliet Richardson, one-year director; Dr. Boone; Helen McRae, one-year director; Emily Turner, president; Charles Allen, president of the sponsoring Badin-Harristown Optimist Club and Past Governor of the N.C. Central District OI; Betty Evans, internal vice president; Elaine Capel, two-year director; Linda Perry, secretary; and Selma White, two-year director. Pauline Jackson is also a one-year director and Lazora Williams is a two-year director.

Today’s photo was sharpened by AI for clarity.

Today’s first picture is the marker at the summit of Morrow Mountain that honors James McKnight Morrow of Albemarle, sho...
08/26/2026

Today’s first picture is the marker at the summit of Morrow Mountain that honors James McKnight Morrow of Albemarle, shown in the second picture, who was the primary donor of the original land that was to make up Morrow Mountain State Park. The third picture shows the legislation passed by the North Carolina General Assembly that was passed on June 17, 1961, authorizing the er****on of the marker.

Please add comments or email me directly at [email protected] if you can help narrow down when the marker was actually installed and please add pictures if you have any that show a full view of the marker in place!

PRESIDENTIAL CONNECTIONS TO STANLY COUNTY: What’s currently known as the Scripps National Spelling Bee first began in 19...
08/25/2026

PRESIDENTIAL CONNECTIONS TO STANLY COUNTY: What’s currently known as the Scripps National Spelling Bee first began in 1925. This first competition was made up of the winners of numerous local spelling bees and was organized by the Louisville Courier Journal.

On May 15, 1926, 13-year-old Louise Efird of Albemarle participated in and won the North Carolina Spelling Bee Championship in Charlotte. According to the Charlotte Observer she competed against 30 other contestants in front of approximately 1,000 spectators! The finals had come down to Efird and Charles Griffin of Bertie County. Efird was declared the winner when she spelled the word “crystallize” correctly.

As an award for winning the state title, Efird was given a 6-day trip to Washington D.C. to compete in the 2nd National Spelling Bee held in mid-June. According to the June 29, 1926 Stanly News-Herald Efird made it through 36 rounds and was one of the last participants but did not last long enough to win an award.

Efird was eliminated when she was asked to spell the word “eke”. She later explained that her mistake was due to her familiarity with the word “Eek” from the comics.

The day after the contest, the participants all visited President Calvin Coolidge at the White House as shown in today’s second picture.

David Riff opened Riff’s Department Store on West Main Street in Albemarle on March 3, 1917. One of two businesses locat...
08/24/2026

David Riff opened Riff’s Department Store on West Main Street in Albemarle on March 3, 1917. One of two businesses located on the ground level of the A.P. Harris building, the store originally sold dry goods along with men’s and women’s clothing. In 1922, Snuggs Drugstore, which at the time was the other ground-level business, moved next door and Riff’s expanded into its old space.

Riff passed away in November 1931, and his wife, along with three of their four children, continued to run the business. An announcement in the June 30, 1964 edition of the Stanly News & Press shared that the business had filed Articles of Dissolution.

{Today's picture on the left, from the History Center collection, shows the A.P. Harris building as it looked in 1940 and the picture on the right is a GoogleMaps view of what it looked like in March 2026}

Address

157 North Second Street
Albemarle, NC
28001

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

(704) 986-3777

Website

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