Caudle's Mountain

(image copyright 2008 by Dan Routh)

I'm double posting this weekend because I'm supposed to be on location all week, if the weather cooperates. One of the locations will be a local Randolph County landmark, Caudle's Mountain. Located south of Greensboro, Caudle's is a small mountain near Deep River that has been home to the Caudle family and their dairy farm for nearly a hundred years. When I was a small boy, my family bought fertilizer from it's owner and picked apples from the orchard that used to be on top. It is a beautiful place, the closest thing to being in the mountains in piedmont North Carolina. Over the years, the members of the family that ran the farm have died and the dairy is no longer in operation. All of us in the community have wondered what will become of it and wether it will stay a farm or fall under the developer's control. Fortunately, I recently found out that a neighbor has puchased the top of the mountain with plans to put a vineyard there and then place the land with the Piedmont Land Conservancy, where it will be preserved.