Statesville in Iredell County, North Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)

The Main Building Mitchell Community College

Photographed by Mark Parker, December 14, 2024

1. The Main Building Mitchell Community College Marker

Inscription.
The Main Building
Mitchell Community College
known as
Concord Presbyterian Female College
when it was completed in 1856
Has been placed on the
National Register
of Historic Places
by the United States
Department of the Interior

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Education. A significant historical year for this entry is 1856.

Location. 35° 46.974′ N, 80° 53.626′ W. Marker is in Statesville, North Carolina, in Iredell County. It is on West Broad Street west of North Mulberry Street when traveling west. The location is on the campus of Mitchell Community College. From the end of West Broad Street at North/South Mulberry Street, take the main walkway approximately 400 feet west to the Main Building. The marker is on the face of the lower level on the right. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 500 W Broad Street, Statesville NC 28677, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in North Carolina’s Piedmont.

It is also in the American South

and specifically in the Upper South.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western

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Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: MCC Veterans (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Mitchell College (about 800 feet away); J. P. Caldwell (approx. 0.2 miles away); Holland House (approx. 0.2 miles away); Lowenstein-Henkle House (approx. 0.2 miles away); Old Fourth Creek Meeting House (approx. ¼ mile away); Fourth Creek Meeting House (approx. ¼ mile away); Dr. R.V. Cowan (approx. ¼ mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Statesville.

Other markers no longer nearby. Vance House (was approx. 0.2 miles away but has been confirmed missing); a different marker also named Fourth Creek Meeting House (was approx. ¼ mile away but has been replaced with another marker now near it).

Regarding The Main Building Mitchell Community College. Excerpts from the Mitchell College Main Building Nomination

The Main Building Mitchell Community College. Marker indicated by the arrow image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mark Parker, December 14, 2024

2. The Main Building Mitchell Community College. Marker indicated by the arrow

Form:

At a meeting of the Presbytery of Concord in 1812, the idea was put forward of establishing a female institution of learning under the care of the presbytery. The next year it was decided to establish such an institution in western North Carolina at Statesville. A board of trustees was formed and a building committee was appointed. The board selected the name Concord Presbyterian Female College for the school and petitioned the secretary of state of North Carolina for a charter on June 16, 1853. Thus was formed one of the oldest colleges in western North Carolina...

Construction progressed rapidly and the last brick completing the walls was to be laid on June 9, 1855. The seven months work of building the walls, however, was brought to ruin when in one afternoon a great windstorm razed the building. After certain changes in the original plan, J. W. Conrad contracted to supervise personally the rebuilding for $19,000. Commencement exercises for the first year of the college were to be held July 9, 1857, but because of an epidemic of measles, the session closed early. Despite these early setbacks an expanded curriculum was established

The Main Building Mitchell Community College image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mark Parker, December 14, 2024

3. The Main Building Mitchell Community College

and more teachers were hired, including the two daughters of the well-known geologist and botanist Dr. Elisha Mitchell. Dr. Mitchell, professor at the University of North Carolina in its early days, was an energetic explorer who measured Mount Mitchell in 1835 establishing it as the highest mountain in the eastern United States. He fell to his death in the mountains in 1857; his body is buried at the peak of the mountain that bears his name. It was for Mitchell and his daughters that the college was renamed in 1917. In 1921; Mitchell College graduated the first student to have co.pleted its newly instituted curriculum as a "standard Junior College." In 1932 men were admitted as day students. The Concord Presbytery kept control of Mitchell College until 1959, when it became an independent community college The 1970-1971 enrollment was 643...

Mitchell College Main Building is the original structure of one of the oldest colleges in western North Carolina. It is an imposing example of the monumentality achieved in civic and educational buildings during the height of the Greek Revival period.

Also see . . .
1. Mitchell College Main Building Nomination Form (pdf).

Mitchell College, Statesville image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Bayard Wootten, Gray & Thompson Advertising (via University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), circa 1935

4. Mitchell College, Statesville

Form prepared by Survey and Planning Unit Staff, North Carolina State Department of Archives and History, 1972 (Submitted on January 18, 2025, by Mark Parker of Hickory, North Carolina.)

2. Mitchell's History.

Mitchell Community College has been educating residents of Iredell County and surrounding communities since it was chartered in 1852 as a Presbyterian college for women. In the early years, faculty of the Concord Presbyterian Female College in downtown Statesville placed heavy emphasis on music and fine arts. This focus continued as the College evolved into Mitchell College in 1917, and when the College became a junior women’s college in 1924. Many of Iredell’s young men found their dreams of a college education slipping away in the Great Depression, and Mitchell College responded by welcoming these men to campus in 1932.

(Submitted on January 18, 2025, by Mark Parker of Hickory, North Carolina.)

Credits. This page was last revised on January 23, 2025. It was originally submitted on January 18, 2025, by Mark Parker of Hickory, North Carolina. This page has been viewed 104 times since then and 15 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on January 18, 2025, by Mark Parker of Hickory, North Carolina. 4. submitted on January 23, 2025. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.