Mill villages sprang up around the county, and as new methods of power came into being, the mills opened in Burlington. New power sources freed textile mills from the rivers which had provided the water power that ran the looms. But now the steam engine allowed mills to operate in locations where there was no running water. The mills came to Burlington: Lakeside Mill, Mayfield Mill, E.M. Holt Plaid Mill, operations which produced textile fabric and which provided jobs for those left here when the railroad departed. The Roanoke Bridge Co. operated for a number of years in some of the old railroad buildings, giving a bit of diversity to the local industrial makeup. In 1890 Burlington began paying its mayor $100 a year, and a court was opened in 1910. The town started a city hall in 1915, and it stood at Front and Worth Streets, until the present municipal building was built in the late 1960s. In 1918, Earl HORNER was elected mayor. He served for more than 25 years. Upon his death, the growing city adopted the present city manager form of government. In 1923 J. Spencer LOVE came to Burlington, and with the help of a number of local backers, he started Burlington Mills, a new manufacturer of textile products. Soon the mill faced a crisis when cotton lost favor as a textile product. The cotton market plunged. While other mills faltered, LOVE turned to a new synthetic called rayon. It was much like silk and it took the textile market by storm. With that product, LOVE put Burlington Mills on the road to becoming the largest manufacturer of textile products in the world. Today, with plants in many states, Burlington Industries remains one of the major employers in Alamance County. Burlington survived the Depression with more ease than many other parts of the nation. Burlington Mills and many of the other operations here were able to continue production even in the darkest years, but it was not a good time for everyone. There was some work by the Civilian Conservation Corps and other government groups to provide work for the unemployed. To be Continued with the coming of World War 11