Tobacco Wood Brewing Company: Oxford

2019 NC Main Street Award: ECONOMIC VITALITY

Best Adaptive Reuse Project

• Tobacco Wood Brewing

• Headway Holding LLC

• Clark Nexsen, Architect

• Granville County

• Downtown Oxford Economic Development Corporation

• City of Oxford

Oxford’s first brewery, Tobacco Wood Brewing Company, opened its doors in May 2018 at 117 Wall Street in the heart of Downtown Oxford.

Built in 1964, the property was used for furniture storage until 2009 when multiple retail establishments moved into the space. Identifying an opportunity, Headway Holdings LLC requested to purchase the space in 2017 because of its prime location in the middle of Oxford’s business district.

The vision was a modern industrial gathering space centered on craft beer and building community. The Downtown Oxford Economic Development Corporation was thoroughly involved in multiple stages of the development process including a $4,000 façade grant, that supported the owners in their vision to renovate the building’s exterior for the brew-pub’s purposes.

The Tobacco Wood Brewery supports 5 full-time and 15 part-time jobs. Although industrial brewery spaces are now common destinations in many downtown districts, Tobacco Wood has leveraged their status as Oxford’s first brewery to their advantage. With the transformation of 117 Wall Street, the partners of Tobacco Wood have taken this corner of downtown from a quiet retail space to a lively center for commerce and community.

Congratulations to this Main Street community for its 2019 award.