Visit Stoneville

Welcome to Stoneville, North Carolina! Learn more about our history and things to do here and in the area.

Stoneville’s History

Stoneville is still “ Small Town America”. With a population of just over 1200. It has grown little during the past 100 years. It retains its small town atmosphere; its people “ the Salt of the Earth “.

In 1853, John Stone and his wife Matilta, with their ten children moved from near Horsepasture, Virginia to a farm of 200 acres a mile or so southeast of the present town of Stoneville.

In 1858, two sons, Thomas and Pinckney, bought 92 acres of land which is now the Town of Stoneville. They built a large one room cabin here and the same year they built a one story framed store building. This was located on the site where the present day town park on the corner is located and was known as Stone’s Store.

The following year, the brothers built a brick structure ( the first brick store building in this village ) directly across from the wooden building and the wooden building was used to store bulk groceries. There was also a scattering of wooden frame structures in the village. In 1900, this brick building was torn down in order to widen Henry Street. Another building was built on this site for a bank and still stands today.

At this time, the town was called Mayo and the local post office called Mayo was one of the oldest in the county. The Mayo post office was closed during the Civil War and reopened on July 7, 1869 under the name of Stoneville Post Office.

On March 5, 1877, the town was incorporated and an election was held on March 27, 1877 to elect a Mayor and Councilmen. Francis Joyce Stone, a brother of Pinckney and Thomas Stone was elected Mayor and Henry Barnes, Arch Heggie and James W. Moore were elected councilmen.

Tobacco, furniture and textiles have played an important part in the history of our town. At one time there was at least three tobacco houses, two textile mills and one furniture factory. There has been other businesses such as grocery stores, clothing stores, and service stations important to the area.

Our town has had at least three educational institutions at three different locations. The “Dodd” school operated on W. Matthews St and was named for a local schoolmaster and merchant, Nathaniel H. Dodd Jr; the second was “ The Academy “ on the west side of South Glenn Street. In 1921, a new large two story building was erected on the east side of South Henry Street. It operated for over forty years until it was torn down to make way for other buildings that have served the needs of the children in our community for many years.

During Stoneville’s history there has been many churches to attend to the needs of its citizens. The Methodist Church was built about 1877 followed by the Baptist, Episcopal, Presbyterian, Christian, Pentacostal Holiness and other denominations.