State

one dozen busy towns almost every (*01111111111 ily hums uitli industry and activity in randolpli county hi/ suinter sut ton Deep Ri»cr n the worlbonc — here il is seen о» Fran к li nvillc. Deep River is the workhorse in Randolph. Along ils banks colonial “industrialists" settled to use water¬ power for grinding and sawing, and later the county’s first modern indus¬ try developed there. Close to its banks cling the towns of Worthville, Central Falls, Cedar Falls. Coleridge. Franklinville. Randlcman and Ram- seur. The first four of these are like quiet residential hamlets. Modest white cot¬ tages. with well-kept lawns, are perched on the bluffs above the river. It is only when the car gets to the bottom of the gorge and finds the in¬ evitable mill that industry suggests it¬ self. These villages arc serene, shaded and restfully quiet, and all are hidden away in unsuspected turns of the river. Few travelers ever see them. Cedar Falls is the site of Randolph's first (1836) cotton mill. Franklinville Quite different is Franklinville. This town, grown around a textile plant built in 1838 and an earlier grist mill of 1801. is on old 64. and thousands of cast-west travelers of a few years ago remember coming down the hill, crossing the Andrew Hunter Bridge, turning by the grist mill, and then chugging on up the hill on the Other side. No matter from which direction you drive to Franklinville, you go down into a bowl in which most of the town is built — in the mountains it would be called a cove. The town's industry is unusual — one company, the Ran¬ dolph Manufacturing Company — operates both the textile plant and the huge mill which makes flour, meal and feed, a sort of industrial diversifica¬ tion which here was old before the practice was rediscovered. The town has a population of 778. From the bridge may be seen the huge, sloping boulder known as Faith Rock. Andrew Hunter, ardent patriot, was captured by Fanning and doomed to die. When his captors dismounted to eat. Hunter sprang on Fanning's fine mare. Bay Doe, widely known for her flectness and intelligence. He escaped in a hail of bullets. Fanning's men apparently were afraid they would kill the prized horse if they aimed too close. Shortly after this. Hunter was sur¬ rounded by Fanning's men on the banks of the river. In desperation, he urged Bay Doe to plunge 50 feet down the steep rock into the river, and escaped. For a hundred years, the blood of this horse increased the value of stock in Randolph. Across the river from the town, a footbridge leads to a pretty municipal park. Asheboro After Asheboro was chartered in 1796. it took 100 years to gain a population of 300. Then in 1899 when the Carolina & Northwestern Railway stimulated a few- industries — mostly lumbering — it shot up like a rocket. In 1900. it counted 992; in 1910. 1.865; 1920, 2.529; 1930. 5.021; 1940, 6.981; and 1950. 7.701. This doesn't tell the story. The city bound¬ aries have not been extended in over 70 years, and Asheboro’s population actually is nearer 10,000. It is a thriving industrial and com¬ mercial town, with a crowded, busy retail section. Proof of the citizens' pride is shown by the way they rallied to self-improvement programs to win. for three years, the Carolina Power & Light Company's "Finer Carolina" award. The campaigns resulted in numerous improvements, but Ashe- Tbc Scogrove Pottery bo» bronchcd ou« into о new line — cuitom-modc occcvsorict lor furniture monulocturcrs — See "Seogrovc."