Over 600 prehistoric Native American and early historic archaeological sites are recorded in the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office's statewide inventory.
A county-wide architectural survey was conducted in 1981-1982. This was a cooperative local-state project accomplished with grants and staff assistance from the Historic Preservation Office. The survey resulted in several National Register of Historic Places nominations and a county survey publication.
Federal matching grants totaling $30,102 have assisted the county survey, National Register nominations, and courthouse restoration projects. State appropriations of $87,000 have contributed to the courthouse restoration and the publication of the county survey.
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Thirty-nine historic properties and two historic districts (Uptown Lexington and Yadkin College) were listed in the National Register of Historic Places as of December 1999. Nominations included eleven church cemeteries, historic mills, a tavern, farms, schools, and the Junior Order UAM Orphans Home.
LOCAL PRESERVATION COMMISSIONS
The City of Thomasville established the Thomasville Historic Preservation Commission in 1999
Three income-producing tax credit projects have been completed in Davidson County at a total construction investment of $1,903,300, including the former Grimes School in Lexington; four additional projects are currently undergoing renovation, including the Tyro School in Tyro and 11-13 N. Main St. in Lexington. The Historic Preservation Office reviews and provides restoration technical services for all tax credit projects.
PUBLIC EDUCATION AND PUBLICATIONS
The Historic Preservation Office assisted the Davidson County Historical Association in publishing the findings of the architectural survey in Building the Backcountry: An Architectural History of Davidson County, North Carolina in 1987. Staff provided a workshop on historic building maintenance in Lexington in August, 1995, and a workshop on historic preservation tax credits in Lexington in September, 1996.
The Historic Preservation Office has provided technical assistance for the restoration of the 1850s Davidson County Courthouse and the ca. 1834 Homestead (Dr. William Rainey Holt House) in Lexington, for Brummel's Inn and the Eli Moore Log House, oth near Wallburg, for the Hayden Farm near Churchland, nd for many other buildings throughout the county.