This week while driving though Rockingham, NC I saw the old mill ruins and decided to stop. I have been driving past these for many years and always wanted to stop, but never seemed have the time or motivation to stop and check it out. On this day, I had some time to explore a bit before my next appointment. Kudzu has overtaken the site and in the summer you can barely see the structures. With the onset of cold winter weather, the kudzu was dormant and the ruins were quite visible and easily accessible.
This is a really neat place. I would love to light paint here, but I think it is a bit too difficult to get into at night. The mill burned in the early 70s and it must have been an awesome structure in its day. The windows, the textures, the scale, there are some great photos yet to be made here. I have to come back before the weather warms to explore this place in more detail.
While shooting, I noticed what sounded like a waterfall. I couldn't see a thing until I was getting ready to leave. I noticed through one of the window openings you could see rushing water. I appears that between these structures is a waterfall of about 30 ft in height. If you look closely through the center window you can see a bit of the falls. I was only traveling with my 50 mm lens so I couldn't get any closer than this.
I searched for the source of the falls and found a small stream feeding directly into the structure. Pretty cool!
I'll be back.... Anyone up for a road trip?
I am from Florida and I love this place!! Now I visit every year in the winter. You should take a metal detector and search around that flowing stream for old silver coins...I am the only person so far tha has shot video of great falls mill and posted to youtube..I am going to contact the city fathers and explain to them reasons why they should never bulldose this historic site! I one day hope to relocate to rockingham to live...Jeff
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