The first owner of the press was Isaac Norfleet, at a plantation about southwest of Tarboro in Edgecombe County. It was originally a cider and wine press. Around 1860, the press was converted to a cotton press because of the growing need to process the cotton crop. Animal hitches were attached to the booms. Mules and oxen were used to rotate the screw. The overall height of the press is . Pictures of the cotton press at its original location show a rectangular open shed with a steep
hip roof. The top of the press extends through this roof. It is covered by a smaller, rectangular hip roof that rotates with the screw. In 1938, the press was moved to Tarboro's Town Common on Albemarle Street, but its shed was demolished. A small octagonal hip roof was built over the press. Additional photographs of the cotton press were taken for the
Historic American Buildings Survey. Other photographs are available. Another
antebellum cotton press without the buzzard wings poles is at
Magnolia Plantation near
Derry, Louisiana. This press has a fixed screw and its base is rotated to compress the cotton. ==References==