Henry River Mill Village, North Carolina facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Henry River Mill Village
Village (ghost town)
Henry River Mill Village Location in North Carolina
Country	United States
State	North Carolina
County	Burke

Henry River Mill Village is a small, old textile village located in Burke County, North Carolina. It's like a time capsule, showing what an early industrial town looked like, even though it's now mostly empty and decaying. Today, the buildings that are left tell the story of the area's factory past.

This village was a planned community, meaning it was designed from scratch. It had its own factory (mill), a dam, systems for water and fire protection, and even a company store. Over time, paths, green areas, and stone walls were added. Most of the original buildings are still there, sitting along a small gorge by the Henry River. You can find it just west of Catawba County, North Carolina.

The village is on private land, but you can drive through it on Henry River Road. It's not far from Interstate 40, near Hildebran. Because of its history, the village was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2019. It also became famous as a filming location for the movie The Hunger Games.

The Village's Story

Building a Mill Town

In 1904, a man named Michael Erastus Rudisill planned out the mill and village. He chose the spot because the Henry River could provide power for the factory. Michael, his brother Albert Pinkney Rudisill, and others like David William Aderholdt, Miles R. Rudisill, and Marcus Lafayette Aderholdt worked together to build the village, the dam, and the mill building.

The factory was called the Henry River Manufacturing Company. It made fine cotton yarns. Starting in 1905, they built a 30-foot (about 9-meter) tall concrete dam and a three-story brick mill building. When it first opened, the mill had 4,000 spindles for making yarn. By the time it closed in the late 1960s, it had grown to 12,000 spindles and made very fine yarn for lace.

Life in the Village

The village had about 35 small houses for the workers. These were 1-1/2 story duplexes, meaning each building had two homes. They were built along the river's steep northern bank. Workers either lived in these cottages or in boarding houses provided by the company. They paid a small fee to rent them.

Around 1907, the four owners of the mill (the Rudisills and the Aderholdts) built new, larger homes for themselves just outside the village. One of these homes burned down in 1935, but three of them are still standing today.

The most important building left in the village today is the two-story brick company store. This building was the mill office. The upstairs was used as a school room and for church services from 1907 to 1917.

Bridges and Power

In 1912, a steel bridge was built across the Henry River. It was designed by the Rudisills and was said to be the highest bridge in North Carolina at the time. During a big flood in 1916, this bridge was one of the few that survived. Later, in 1960, a new concrete bridge replaced the old steel one.

The Henry River Mill first ran on waterpower from the river. In 1914, they added a steam plant to help power the mill. Then, in 1926, the mill switched to electric power. The factory finally closed its doors in 1971. A man named Wade Shepherd bought it in 1976, hoping to fix it up. However, the mill building burned down in 1977, likely due to lightning.

The Village Today

After the mill burned, the village was considered for the North Carolina Study List of the National Register of Historic Places. In late 2002, people started looking into ways to develop and preserve this historic site.

The 72-acre village became famous when it was used as a filming location for the "District 12" scenes in the 2012 movie The Hunger Games. After the movie came out, a TV show called "Hollywood Treasure" estimated the property was worth over $1.2 million in 2012. They tried to sell it, but it didn't happen then. A book about the town and its people was also published in 2012.

In 2017, local residents bought the abandoned property. They plan to create a "Henry River Mill Village Business District" to show off the site's history.

A tornado damaged the company store in late 2017. Luckily, the windows were already broken by vandals, which let the air pressure escape and prevented worse damage to the building. The new owner, Calvin Reyes, wants to turn that building into a restaurant. Twenty of the original thirty-five mill houses were still standing, and the plan is to add twelve more. These houses would be for tourists to stay in. Mill artifacts would also be put in a museum.

The town was even featured on a TV show called "In With The Old" in 2021. In the episode, the Reyes family was shown fixing up one of the original mill houses.

Gallery

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  Henry River Mill Village Store, 2013

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