I found this bench along the shore of Deep River in Franklinville, North Carolina.

              Kay

The Linville River cuts through this small rock canyon as it flows to the main falls in Linville George on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  The river continues on after the falls and ends near Lake James.

Kay

Boone’s Cave Park located in Lexington, North Carolina, is a hundred acre park with hiking trails, picnic areas as well as kayak and canoe access.  Baptism Rock is on the Wildflower Trail along the shore of the Yadkin River. A great place to spend and afternoon!

Kay

Kay

Kay

This is a view of the Deep River from Andrew Hunter Bridge in Franklinville, North Carolina.  The Deep River is a tributary of the Cape Fear River. Deep River begins in the piedmont of North Carolina east of Kernersville.  It then flows southeast past High Point and Randleman where if forms Randleman Lake. From Randleman Lake the river passes northeast of Asheboro flowing east to Franklinville and Ramseur. As the river passes north of Sanford it joins the Haw River just below where the Haw comes out of Jordon Lake and forms the Cape River.

Kay

Kay

While traveling on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Meadows of Dan Virginia, we turned off at Milepost 180-181 and found the Mayberry Trading Post.   The Trading Post was built in 1892 to serve as a post office and a general store for the residents of Mayberry Virginia. The post office was closed in 1922 but the general store continues to operate and is open every day, weather permitting. Entering the store, you are taken back in time to when life moved at a slower pace. The boards for the counters are original that were put in when the store was built.  The shelves and counters have an array of items ranging from mountain crafts, books, toys, honey and even homemade apple butter that they make outside every fall. The Mayberry Trading Post has been in Dale’s husband’s family and she continues to operate it today.  Dale has a warm smile and an easy way that makes you feel right at home.  She showed me her autographed picture with Berry Lynn, Thelma Lou on the Andy Griffith Show, when she came for a visit to the trading post.  It is said that Andy Griffith’s grandfather lived in the area and brought ginseng to the general store to sell.   This may be where the town of Mayberry got its name in the television program “The Andy Griffith Show”.  When you visit the trading post you will want to sign Dale’s guest book that has entries from as far away as England.  If you find yourself on the Blue Ridge Parkway at Milepost 180-181,be sure to stop in and say “Hi” to Dale!

Kay    

Enterprise Mills was a cotton mill that was built on Deep River in Randolph County in 1882.  The original was a two and one half story wooden building.  It included a wool-carding mill, saw mill and flour mill.  The brick factory was constructed in the 1920’s with Tudor Revival entrance towers.  The Enterprise Roller Mill had steel rollers to grind the wheat instead of rocks, was the first roller mill in Randolph County.  “Our Leader” was the brand of flour that the mill produced and was used in the area.  In 1959 the mill had one hundred and fifty employees that manufactured cotton knitting yarn and twine.  In 1958 the mill closed and the equipment was sold. The mill and the surrounding village was Randolph County’s first Historic District and it has also been placed on the National Register of Historic Places.  In 1970 when it was nominated for this status the nomination read - “the chief appeal of this site is as a picturesque example of a riverside mill seen in one of North Carolina’s oldest manufacturing sections.”  In 1968 part of the movie “Killers Three”, staring Dick Clark, Merle Haggard and Bonnie Owens was filmed at the Enterprise Mill Village.

Kay

Located outside of Hildebran, N.C. along the Henry River, are the remnants of the mill village that was built around the Henry River Cotton Mill in 1905.  The textile mill that produced fine cotton yarn, was water powered till 1914, the next twelve years it operated on steam power and in 1926 it was completely powered by electricity.

The Henry River Mill Village was a very active community with a company store, a boarding house as well as individual homes for the textile workers and their families.  The village not only had their own currency, but ran their own school and church, generated their own electricity and had a water and fire protection system in place.

This was a community of “family” who not only worked together, played together but they also shared in the hard times.  If there was ever a need they were always there and willing to help each other. Even though the mill closed in the late 1960’s, many of the families continued on living there.   

In 1976 the mill was purchased by a private owner hoping to reopen, but in 1977 the mill caught fire and burned completely down.   The last resident moved out around 1987.

Last spring the abandoned village served as the set for “District 12” in the filming of the science fiction drama “The Hunger Games”.

Kay