Mills Along The Dan

Mills Along The Dan. . , Near this site as early as 1831, a succession of businessmen operated flour mills. The first was owned and operated by Richard Yarbrough and Thomas Worsham. Later, Yarbrough’s son Richard became owner of the mill and renamed the business Yarbrough Milling Company. Richard Yarbrough modernized by partnering with Riverside Cotton Mills, which began in 1882, to construct a dam from which he powered three water wheels for the flour mill. The dam impounded the river’s water in Morotock Lake (today’s Union Street Dam)., In 1893, James L. Pritchett and W. H. Hill purchased the site of Yarbrough Mill. They constructed a new flour mill and operated it under the name Dan Valley Mills, which remained in business until 1970., The prosperous mills along the north bank of the Dan River led to greater development in North Danville. Following World War I, Riverside Cotton Mills had 41 houses constructed on the terraces overlooking the river (to the right and up the hill from the Martin Luther King Jr. Bridge). By 1928, the mill company owned 113 dwellings in North Danville ranging from 2 to 12 rooms. These houses were rented to mill workers for nominal amounts. Records show that in 1933, 100 houses with a total of 588 rooms were rented to 330 workers. This rent comes out to 56 cents per week for each worker.