According to his gravestone, John Odom Ross was born on Dec. 4, 1824. His family lived on a farm in the part of Montgomery County that later became Stanly County. Ross later moved to Albemarle in the late 1840s and became a merchant. He married his wife, Mary Kirk, in 1860 and together they had 10 children. At some point they built their home, shown in today’s picture, on North Second Street in Albemarle. Mary died in February 1894, and John passed away in June 1905. The Ross home was soon purchased by local businessman M.F. Little. In August 1905, Little announced that he would have the home moved back from the street and erect a large building as a boarding house on the site. As far as can be determined, no construction had begun on Little’s new building when in May 1906, Whitson Marks announced he would be building a boarding house across the street (that became the Marks Building). It was not until August 1916 that Little had the Ross House demolished, and he constructed the Alameda Theatre in its place. {Lewis Bramlett – Stanly County Historical Society}