Millboro, along the old Railroad Spur

I'm continuing my posting today with more architectural shots. Millboro is a community near my home in Grays Chapel, North Carolina that grew up on a spur line of the Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railroad as a supply point for local textile mills. The railroad also provided access for rich Northerners to bring their private railroad cars for bird hunting in the 1920s at the Halliday Hunting Lodge. The shot above is of a wooden water tank used at the hunting lodge and the image below is of the old Millboro Store.

As I wander around Randolph County, I use a copy of a book, "Architectural History of Randolph County, N.C." written by attorney and friend Mac Whatley. It is an extensive guide of the interesting and important buildings in the county. Unfortunately, Mac wrote the book in 1985 and as I search for many of the structures, I learn that more and more of them no longer exist. It's amazing how fast these great pieces of architecture can disappear. I haven't counted, but as many as half or more of the structures in the book are gone. In addition, the railroad line that once ran through Millboro is itself gone, having been torn up and removed several years ago.

(Photographs copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)