From 1847 until 1899, the Freeman Hotel, built by Daniel Freeman, stood on this site. Just south of the hotel was J.M. Bivens' Cabinet Shop, and Bivens worked as a blacksmith, wagon maker, and furniture maker from about 1860 until the 1880s. The hotel and surrounding businesses burned in a fire in December 1899. A new hotel, known as the Central Hotel, was constructed the following year. The Central Hotel later became Stanly General Hospital and eventually was demolished in the late 1960s. The current Stanly County Courthouse was completed in 1972.