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Franklinville Upper Dam

Page history last edited by Mark Chilton 15 years, 8 months ago

Up Bush Creek: Routh Mill

81-0 Franklinville Upper Dam

The Asheboro Courier (1-18-1918) reported that the Earl of Granville granted this land to Jacob Skeen in 1784, although it must actually have been granted by the newly formed State of North Carolina (Fox 1979). Martin (1993) says that Christian Morris built his gristmill here around 1801 and the Randolph Historical Map shows Morris Mill here.

In 1820, Morris sold to Elisha Coffin, who petitioned the County Court for permission to build a gristmill in 1822. Brazier (1833) shows a mill below Bush Creek and above Sandy Creek, which must have been the Coffin gristmill. Coffin with partners Henry B Elliott of Cedar Falls, John Miller, and Henry Kivett built a cotton mill in 1838. The Courier article also says that the cotton mill burned on April 18, 1851, but was rebuilt and sold to the Cedar Falls Manufacturing Company.

The mill sold twice in the mid 1870’s to the Randleman Manufacturing Company and then to the Moffits who formed the Franklinville Manufacturing Company and renamed the town in honor of Jesse Franklin, North Carolina Governor (1820 to 1821). The same Courier article reports that throughout the iterations of cotton mill companies, the original gristmill still operated until it was torn down in 1913.

Swain (1899) says that the 5 foot high stone dam here was 400 feet long, with a 450 yard long race. The dam is still evident on aerial photographs. Ferguson says the current dam is 20 feet tall. It is still operated by Bill Lee of Asheboro as a hydroelectric plant.

Saville (1924) called this dam Randolph Mills dam #1. His report recommended a 20 foot high dam to be built at "Site 1" - at the head of the pond for the upper dam at Franklinville (ie about 1.5 miles above here). But no such dam was ever built.

A copy of the Interstate Commerce Commission's map of Franklinville can be found here: http://southern-railway.railfan.net/ay/towns/cr016.2_franklinville/MAP_V27B-S4_FRANKLINVILLE_BW.JPG