| Meet Hamlet |
Marks Creek in Hamlet is more than the city's modern source for water. It
was the source of the beginning of the city.
The destruction of John Shortridge's textile mill in Rockingham during the
Civil War led him to go to a place called Sand Hills. The area was named
after the first house constructed there.
Shortridge built a woolen and saw mill there on Marks Creek, where
Hamlet City Lake now lies.
He changed the area's name to Shortridge Mills. The name was believed to
have been changed to Hamlet in 1873 to reflect the hamlet it had become.
But in 1867, an event occurred which would set the identity of Hamlet for
years to come.
The first train of the Wilmington-Charlotte and Rutherford railroad pulled
into town on the east-west tracks.
Other railroads were convinced to lay their north-south tracks through
Hamlet instead of Rockingham. In 1894 the railroad shops moved from
Laurinburg to Hamlet.
With an increase in north-south and east-west rail travel, the Hamlet
Seaboard Station was built in 1900. The land was donated by Frank
Shortridge. The style was Queen Anne. The cone-shaped turret of that
station has become the most notable structure in Hamlet.
In 1903, the largest industry in Hamlet and Richmond County was an ice
plant build in 1903 mainly for icing railroad cars for fruits and vegetables. It
employed 50 men.
By 1924 there were some 24 passenger and freight trains passing through
Hamlet every day.
With all the passenger traffic through Hamlet, support services were
needed. The Seaboard Hotel opened beside the station on April 1, 1900 and
others followed. The first hotel had been built in the town in 1885.
The Seaboard Airline Railroad classification yard north of Hamlet was
completed in 1954 adding to the importance of Hamlet as a rail center.
In 1876 the lots and streets of the early town were laid out. It was the
same year the first post office opened.
On Feb. 9, 1897 the town was incorporated. Following that on May 3,
1897 the first election for town officials was held.
Besides the prominence of railroading in Hamlet, which had become
known as "The Hub City of the Carolinas," the town was becoming
prominent in provisions for medical treatment.
In 1915 Dr. W. D. James and his wife, Lillian Duer James, RN, came to
Hamlet and developed Hamlet Hospital and established the school of nursing
which provided a three-year curriculum until it closed in 1975.
At one time, it had the only deep X-ray machine south of Baltimore, Md.
Later the Moncure Hospital was opened.
In 1900 E.A. Lackey, a Hamlet distiller, began building the stores on Main
Street. The first was what is now Birmingham Drug Store which was
completed in 1901.
Lackey had a saloon next door. The first registered trademark in North
Carolina was for his whiskey.
By 1902 there were five saloons in Hamlet, which was a town of 639
people, one doctor, one livery stable, one barbershop and three churches.
Hamlet's water system was installed in 1908. Between 1900 and 1910, the
city saw developments with services such as electricity, telephone, water and
schools.
By 1910, the population had increased to 2,183 and by 1920 it was 3,659.
By comparison, Rockingham's population was only 2,509 in the same year.
was the source of the beginning of the city.
The destruction of John Shortridge's textile mill in Rockingham during the
Civil War led him to go to a place called Sand Hills. The area was named
after the first house constructed there.
Shortridge built a woolen and saw mill there on Marks Creek, where
Hamlet City Lake now lies.
He changed the area's name to Shortridge Mills. The name was believed to
have been changed to Hamlet in 1873 to reflect the hamlet it had become.
But in 1867, an event occurred which would set the identity of Hamlet for
years to come.
The first train of the Wilmington-Charlotte and Rutherford railroad pulled
into town on the east-west tracks.
Other railroads were convinced to lay their north-south tracks through
Hamlet instead of Rockingham. In 1894 the railroad shops moved from
Laurinburg to Hamlet.
With an increase in north-south and east-west rail travel, the Hamlet
Seaboard Station was built in 1900. The land was donated by Frank
Shortridge. The style was Queen Anne. The cone-shaped turret of that
station has become the most notable structure in Hamlet.
In 1903, the largest industry in Hamlet and Richmond County was an ice
plant build in 1903 mainly for icing railroad cars for fruits and vegetables. It
employed 50 men.
By 1924 there were some 24 passenger and freight trains passing through
Hamlet every day.
With all the passenger traffic through Hamlet, support services were
needed. The Seaboard Hotel opened beside the station on April 1, 1900 and
others followed. The first hotel had been built in the town in 1885.
The Seaboard Airline Railroad classification yard north of Hamlet was
completed in 1954 adding to the importance of Hamlet as a rail center.
In 1876 the lots and streets of the early town were laid out. It was the
same year the first post office opened.
On Feb. 9, 1897 the town was incorporated. Following that on May 3,
1897 the first election for town officials was held.
Besides the prominence of railroading in Hamlet, which had become
known as "The Hub City of the Carolinas," the town was becoming
prominent in provisions for medical treatment.
In 1915 Dr. W. D. James and his wife, Lillian Duer James, RN, came to
Hamlet and developed Hamlet Hospital and established the school of nursing
which provided a three-year curriculum until it closed in 1975.
At one time, it had the only deep X-ray machine south of Baltimore, Md.
Later the Moncure Hospital was opened.
In 1900 E.A. Lackey, a Hamlet distiller, began building the stores on Main
Street. The first was what is now Birmingham Drug Store which was
completed in 1901.
Lackey had a saloon next door. The first registered trademark in North
Carolina was for his whiskey.
By 1902 there were five saloons in Hamlet, which was a town of 639
people, one doctor, one livery stable, one barbershop and three churches.
Hamlet's water system was installed in 1908. Between 1900 and 1910, the
city saw developments with services such as electricity, telephone, water and
schools.
By 1910, the population had increased to 2,183 and by 1920 it was 3,659.
By comparison, Rockingham's population was only 2,509 in the same year.
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