Mayodan, NC

Mayodan was built around a waterfall, a railroad, and a mill. The town was founded in 1895 beside the Mayo River after Colonel Francis Henry Fries and other investors chose the site for a major textile operation. The Mayo Mill opened in 1896, and the Roanoke & Southern Railroad brought the commercial traffic that made stores, a bank, hotel, churches, and a post office necessary. The town's name points to the nearby Mayo and Dan rivers, whose confluence helped define the map.

That industrial beginning is still visible in the Mayodan Downtown Historic District. Ten blocks around Main Street, Second Avenue, and Third Avenue hold early commercial buildings, churches, service stations, a hotel, and the 1971 municipal building. The mill economy has changed, but manufacturing remains part of the town's present through Bridgestone Aircraft Tire and other manufacturers. Mayodan also sits near the confluence of the two rivers and is served by Western Rockingham Middle School. Its streets make the old mill-town arrangement easy to see.