The Foundation has accomplished a great deal with only volunteers and limited resources, including the expansion and creation of National Register Historic Districts, preservation of Sunset Cemetery, support of the Main Street revitalization program of Shelby, historic tax credit assistance, and support of the historic inventory. HSF has been involved, along with a consortium of other groups, in stabilizing for restoration the threatened 1936 art deco Rogers Theater which is now in private hands.

Historic Shelby has worked closely with Preservation North Carolina over the years to place protective covenants on several key buildings such as the Bankers House, El Nido, Masonic Temple, and Dr. Victor McBrayer house. Recently we won an award from Preservation North Carolina and North Carolina Department of Commerce for orchestrating the adaptive reuse of the McMurry-Moore House, a 1923 Colonial Revival house owned by the Cleveland County School Board, into the offices of the Cleveland County Partnership for Children. Also key are several National Register Historic Districts.