Meherrin was a classic example of the early American town. Private homes and mercantile establishments existed comfortably side by side. In addition to stores, there was a photographer, churches, inns, a hotel, barrooms, schools, blacksmith shops, jeweler, a tailor's shop, tobacco warehouses, drug stores, wire factory, tomato cannery, cucumber brinary, stave mill, dispensary, a bank, and a hospital. Meherrin's heyday covered a little more than sixty years from the 1870's through the depression years of the 1930s. The day of small towns like Meherrin are gone.
Passenger trains no longer rumble past, alerting the hotel staff to their tasks.
World War II marked the end of the era of the thriving small town in America, but like many other communities, Meherrin still exists, although not with its former youthful exuberance. Today the Meherrin post office serves approximately 2000 people. However, the census of the community is considerably less than that. Meherrin is very unique among small towns in that it has facilities which most rural communities of its size do not have. A fire department, a lighted baseball park, a modern meeting hall for banquets or social activities, and bingo one night a week provide the residents many opportunities to form community bonds and promote common interests.