The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1901-07-19
THE BIRTH OF HENDERSON.

| lI1E DIX ii OF HEN DERSON
| The town of Henderson first came
| INTO existence as a little railway sta
tlon, surrounded by timbered land as
far back as 1888 or thereabout This
was when the old strap iron snake head
Raleigh and CASTOR road reached this
point. and | have no doubt it was con-
sidered big achievement in railroad
construction at that time, when the
directors of the road reported to the
stockholders who were holding a meet
ing in Raleigh that the road was COM
pleted one and half miles west of
Chalk Level and that the road would
soon run over the highest bridge in the
world about SO feet high. This was
really their report, / am told.
There is very amusing circum-
stance connected with securing town
charter for Henderson. 1t was intended
to be 1000 yards area from a stone in
the centre and circular in shape, but
the charter sent before the Legisla-
ture that granted it read 1000 miles.
The mistake was not noticed until the
bill had passed both branches of the
Legislature, and it remained so for two
years and so far as a North Carolina
Legislature was concerned, Henderson
had jurisdiction over pretty good
scope of these United States, and if the
census was taken during that two
years, she had good many more peo-
pie then than she has now, but being
| a generous people willing for New York.
Chicago, Philadelphia Atlanta, and
other suburban towns to have their own
municipal government, this act was re-
pealed and the original proposition Of
I,2O0 yards was adopted and has re-
manned so up to this time.
The census of 1890 gave Henderson
about 400 or 500 more people than the
census of 1900, this is doubtless a mis-
take, for every one knows that the
town has been steadily growing all the
time. l am reliably informed that in
Guiding the factory villages there are
at least 5000 people who can truthfully
be called citizens of Henderson.
FUTURE FULL OF. PROMISE.
Henderson is destined to go forward
more rapidly during the next five years
than she has for the last ten years. be-
cause the business men who have made
money here are not letting their capt.
tai lie idle. They are building factories
and investing in other industries that
give employment to wage earners, and
after all this is what gives town a
wide spread reputation and builds it up.
There are two pretty good sized cot
ton mills here, the Henderson and the
Harriet. The former has fifteen thou
sand spindles. and ZIG looms. The off,
GERS of the Henderson mill are: d. Y.
Cooper, president; DIR. F.. r. Harris,
president; J. B. Owen, treasurer;
J. ID. Rose, secretary, and A. G. All
good superintendent The same are the
officers of the Harriet mill, except j.
p. Taylor, who is the vice president
and F. l.. Page, superintendent. The
Harriet mill has ten thousand spindles
and 672 cone minders. Both of these
mills are fitted out with the very best
modern machinery and they employ
about 1000 operatives.
NEW INDUSTRIES.
The new knitting mill which has been
running only a few months is another
industry that has come to stay. 1t
makes mems winter and summer un
derwear 1t occupies a large four story
prick building and the capacity is 200
dozen per day. The capital is fifty
thousand dollars paid in. The mill
works over 100 hands. l.. l.. StraNse
is president of the company, o. C. Burt,
from near Springfield Mass, is the
manager, Mr.. Burt is thorough bust
ness man with an experience of twenty
years in the knitting mill business.
Another new industry started here
inst about three months ago md do
ing very satisfactory business is the
Corbitt Buggy Company. S. S. Parham
is the president; DIR. F. r. Harris, sec
rotary and Richard Corbitt manager.
Their capacity Isl sixty buggies per