Central North Carolina boasts a rich and varied architectural landscape--from the early plantation houses and farms of its northeastern reaches, to the red brick textile mills and tobacco factories that line railroads across the region, to the glamorous New South skyscrapers of downtown Charlotte. This richly illustrated guide offers a fascinating look at the Piedmont's historic architecture, covering more than 2,000 sites in 34 counties. Highlights include cabins and stone houses dating to the region's early settlement; mill villages and main streets that depict its subsequent industrial and agricultural growth; and twentieth-century landmarks such as Durham's Duke University and Winston-Salem's Wachovia Building. As North Carolina faces massive changes in its economy and landscape, residents and travelers alike will value this unparalleled portrait of an American region, which traces its history and culture through its buildings and communities. A project of the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office of the Division of Archives and History, this book completes a three-volume series. The project reflects more than twenty-five years of fieldwork and research in the agency's statewide architectural survey and National Register of Historic Places programs.

"This guide offers more insight into North Carolina's development and lifestyles than do most histories of the state.

(Jack Claiborne, coeditor of Discovering North Carolina)"

Catherine W. Bishir, formerly senior architectural historian and survey coordinator at the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office, is author of the award-winning North Carolina Architecture. Bishir and Southern previously collaborated on A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Western North Carolina (with Jennifer F. Martin) and the award-winning Guide to the Historic Architecture of Eastern North Carolina.Michael T. Southern is a research historian with the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office. Bishir and Southern previously collaborated on A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Western North Carolina (with Jennifer F. Martin) and the award-winning Guide to the Historic Architecture of Eastern North Carolina.