Carr Mill Mall is a small, local

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...

located in

Carrboro, North Carolina Carrboro is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 21,295 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census.

. It is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

as the Alberta Mill Complex. It is also a host for numerous local live performances and other cultural events.

History

Built in 1898 by Thomas F. Lloyd, it was formerly a

cotton mill A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system. Although some were driven ...

known as the Alberta Cotton Mill. By 1913, it had become one of the world's largest hardwood cross-tie makers, shipping them on train tracks adjacent to the mall that continue past Carrboro to the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

. In 1909, the Julian Carr family bought the mill. In 1913, Carrboro, previously known as West End, was renamed "Venable" in honor of Francis P. Venable, the president of the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...

at that time. The mill closed by 1930. In 1945, the mill re-opened and remained open until the 1960s. In 1974, the Carrboro Board of Aldermen voted to have the building torn down to build a shopping mall on the site. In light of community opposition to the plan, the idea was scrapped, and the mill complex was renovated and reopened as Carr Mill Mall. The complex now houses numerous restaurants and stores as well as commercial office space on its upper levels. The song "

Freight Train A freight train, also called a goods train or cargo train, is a railway train that is used to carry cargo, as opposed to passengers. Freight trains are made up of one or more locomotives which provide propulsion, along with one or more railroad ...

" by Elizabeth 'Libba" Cotten was inspired by the train that ran on the

State University Railroad The State University Railroad is a 10.2 mile railroad spur of the North Carolina Railroad that began offering service from University, Orange County, North Carolina, Glenn, North Carolina, near Hillsborough, North Carolina, Hillsborough to a poin ...

spur past her house on Lloyd St, and which served the needs of Carr Mill. Cotten wrote the song in the early 1900s, as a young teenager.

References

External links

Carr Mill Mall website
{{National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina Buildings and structures in Chapel Hill-Carrboro, North Carolina Shopping malls in North Carolina Shopping malls established in 1977 Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina Cotton mills in the United States National Register of Historic Places in Orange County, North Carolina 1977 establishments in North Carolina Industrial buildings completed in 1898