By Kevin Spradlin
PeeDeePost.com
* A public Facebook photo album of the site
ROCKINGHAM — An alert PeeDeePost.com reader brought to The Pee Dee Post’s attention early Monday that part of the back wall of the Great Falls Mill, which dates back to 1833, had recently fallen.
The site is located off U.S. Business Highway 74 just west of the intersection of U.S. Route 220 and 74 Business near Huddle House.
The cotton mill along Falling Creek was chartered in 1833 but was burned down by Union soldiers in 1865. It was rebuilt four years later but burned again in 1972.
Though privately owned and closed to the public, the site was authorized for use by Hootie and the Blowfish for an “Old Man & Me” video.
According to John L. Bell, when it closed in 1930, the facility included a five-story building, a dye house, 6 warehouses, 2 office buildings, 42 spinning frames, and 205 looms. The mill burned in 1972, but much of the ruins remained.
John Massey, Rockingham planning director, said the site would have to be considered a public safety issue before the city became involved. The situation on the property would have to be deemed an “imminent hazard,” Massey said, which is done on a “case by case basis.”
Massey noted that while the ruins are completely on private property, so, too, are the homes that the city condemns and tears down through a public process.