Historic Districts

The local district became Wake Forest’s first official historic district on May 10, 1979. The majority of the local district is north of the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary bordering North Main Street from North Avenue to Oak Avenue. North Main Street, formerly known as “Faculty Avenue,” is the earliest residential avenue in the Town of Wake Forest and boasts examples of almost every American architectural style from 1820-1956. The district extends South of the Seminary (formerly Wake Forest College) along North Avenue and East South Avenue. The name “Faculty Avenue” was due to the abundance of professors who resided there. For twenty years this was Wake Forest’s only historic district. The district provides a living developmental and architectural history of the town’s origins.

The Wake Forest Historic District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on December 18, 2003 and has a period of significance from c. 1820 to 1953. It contains the historic core of the Town of Wake Forest, consisting of the original Wake Forest College campus and surrounding residences of college faculty, staff, and students. The entirety of the locally designated historic district is included within the boundaries of this National Historic District. 

The Wake Forest Historic District possesses an architectural character unique in Wake County. The buildings include examples of each historical period and style from the early nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century, many of them designed by notable local, state, and out-of-state architects. The campus of Wake Forest College and the surrounding town constitute one of the most significant groupings of historic buildings in Wake County.

The Glen Royall Mill Village Historic District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on August 27, 1999. It is considered one of the most intact mill villages in Wake County with a period of significance from 1900 to 1949. Construction of the mill and village began in 1900. The mill hired contractor Benjamin Thomas Hicks to construct the village housing according to plans and specifications prepared by mill superintendent John D. Briggs. The dominant house in the village is a pyramidal-roofed, four-room form, excluding ells or wings, with a central brick flue. The mill continued in operation until a shift from cotton to synthetics in the 1970s resulted in the closure of the mill in April 1976.

The Glen Royall Mill Village retains a high degree of architectural integrity. Most of the neighborhood's original housing stock survives and the historic streetscapes and patterns remain unaltered. Historic yard patterns and shade tree distributions have been preserved or perpetuated.

The Downtown Wake Forest Historic District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on February 20, 2002 with a period of significance from c. 1890 to 1951. It is the commercial core of the Town of Wake Forest and all buildings in this district were built between 1890 and 1949. Most are of brick construction ranging from one to three stories in height.

Development in downtown essentially ceased by the early 1950s due to the move of the college to Winston-Salem. Only one building was built along S. White Street after 1960, the Fidelity Bank building between East Roosevelt and Owen Avenues. The Bank was built in 1971 and is not included in the Downtown Historic District. Today the Downtown Wake Forest Historic District is home to many local shops and businesses and functions as a gathering place for local community members.