Altamahaw, a community in western Alamance County, on the Haw River. Ossipee, located south of Altamahaw. These two "mill villages" merged into becoming one community in the 1950's. The quiet little village of Altamahaw, which is today joined with Ossipee, was founded in 1860 by John Q. GANT, a local cotton gin operator. Both of the villages were named for the streams which flow past them, the names of which came from the Sissipahaw or Saxapahaw Indians, who settled there two centuries ago. The first cotton mill at Altamahaw was built shortly after the village was started, and it manufactured the "Alamance cotton plaids" A coffin and furniture factory was built in 1894. Today, it still remains a quiet small "southern" community surrounded by serene and beautiful rural countryside. ==== NCORANGE Mailing List ==== Larry Noah - lrnoah@bigfoot.com - Listowner - NCORANGE mailing list Orange Co, NC USGenWeb site is at http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncorange GENDEX at http://www.gendex.com/gendex/ has over 1500 databases on line