Denton North Carolina Rail Road History

        Thomasville and Glen Anna Rail Road had been completed as far as Denton. Mr Harrison and Mr. Daniel were the people who acquired right of way and did the leg work in the Denton area for the road. Mr. B.I. sold the right of way along the west side of his land holdings to Captain Milton Jones for $1.00 in 1906. Regular service did not start until 1912, when my grandfather was named depot agent. He held that job until my father, Howell Harrison, succeeded him in 1926. The rail line name was changed to the Carolina and Yadkin Rail Road in 1912, when the line was extended to High Rock. Much of the tonnage hauled by the road was forest products, and Mr. B. I. soon thereafter began buying cross ties and re selling them primarily to the roads in the northeast which were extending their lines westward. While there were other crosstie dealers, Mr. Harrison's business reached it's highest point in 1917-1918, when he shipped almost 200,000 ties annually, keeping 3 loading crews working fulltime. During the recession of 1923,the rail line went into receivership. It was bought at auction in 1923. I have read that Mr. Harrison's work to get the road back into operation and service maintained into town was perhaps his finest contribution to the town of Denton, though my dad never mentioned it.. I have no way to verify the statement, but it came from John O. Gamer. and from Cecil Hiatt, a rail line historian in Thomasville. The rail line was re-named The High Point, Thomasville and Denton R.R. when it was reorganized in 1924.

 Article by Jim Harrison, Grandson of B. I. Harrison