Randleman, NC
3 Things to know about Randleman NC:
Early Mills & Mill Villages
Randleman’s growth was heavily tied to textile mills. The Union Manufacturing Company, founded in 1848, brought in Quaker businessmen from nearby New Salem. The stockholders were all from that Quaker settlement.
Worker housing was built early — even as early as 1849, some of the houses for mill workers or management still stand.
There were multiple mill villages — e.g. Naomi Falls, Worthville, Central Falls, etc. These were small communities around the mills.
Name Changes & Key Figures
Randleman wasn’t always called that. It started as Dicks (or Dicks Crossing) after Peter Dicks, who built a grist mill there around 1800.
Then it was renamed Union Factory when the cotton mill (Union Manufacturing) was built in 1848.
Eventually, after John B. Randleman (and his partner John H. Ferree) bought/managed the mill company, the town was renamed in honor of Randleman.
Randleman Lake
The lake is fairly new in the scheme of things. It was created via a dam constructed in the early 2000s.
Its purposes are dual: to be a water supply (for the Greensboro area) and also to provide recreation (fishing, boating, nature) under certain restrictions.
