...or where I get my name. Now a wedding site, reception/dance hall, convention center, this mill once was home to lintheads who carded and spun the cotton grown throughout the area. My grandfather worked his whole adult life in this mill, an employee of the mill owners, who share the same last name. These are some pics of the mill, snapped with my phone, and some pics of the rail trail across the river. When I was younger, I watched the train traverse that route. My father remembers riding the train to town (Lincolnton, NC). Now it is a hiking trail, and my father, brother, sister-in-law, her son, etc., all helped our grand-nephew, Hunter, with his Eagle Scout project: the instillation of two benches, placed at choice locations along the rail trail from which the hiker can contemplate the scenic South Fork River. It was a labor of love, truly, and I am so proud of Hunter for envisioning and executing the project!
Laboratory Mill
Looking down-river over the dam
The mill dam
One of the Rhyne houses overlooking the mill
Trail head
The trail and conservation area, courtesy of Paul, Jr. and wife
One of Hunter's benches!
The view from this bench...spectacular!
Rail cut
Bug sighting!
In the cut
Souvenir from the cut
South Fork River
Bug enjoying the second bench...
The rapids below...
The road goes ever on and on...
