Burlington Memories

On January 29, 1856, the last spikes were driven into the final tie of the North Carolina Railroad project uniting the cities of Goldsboro and Charlotte by rail. The next day, the first locomotive passed along the new route. When that iron horse arrived in Alamance County, locals referred to it as "the eight wonder of the world."

Not long after this historic opening, the railroad realized a pressing need for repair shops. With Alamance County's position along the new line, it became the logical choice for the shops' location. After several debates concerning where the shops would be located, Gen. Benjamin Trollinger, a progressive Alamance County manufacturer, made an offer that settled the matter. Gen. Trollinger owned land just northwest of Graham, and he convinced several other prominent citizens owning adjacent lots to join him and sell their property tot he railroad. By 1859, construction of the shops began.

Seemingly overnight, a town was born. A church, bank, hotel and restaurant sprung up. "Company Shops", as the town became known, was also chosen as the railroad's headquarters. Nearby, Gen. Trollinger and E.M. Holt established small textile operations along the Haw River and Great Alamance Creek. After twenty-five years of operations, the shops closed as most of the railroad's facilities were relocated to the Town of Spencer in Rowan County.

In need of a new name and a new economic vitality, Company Shops was reborn as Burlington on February 14, 1893. Around the turn of the century, the great industrial progress began, and Alamance County made rich contributions to the industrial advancement of the country. In 1908, E.M. Holt built the first cotton mill in the South. From the establishment of this single factory, Alamance County grew to eventually operate 30 cotton mills and 10 to 15 yarn manufacturing plants employing 15,000 people. Eventually, the early textile venture of E.M. Holt became known all over the world as Burlington Industries, and is now headquartered in nearby Greensboro. Throughout this period, Burlington became a prosperous and vibrant little city filled with graded schools, churches, private schools, newspapers, telegraph and telephone lines, roads and a streetcar line; all in keeping with the latest "modern progress" of the times.

Though textiles continued to dominate the local economy well into the 1970s, the people of Burlington knew they could not survive on the back of a single industry, and the country's involvement in World War II brought important local economic changes. In 1942, the federal government purchased and leased a 22-acre site to Fairchild Aircraft Corporation for the construction of test aircraft. After two years of production, the site was leased to Firestone Tire Company for the Army's tank rebuilding program. At the close of the war, the federal government chose not to leave, but continued utilizing the property for government contract business. This decision would bring Western Electric to town along with new employees from around the country and beyond. Their contracts ensured Burlington's placement on the "hit list" during the Cold War due to the manufacturing and testing of emerging defense technologies. Four decades later (1991), however, the doors to Western Electric (then Lucent Technologies) were locked and another chapter of Burlington's history was closed.

Throughout this century-and-a-half of economic change, Downtown Burlington grew, adapted and prospered. Originally the center of commerce for Company Shops, the downtown area still serves as the heart of today's community with financial services, government services, an expanded library, small shops, eateries and a restored theater. Downtown has also returned to its status as a major employment center, becoming the home to Laboratory Corporation of America, one of the world's largest biomedical testing firms and Burlington/Alamance County's largest employer. A blend of old and new, Downtown Burlington is poised for a continued prosperous and dynamic future.

Taken from "Art & Architecture of Historic Downtown Burlington: A Walking Tour"

Copies of this brochure and walking tour are available from the Corporation office.

July 3, 1957

October 19, 1960

October 25, 1960

February 20, 1963