Carthage's Courthouse Square Is Being Rebuilt for Walking. Park Once and Start Now.

The orange cones around Courthouse Square are hard on drivers and easy on anyone on foot. The Town of Carthage expects Phase One of its Downtown Revitalization Project to run through October 31, 2026, though it says weather, utility conflicts and field conditions could move that date. While the work goes on, one public lot stays open at all times. Every shop in this guide is a short walk from it, and the main thing Phase One builds is safer ways to cross the street on foot.

What the Cones Are Building

Phase One is paid for with $912,499 in grant funding, and SQ Civil Contractors is doing the work. According to the Town's August 10 notice to downtown businesses, the work includes:

• Two pedestrian refuge islands, one on the east side and one on the west side of the historic courthouse, at Monroe and McReynolds Streets
• A slightly narrower roadway to slow traffic where people cross
• Visible crosswalks from the refuge islands, plus a crosswalk from the historic courthouse to the new courthouse and county offices
• More prominent curbing to separate cars from people, with improved stormwater drainage

Every item on that list helps someone walking. Later phases add lighting, more seating and landscaping across downtown, along with changes to parking and access. The Town is doing the work block by block instead of closing large areas at once, so businesses can stay open and people on foot can still reach them. The plan comes from documents residents can read on the Town's project page: a Parking and Mobility Study from May 2024 and a Downtown Master Plan adopted September 26, 2024.

The Lot That Never Closes

The Town makes one firm promise about parking. The main lot at the corner of the traffic circle, where it turns into McReynolds Street, will "remain open for use at all times." When the circle is closed, you can reach the lot from its two entrances on N. Ray Street.

Phase One happens in three stages, and each one changes how traffic moves:

1. Full circle closure for one week. Crews mill, pave and stamp the crosswalks. Eastbound traffic detours onto S. Ray Street and then Saunders Street. Westbound traffic uses E. Barrett Street and then N. Ray Street. Semi-trucks stay on Saunders and turn left onto Bruce Street to get back to NC 24/27/Monroe Street, which keeps them away from tight turns and utility poles.
2. Half the circle closed for up to four weeks. Crews work on one side of the circle at a time to build the refuge islands, install storm drains and handle utility work.
3. Circle fully reopened. The major construction is done, and the remaining detail work should cause less traffic disruption than the earlier stages.

One more change came separately. Starting September 21, the Town closed N. McNeill Street where it meets Barrett Street. The barricade sits only on the N. McNeill side, so northbound drivers on N. McNeill can no longer go straight through. Barrett Street has stop signs and N. McNeill does not, and Town staff saw drivers on Barrett run the stop or assume McNeill traffic had to stop. Those mix-ups caused several near misses and at least one crash. If you're heading to McReynolds Street/NC 24-27 westbound toward Robbins, the Town suggests turning left on Saunders Street, right on S. Ray Street, and then left on McReynolds.

S. Ray Street, N. Ray Street and Saunders Street show up again and again in these routes. They form a loop around the work zone, and the lot that stays open is on that loop. The Town has also made a map of downtown businesses, public parking areas and driving routes to those lots, according to a September 29 Moore County News report. Town notices don't say which part of the circle is being worked on each day, so follow the posted detour signs and allow extra time.

Who Is Behind the Cones

Businesses on the square stayed open through the early weeks of construction. From September 23 to 26, downtown merchants held the Great Downtown Carthage Detour Challenge, asking shoppers to "Survive the Detour" around Courthouse Square, according to The Pines Times. In its own post asking people to keep coming downtown, the Town wrote:

"We hope all of our Carthaginians and visitors from other areas make it a point to come out to Downtown Carthage and not let construction get in the way of supporting their favorite local shops or discovering new ones."

Below are addresses and open days from each business's own website or the most recent listing we could find. Hours change, so check before you go.

Read across the table and the open days cluster in the middle of the week. Most main retail runs Wednesday through Saturday, The Soup Company closes after Thursday, and Keith Hardware is closed Monday. That makes Wednesday and Thursday the days when nearly everything downtown is open. On Wednesday, Second Chapter Books stays open until 7:30 p.m., so you can still browse after a workday.

Several of these businesses have recent histories. The newest is Moore Coffee Company at 4 Courthouse Square, owned by Allen and Johanna Williams. It officially opened June 8, 2026. Before opening, the owners described a menu of espresso, drip coffee, seasonal drinks, New York bagels and pastries, along with plans to sell plants and set aside a space for kids, as reported by Sandhills Sentinel. Buggy Town Coffee opened in 2014 and began roasting its own beans in 2018. It also serves breakfast, lunch and baked goods.

Second Chapter Books opened in Carthage in July 2024. In 2025 it moved two doors down and expanded, and it now carries new and used books, a dedicated children's section and discounted new titles. Kitten Around Cat Lounge opened in March 2023 and is built around adoptable rescue cats. Wishflower Bakery & Creamery Shoppe used to be the Wishflower Lane ice cream shop. It changed owners, was renovated and reopened in 2025, and now sells scones, banana bread, cheesecakes, milkshakes and banana splits.

Keith Hardware has been around much longer. The family-owned store dates its start to 1937 and is now in its third generation. The Soup Company makes its soups, salads and sandwiches fresh every day. At 306 Monroe Street, a bit farther from the square, the Chuck Wagon Restaurant serves burgers, fries and chicken tenders.

The Building That Was Almost Torn Down

The Tyson Sinclair Building at 105 McReynolds Street holds more businesses than any other single address on this walk. Its owner describes it as a 1905 Tyson family mansion joined to a 1940 Sinclair furniture building. The property was scheduled for demolition in 2021 and was bought in March 2022. Today it mixes shops, restaurants, offices and community space, with a ballroom and event space upstairs.

The tenant list grows every few months. In April 2026, The Pilot called Second Charm Vintage the building's newest tenant. Kerry Millikan runs it as a shared shop with Colleen McFadden's The Collected Cow and Niki Dorsett's Past Meets Present. That February, Stefanie Williams moved The Soapy Goat & Gifts into a bigger storefront in the building after earlier stints in Robbins and in a booth in Aberdeen. Other tenants include Market 107, Practical Posh, Sun + Soul Collective, Grand Ole Finds, MADink, J's Variety, City Barbershop and Susa Hibachi Grill. The building's directory also lists Carolina Folk Art, Carthage Martial Arts, the Buckles and Boots Line Dancers and American Dance Co.

The building sits on McReynolds Street, the same street as the lot that stays open, so it's an easy place to start a walk around the square.

Two Parades Bracket the Work

The fall calendar has a parade on each side of the target finish date. The Union Pines High School homecoming parade comes through downtown Carthage on Wednesday, October 7, at 6 p.m., while Phase One is still underway. The free Carthage Christmas Parade runs Saturday, December 12, at 6 p.m. from Monroe Street to Courthouse Square. If the October 31 target holds, the Christmas Parade will roll past the new refuge islands and stamped crosswalks after the circle has reopened.

Until then, the Town is posting schedule changes in the Project News box on its project page, and residents can sign up for CodeRED alerts there. You can reach Town Hall at (910) 947-2331.

At Realty World Properties of the Pines, we follow projects like Carthage's Phase One closely because they shape how a downtown works day to day. If you'd like to talk about what the Courthouse Square improvements mean for your street or your plans, Contact Us. We're always happy to talk about Carthage over a coffee on the square.