Cliffside, North Carolina facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Cliffside, North Carolina
Unincorporated community
Cliffside, North Carolina Location in North Carolina Show map of North Carolina Cliffside, North Carolina Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Country	United States
State	North Carolina
County	Rutherford
Area
• Total	2.33 sq mi (6.03 km2)
• Land	2.33 sq mi (6.03 km2)
• Water	0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2)
Elevation	843 ft (257 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	530
• Density	227.76/sq mi (87.93/km2)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP code	28024
Area code(s)	828
GNIS feature ID	2628618

Cliffside is a small community in Rutherford County, North Carolina, in the United States. It is not an official city but a "census-designated place" (CDP). This means it's a community that the U.S. Census Bureau counts as a separate area for statistics. In 2020, about 530 people lived there. Cliffside has its own post office and is located near U.S. Route 221 Alternate and North Carolina Highway 120.

History of Cliffside

Cliffside was started in 1899 by a man named Raleigh Rutherford (R.R.) Haynes. He built a large textile mill (a factory that makes cloth) on the Second Broad River. Before Cliffside, Haynes had helped build other mills in nearby towns like Henrietta and Caroleen.

What is a Company Town?

Cliffside was a special kind of place called a "company town." This meant that R.R. Haynes and his business partners owned almost everything in the town. They owned the land, the houses, and even the farms.

The houses were rented to the mill workers for a very low price. For example, a room in a house might cost only 25 cents a week! Because the town was privately owned, it didn't have a city council or strict city limits. It also had very little crime.

Life in Cliffside

To live in Cliffside, at least one person in your family had to work for Haynes's mill. There were also some simple rules, like not being allowed to keep dogs on your property.

Cliffside grew a lot and was at its busiest in the 1950s. At that time, about 2,500 people lived there. A famous millionaire, Earl Owensby, who built Earl Owensby Studios, grew up in Cliffside. His studios are only about 10 miles away.

The historic Cliffside Public School is an important building in the community. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998 because of its historical value.

Population Facts

As of the 2020 census, Cliffside had a population of 530 people.

See also

In Spanish: Cliffside (Carolina del Norte) para niños