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

In March 1946, the Stanly News & Press carried an announcement that a new building was being built beside Ketner’s Groce...
06/03/2026

In March 1946, the Stanly News & Press carried an announcement that a new building was being built beside Ketner’s Grocery Store on P*e Dee Avenue just up from Five Points. The new building, constructed by D.A. Holbrook and Son, was to house a new bakery and catering business known as Kelly’s Bakery. The bakery, owned by M.F. Kelly and A.E. Voncannon opened on Friday, February 7, 1947.

It is not clear when VonCannon left the business, but Kelly Bakery was sold by M.F. Kelly in December 1952 to J.P. Early and D.A. Austin. {Kelly passed away just a few months later} The business continued until at least 1957 when the name changed to Quality Bakery. It is not clear the reason for the name change, but the last information that has been found about Quality Bakery was a listing in the 1960 city directory.

Today’s first picture is a SNAP ad announcing the opening of Kelly’s Bakery. The second is an ad for Quality Bakery and the third is a Google Maps view that shows the building where the bakeries were located.

The Friends of the E.E. Waddell Center is hosting an event July 12 to honor some of the leaders and trailblazers who hel...
06/02/2026

The Friends of the E.E. Waddell Center is hosting an event July 12 to honor some of the leaders and trailblazers who helped to shape the Kingville community. The Friends, along with their partners, the Kingville Alumni Association and the Stanly County Historical Society hope you will make plans to attend the event! See the flyer for all the details!

Stanly County has been blessed to have many local residents who have worked hard to preserve our local history. Some fro...
06/01/2026

Stanly County has been blessed to have many local residents who have worked hard to preserve our local history. Some from our past include Dotty Plyler, Catherine Pickler, and Lula Shaver, while some from today include Les Young in Norwood, the Barnhardt’s in Oakboro, the Gaddy’s in New London, Tara Tarleton in Stanfield, the Tuckers in Locust, David Summerland in Badin and many, many others. All of these local historians, however, are building on the work done by our original “champion of local history”, Mrs. Elizabeth (Parker) Reynolds.

According to a short biographical sketch written by Jonathan Underwood, Reynolds was a driving force in organizing Stanly County’s first historical society; she was instrumental in the efforts to reconstruct Dr. Kron’s home at Morrow Mountain State Park; she helped to create the County’s first museum, and she secured historical markers for Randall’s Methodist Church and the Battle of Colson’s Mill. Until her death in 1956, she spent many hours searching for abandoned graveyards and marked the long-forgotten graves of our local Revolutionary War soldiers. We all owe a debt of gratitude to Ms. Reynolds for all her work and effort to preserve our local history.

Today's pictures are from the History Center and Parker family collections.

Just a reminder about the upcoming Stanly County Historical Society presentation "The History of Pfeiffer University - f...
05/31/2026

Just a reminder about the upcoming Stanly County Historical Society presentation "The History of Pfeiffer University - from Emily Prudden to the Center for Health Sciences" The presentation, that is open to the public and free, will be given by school president Dr. Scott Bullard. Free tours of the Center for Health Sciences will be available after the presentation!

Richfield Farm Supply was opened in early 1952 by John E. Cranford. The store, located on South Main Street near the Ric...
05/30/2026

Richfield Farm Supply was opened in early 1952 by John E. Cranford. The store, located on South Main Street near the Richfield Milling Company, went out of business in 1991. Please add comments, or email me directly at [email protected], if you can add information about what else was located in this building.

Today’s pictures are of the Lowder Hardware Garden Center that was located at the corner of West Main Street and Depot S...
05/29/2026

Today’s pictures are of the Lowder Hardware Garden Center that was located at the corner of West Main Street and Depot Streets. This part of the Lowder Hardware business opened at this location about March 1959 and was located here until about 1985/86. The first picture is from the March 17, 1959 edition of the Stanly News & Press. The second picture, from the History Center collection, is unfortunately undated.

Just a reminder that tickets for the upcoming Stanly County Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony are on sale. We hope ...
05/28/2026

Just a reminder that tickets for the upcoming Stanly County Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony are on sale. We hope you will join us to celebrate the latest inductees! See the flyer for the details!

Look at all the fun things we have planned for History Hunters this month!!! We hope to see you there!!☀️
05/27/2026

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

According to the March 16, 1973 Stanly News & Press, Shiloh Baptist Church, located near Morrow Mountain, was first foun...
05/27/2026

According to the March 16, 1973 Stanly News & Press, Shiloh Baptist Church, located near Morrow Mountain, was first founded in 1920 by Rev. P.F. Long. The church members originally met in a local school until they were able to purchase land and build their first church building, shown in today’s first two pictures.

In addition to Rev. Long, who served from 1920 to 1930, some of the early church pastors include Rev. Winfield (1931- ??), Rev. O.D. McCollum (1933-1934), Rev. J.D. Bean (1934-1936), Rev. J.S. Rowland (1936-1946), Rev. W.M. Adams (1947-1950), Rev. J.D. Hargrave (1951-1953), and Rev. W.C. Wilkerson (1954-1973+) – {Can anyone held add to this list?}.

In October 1997, the church completed a new building, shown in today’s third picture. On Saturday, November 1, a special “Celebration of the Completed Vision” event was held as church members walked, , shown in today’s fourth picture, from the original church building to the newly completed building at Airport Road and NC 740. The following day, on November 2, a final service was held in the original building at 9am followed by an 11am service at the new building.

Today's first picture is from the History Center collection, the next two are from the church and the final one is from the November 4, 1997 edition of the SNAP.

The Stanly County Historical Society has partnered with Pfeiffer University President Scott Bullard on his upcoming pres...
05/26/2026

The Stanly County Historical Society has partnered with Pfeiffer University President Scott Bullard on his upcoming presentation, “The History of Pfeiffer University: from Emily Prudden to the Center for Health Sciences.” The presentation is open to the public and free and it will be held on Thursday, June 4, 2026 at 7pm at the Center for Health Sciences in Downtown Albemarle. Tours of the building will be available after the presentation! We hope you will make your plans to join us!

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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