The Tarboro Cotton Press, which is also called the Norfleet Cotton Press or the Edgecombe County Cotton Press, is a wooden cotton press built in the mid-18th century in Edgecombe County, North Carolina. It was moved to the Tarboro Town Common of Tarboro, North Carolina. It was named to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on February 18, 1971. It is located in the

Tarboro Historic District Tarboro Historic District is a national historic district located near Tarboro, Edgecombe County, North Carolina. The district encompasses 364 contributing buildings in central Tarboro. It includes a variety of industrial, commercial, residentia ...

History

The first owner of the press was Isaac Norfleet, at a plantation about southwest of Tarboro in Edgecombe County. It was originally a cider and wine press. Around 1860, the press was converted to a cotton press because of the growing need to process the cotton crop. The press is constructed of yellow pine. It has a large screw that is used to compress the cotton into a wooden form to produce the bale. The supporting frame has four upright posts with braces. There are two long booms. These booms or poles have been called "buzzard wings." Animal hitches were attached to the booms. Mules and oxen were used to rotate the screw. The overall height of the press is . Pictures of the cotton press at its original location show a rectangular open shed with a steep

hip roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus, ...

. The top of the press extends through this roof. It is covered by a smaller, rectangular hip roof that rotates with the screw. In 1938, the press was moved to Tarboro's Town Common on Albemarle Street, but its shed was demolished. A small octagonal hip roof was built over the press. Restoration of the cotton press was completed in 1976. The octagonal roof was removed and a pavilion resembling the original shed has been built to protect the cotton press from the elements. Additional photographs of the cotton press were taken for the

Historic American Buildings Survey Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...

. Other photographs are available. There is a similar, older wooden

cotton press Cotton is a soft, fluffy Staple (textiles), staple fiber that grows in a wikt:boll, boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose ...

near

Latta, South Carolina Latta is a town in Dillon County, South Carolina, United States. Latta is the second largest town in Dillon County. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 1,379. History Latta was established in 1887. The town arose from a need for a railr ...

. Another

antebellum Antebellum, Latin for "before war", may refer to: United States history * Antebellum South, the pre-American Civil War period in the Southern United States ** Antebellum Georgia ** Antebellum South Carolina ** Antebellum Virginia * Antebellum ar ...

cotton press without the buzzard wings poles is at Magnolia Plantation near

Derry, Louisiana Derry is an unincorporated community in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States, located on Louisiana Highway 1. It is the closest town to Magnolia Plantation, a National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a buildin ...

. This press has a fixed screw and its base is rotated to compress the cotton.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina Historic American Buildings Survey in North Carolina Buildings and structures in Edgecombe County, North Carolina Cotton press Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina National Register of Historic Places in Edgecombe County, North Carolina Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in North Carolina Cotton industry in the United States