#2 Posting of the History of Company Shops. The first building in Company Shops as it was to become known, was a boarding house built by James DIXON. The first business was the railroad commissary. The railroad company constructed seven brick buildings for its operations. These included a foundry, a wood shop, the locomotive repair shop, an engine shed, a blacksmith's shop and two car shops. Also there were eight small houses built for the shop workers, and three others for company executives. There also was a railroad office building constructed just north of the present Front Street-Main Street intersection. The shops were completed in 1857, and at that time plans were announced for a hotel. It was a large two story building which a huge porch on the second floor, wrapping around the structure. Large columns adorned the front. It was located immediately adjacent to the tracks on the south side. The hotel became known all along the line as the place to eat. Conductors would telegraph the hotel to make reservations for the passengers. In later years many famous people stopped there, including Thomas EDISON and Henry FORD. In 1857 there were 27 buildings in the town. In 1861 the telegraph came to town and one of the first pieces of news to come over the wires was the fact that Fort Fisher had been attacked by South Carolina troops. The War Between the States had begun. The county felt the same hardships as other communities in the south. A hospital was opened where the old Broad Street High School was built in 1901, it remained in operation until 1951. Much of the area around Broad Street was a army camp where the men trained. Many did not return home. In 1865, a significant event took place in Company Shops. Yankee Gen. William T. SHERMAN was moving on Raleigh. The end was near. Confederate Gen. Joseph E. JOHNSTON gathered his troops at Company Shops and bade them farewell. He walked to the depot here and boarded a train made up of an engine and single car. With Capt. W.H. TURRENTINE of Company Shops as engineer, the train moved off to a meeting with SHERMAN, five miles west of Durham, where JOHNSTON surrendered. The railroad town continued to grow after the war, and in February 1866, Company Shops was incorporated. There were new buildings and a fire engine had been purchased. Businesses began to spring up. Pete NEESE opened a jewelry store, and B.A. SELLARS first opened in the 1870's. The little town was thriving. To be continued with #3.... Sources for this History of Company Shops: Orange and Alamance County Deeds "North Carolina National", (weekly newspaper) N.C. Archives "Burlington Times News" March 14, 1993 "Weekly Message", Greensboro weekly [1851-1871] N.C. Archives Pictures and maps found at May Memorial Library in Burlington, NC. Stories handed down by my grandfather, James Small, who was born 1852 and lived at Company Shops. "History" that I heard while growing up in Burlington, NC.