Six Old
Towns
Restored "Pcrton’i Ordinor*" ol Littleton .
Warren Ion
Warrenton used to be famous as
"the town that owned itself." Its own
ice plant, power plant, railroad, quar¬
ries. hotel, and alcoholic beverage dis¬
pensary, Proceeds from the latter,
which were considerable, retired the
town’s bonded indebtedness, paved
every sidewalk in town, and built the
electric light plant and sewage system.
Savvy handling of its public enter¬
prises reaped a handy profit time and
again, and Warrenton (pop. 1,124)
as a result has always looked like a
much bigger town than it really is.
Recent efforts to attract industry have
met with some success.
Main Street is neat and shady. On
the fringe of the business district arc
six tobacco warehouses, nerve centers
of the agricultural network, and War-
renton's chief distributors of spending
money. Beautiful old residences sur¬
round the town, and most of them arc
well-maintained or faithfully restored.
US highways 158 and 401 intersect at
the courthouse, the third one in a hun¬
dred and eighty years.
Out the Rocky Mount highway is
Warrenton Country Club, with a nine-
hole golf course, tennis courts, pool,
and two fishing ponds. And about six¬
teen miles northwest a vast hydro¬
electric lake draws week-end crowds. It
is named for John H. Kerr. Warren po¬
litical leader who wrote the propitious
clause authorizing Warrenton to engage
in any business enterprise which might
bring in revenue.
In recent years, public operation of
its various facilities became more
costly and inefficient, and one by one
they have drifted into the hands of
private enterprise. The old hotel was
THE STATE. October 27. 1962
among the last to make the shift, and
has profited thereby.
Warrenton s fastidious cleanliness is
attributed to the vigilance and inspi¬
ration of the community's several gar¬
den clubs. In 1957. the town assured its
future water supply by tapping Fishing
Creek. Despite a bond issue for a mod¬
ern water plant, the tax rate has been
held to $1.15. Its slogan now is "His¬
torically Great — Progressively Strong.”
In 1958. a group of citizens formed
a corporation headed by General
Claude Bowers, and community clubs
gathered round to save a beloved old
hotel. Individuals also gave dona¬
tions, and the ladies pitched in to scrub
and paint. Now all fifty rooms and
apartments arc renovated to answer
the demands of the modern traveler.
Littleton
An old town built around Person's
Ordinary (1774). Littleton (pop. 1,-
024) has shown surprising stamina,
and the business section would do
credit to a town three or four times as
large. The village grew up around the
home of William Person Little, spread¬
ing to both sides of the Warren-Hali-
fax line. The tavern came in 1774, to
serve passengers of the Halifax-Hills-
boro stage coach line. It has been re¬
stored by the Littleton Woman's
Club.
Lumber mills, a large bottling plant,
and retail trade employ the majority
of the labor force not engaged in agri¬
culture. It is in a rich farming section,
and the Mount Olive Pickle Company
has a buying and bringing station here.
It also is a market for cotton and pea¬
nuts.
Littleton got a big boost when the
ancient Gaston Railroad came through
(now the Seaboard). Littleton Female
Academy was established in 18X2 and
operated until 1919 when it burned
One of the section's most famous in¬
stitutions was Panacea Springs, a re¬
sort with a 100-room hotel. It was
closed as a resort about 1920 but re¬
opened for dances for a few years,
from 1926 to 1929. Well-known band
leaders played here — Jan Garber.
Sousa, and others.
The town now has a bank, a news¬
paper, a library, fire department and
other civic apparatus. The new Gas¬
ton lake comes within two miles of the
town, and the community is laying
plans to make full use of this new re¬
source. especially in residential and
recreational developments.
Rorlina
Warren's newest town. Norlina.
thrived on traffic. In 1897 the Rich¬
mond Division of the Seaboard entered
the Norfolk Division (old Ralcigh-
Gaston) at this point, called Mount
Regio. and a settlement mushroomed.
U.S. No. I. U.S. 441 and US. 1 58
cross here, and Interstate 85 will be
nearby. It was incorporated in 1913.
Growth of the town continued until
the bank failures of
192».
It now has
a population of 927.
Old liltleloa Female College Its groduote» ka.e
ip*eod all o.ce the -Ofld
