GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1993

H	1 

HOUSE BILL 1448

Short Title:  Hope Mills Master Plan Funds.	(Public)
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Sponsors: Representatives Warner; Spears, Richardson, DeVane, Kinney, and McAllister.
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Referred to:  Appropriations.
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May 17, 1993

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS TO ASSIST IN THE PREPARATION OF A MASTER PLAN FOR THE TOWN OF HOPE MILLS IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
Whereas, the approximately 75-acre Hope Mills Historic District has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places because it reflects important associations with antebellum and New South-era textile mill economy and development in North Carolina; and
Whereas, the Town of Hope Mills is inextricably linked to the history of the Hope Mills Manufacturing Company and its predecessor, the Rockfish Manufacturing Company, which established North Carolina's largest cotton mill of the 1840s and 1850s; and
Whereas, in the late 19th century, the Town of Hope Mills was a typical mill village with four textile factories, and in the early 20th century the town began a transformation with the development of a commercial district, a Masonic lodge, several churches, and new residential areas; and
Whereas, the Hope Mills Historic District exemplifies the typical southern mill village with rows of housing, a company store, and a bank dominated by the brick mill; and
Whereas, the Hope Mills Historic District is likely to yield further archaeological information about the town specifically and mill villages and textile mills in general; and
Whereas, the Hope Mills Board of Commissioners is considering alternative long-term uses of the Town Hall Building, a pivotal building in the Hope Mills Historic District, which was originally the Hope Mills Manufacturing Company Store; and
Whereas, the Christ Episcopal Church, a contributing building in the Hope Mills Historic District, is moving to a new location; and
Whereas, the former Hope Mills Manufacturing Company (most recently Dixie Yarns) mill building, a centerpiece of the Hope Mills Historic District, is vacant; and
Whereas, county transportation planners are looking at bypass alternatives for Route #59, and the bridge replacement project is about to begin; and
Whereas, the Town of Hope Mills needs a Master Plan to provide guidelines for the town's commercial revitalization efforts and to help preserve and interpret its historic resources; Now, therefore,
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Cultural Resources, Division of Archives and History, the sum of fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) for the 1993-94 fiscal year to assist the Town of Hope Mills in Cumberland County in preparing a Master Plan.
Sec. 2.  The activities associated with this appropriation shall be performed in accordance with the standards and guidelines for such projects established by the Department of Cultural Resources, Division of Archives and History, and shall be conducted under the professional guidance of that agency.
Sec. 3.  This act becomes effective July 1, 1993.