UNITED STATES
                      SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                           Washington, D.C. 20549

                                  Form 8-K
                               CURRENT REPORT

                       Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)
                   of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

              Date of Report  (Date of earliest event reported)

                            August 27, 1998

                            BB&T Corporation
            (Exact name of registrant as specified on its charter)

                      Commission file number:  1-10853

         North Carolina                                    56-0939887
    (State of Incorporation)             (I.R.S.  Employer Identification No.)

       200 West Second Street
    Winston-Salem, North Carolina                            27101
(Address of principal executive offices)                   (Zip Code)

                               (336) 733-2000
              (Registrant's telephone number, including area code)

This Form 8-K has 3 pages. The sequential numbering of the pages is indicated in
the lower right hand corner.



ITEM 5.   OTHER EVENTS

          The purpose of this Current Report on Form 8-K is to announce that
BB&T  Corporation  ("BB&T")  has  executed  a  definitive  agreement  to acquire
MainStreet Financial Corporation ("MainStreet"), of Martinsville, Virginia.

EXHIBIT INDEX

Exhibit 99.1 Announcement to acquire MainStreet Financial Corporation.



     BB&T  Corporation  ("BB&T")  announced  on August  27,  1998,  that it will
acquire  MainStreet  Financial   Corporation   ("MainStreet")  of  Martinsville,
Virginia.  The transaction  will be effected through the exchange of 1.18 shares
of BB&T common stock for each share of MainStreet common stock.  Based on BB&T's
closing price of $32.94 per share on Tuesday, August 25, 1998, the transaction
has a value of $38.87  per  MainStreet  common  share,  or $554.3  million.  The
acquisition  will  significantly   increase  BB&T's  presence  in  Virginia  and
metropolitan Washington, D.C.

         The  transaction,  approved  by the  Boards  of  Directors  of BB&T and
MainStreet, will be accounted for as a pooling of interests.

     Management  projects that annual cost savings of approximately $15 million,
or 30% of MainStreet's  expense base, will be realized after full integration of
MainStreet's  operations into BB&T. It is currently estimated that approximately
$13 million in one-time  charges will be incurred in conjunction with completing
the merger.  Management  projects  the  acquisition  will be accretive to BB&T's
earnings per share in the first year after consummation.

      MainStreet, with approximately $2 billion in assets, is the parent company
of 11 community banks located in markets in  southwestern,  central and northern
Virginia and  metropolitan  Washington,  D.C.,  including  Richmond,  Lynchburg,
McLean,  Arlington and College Park, Maryland. It operates 46 banking offices in
Virginia and three  banking  offices in Maryland.  MainStreet's  common stock is
traded on the NASDAQ National Market System under the trading symbol MSBC.

      The  acquisition,  which is subject to the approval of the shareholders of
MainStreet and regulatory authorities,  is expected to be completed in the first
quarter of 1999.

      BB&T, a multi-bank holding company with $32.1 billion in assets,  operates
512 banking offices in the Carolinas,  Virginia,  Maryland and Washington,  D.C.
BB&T  common  stock is listed on the New York Stock  Exchange  under the trading
symbol BBK.



SIGNATURES

     Pursuant to the  requirements  of the Securities  Exchange Act of 1934, the
     registrant  has duly  caused  this report to be signed on its behalf by the
     undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

                                BB&T CORPORATION
                                  (Registrant)

                                           By:   /S/ SHERRY A. KELLETT

                                Sherry A. Kellett
                       Senior Executive Vice President and
                    Controller (Principal Accounting Officer)

Date: August 27, 1998