The Haw River Cemetery (old) is now called the TROLLINGER Cemetery, located next to the Methodist Church. Granite Mills offered land for a second cemetery on Lang Road, which until this day is referred to as Haw River, New Cemetery. The cemetery had been established during Michael HOLT's time in 1871 and only had a few dozen graves in 1900, the earliest marked grave being dated in 1887. On April 1, 1955, Cone Mills Corporation conveyed a deed for the Haw River Cemetery to the board of the Haw River Methodist Church. In 1987 the Methodist Church deeded the Cemetery over to the Haw River Cemetery Association. My grandparents lived near the cemetery, in fact there was only one other house between their house and the cemetery. In this old cemetery is a grave of an eighteen month old girl. All that I remember is that she was related to the KIZER family, and that there is a doll house built over her grave. Every Sunday the parents of the girl would place a new toy in the doll house. We always wanted to go see what new play thing there was this time. Not too many years ago a new roof was built for the little house. No one ever places flowers inside anymore, so all of her relatives must be gone now. Community life revolved largely around school and church. In the summers baseball games were played after the mills let out at noon on Saturdays. The community building was the town's gathering spot. Suppers were held by different organizations there. When the Christian Church caught on fire in 1939, the members held their services in the community building until the fire damage was repaired. Once a month all the churches in Haw River met for a song service. Each church had a special anthem, the Haw River band practiced at "Old Hill" but the singers gathered at the train depot and sang late into the night. After my RAY cousins moved to "Pine Knot", another mill village, I didn't see them as often as before. We always visited on Sunday afternoon and my uncle Ruffin would say....."well I see Doad got hungry again!", a nickname he had for my mother. The cousins and I would walk to the train depot with fruit jars to get drinking water. That Haw River water tasted terrible, but at the depot the water came from a spring. After World War 11 began, my Dad joined the Navy, since he was no longer working in the mill, we had to move from that house. A very sad day for us to leave Red Slide where the rest of my family all lived. Those were the good old days, and I do go back often to see the old houses. In the 1950's the mill houses were sold to private owners, but the little town has not changed much, and although I now live in Raleigh, NC....I will always think of myself as another Haw River Rat! <BG>