Former bank, home latest county historic landmarks

Janet Imrick

Randolph Hub

The Fuller Mill House and the old Randolph Savings and Loan Branch Bank building have become the 30th and 31st historic landmarks for Randolph County.

The Randolph County Commissioners and the Asheboro City Council approved the designations during their regular meetings in the first week of April.

Savings and Loan Building

The four-story Savings and Loan Bank on South Fayetteville Street is notable not just for its exterior, but for parts of its interior, according to Ross Holt with the Randolph County Historic Landmark Designation Commission. That includes the marble veneer on one of the lobby walls, the central staircase and the terrazzo floors.

"It is the dominant iconic building in downtown Asheboro," Holt said.

Randolph Savings and Loan Association purchased the land in 1958, needing more space to accommodate its growing customer base and staff. Construction began in 1962, and it opened a year later.

The building also housed offices for Chamber of Commerce, American Red Cross, accountants, attorneys and insurance companies.

Historian Heather Fearnbach compiled the report, finding that the building possessed the seven qualities of integrity for a landmark: Location, setting, feeling, association, design, materials and workmanship.

Its architect, Alvin O. George, Jr., was notable for his modernist designs.

The building is undergoing renovation by Al LaPrade, president of Ready Telecom, Inc.

Fuller Mill House

Randolph County Historic Landmark Designation Commission Chair Mac Whatley brought the request to designate the Fuller Mill House, officially known as the Dr. Charles Phillips House, to the Board of Commissioners.

The house on Fuller Mill Road North in Tabernacle Township was built circa 1850. It stands on 21.7 acres along the Little Uwharrie River. It has a barn and shed, two hand-dug wells, a field, a pecan tree grove, and a river ford that was used until the construction of the Fuller Mill Covered Bridge.

The house is one of the few remaining homes in the county known for its Queen Anne style. It was built by Penuel Wood Kearns and underwent expansions by Methodist minister Charles Haley Phillips and his son, Dr. Charles Hoover Phillips. The home came to be associated with Dr. Phillips, a physician for the western part of the county and a chair of the Randolph County Board of Education.

The house's current owners, Frederick and Amy Wang, nominated it for landmark designation.