Editing Spencer, North Carolina (section)

==History==
[[File:PhC25 195.jpg|thumb|left|Main Street of Spencer, 1900s]]
The town was named for [[Samuel Spencer (Southern Railway)|Samuel Spencer]], first president of the [[Southern Railway (US)|Southern Railway]], who is credited with establishment of the railroad's mechanical shops at the site in 1896. The site was approximately the midpoint of the railroad's mainline between [[Atlanta, GA]] and [[Washington, D.C.]] As the shops were being built the Southern Railway developed a town, also named Spencer, alongside the shops for worker housing. Initially, the Southern partitioned 85 acres into 500 lots. Instead of creating a traditional "company" town in which the workers rented houses Southern sold the lots to workers or businesses for $100 apiece. The deeds did contain restrictive covenants which maintained that a dwelling costing in excess of $400 and approved by a Southern appointed architect be built within a year. The Southern donated lots for religious institutions. Southern also helped establish a [[YMCA]] in the town. The community grew quickly and by 1901 had 625 residents.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}} By the 1920s it had 4,000 residents.{{sfn|Neal|2011|p=83}}

The former [[Southern Railway's Spencer Shops|Spencer Shops]] were phased out during the 1950s through 1970s and have now become the location of the [[North Carolina Transportation Museum]].

The [[Alexander Long House]], [[Southern Railway's Spencer Shops]], and [[Spencer Historic District]] are listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>