UNION COUNTY
Updated 12/31/99
The North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office statewide inventory contains information on about 275 prehistoric and historic archaeological sites in Union County.
A comprehensive survey of Monroe was conducted in 1978-1979 and updated in 1988, and a comprehensive survey of the rest of the county took place in 1982-1983. Surveys are cooperative local-state projects accomplished with grants and staff assistance from the Historic Preservation Office.
Federal pass-through grants of $49,900 aided architectural surveys of Monroe and Union County, National Register nominations, and restoration of the Union County Courthouse and Monroe City Hall. State grants of $294,457 provided assistance for the courthouse restoration, and a 1997 state grant of $5,000 aided restoration of the Rock Rest Academy Building.
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
There are four National Register historic districts in Monroe and Waxhaw, and six individual National Register properties.
LOCAL PRESERVATION COMMISSIONS
The Historic Preservation Office provides assistance on a regular basis to the Monroe-Union County Historic Properties Commission and the Monroe Historic District Commission. The Historic Preservation Office has reviewed and provided technical assistance on thirty-four landmark designation reports submitted by the Properties Commission and on the Monroe Residential Historic District administered by the District Commission. The City of Monroe is a Certified Local Government.
Five income-producing tax credit projects have been completed in Union County at a total construction investment of $864,500, including the A.W. Heath Building in Waxhaw, and the Latham Brothers Building in Monroe. The Historic Preservation Office reviews and provides restoration technical assistance for all preservation tax credit projects.
PUBLIC EDUCATION AND PUBLICATIONS
In 1979 the Historic Preservation Office assisted the City of Monroe in publishing the results of the town survey in An Inventory of Historic Architecture: Monroe, N.C. by Mary Ann Lee, and in 1992 assisted the county in publication of its architectural survey in Sweet Union: An Architectural and Historical Survey of Union County, North Carolina, by Suzanna S. Pickens.
The Historic Preservation Office has provided technical assistance for the restoration of the Union County Courthouse, the old Monroe City Hall, the Lee Building, the former Bank of Union, a number of downtown Monroe buildings, and many other buildings throughout the county.