Cumnock

Cumnock (milepost CF 123.6)

History

This community is located in northwest Lee County at an altitude of 259 feet.

The community was named Egypt because large crops of corn produced in the area brought buyers from outside as in the Biblical story of Joseph. Post office name changed to Cumnock in 1895 for an official of the mine.

The photo (click on thumbnail to view larger image) shows the small combination station, housing both the freight room, agent's office and passenger waiting area as it was in 1916-20 era. The station was designated a "type 3" by the ICC Valuation engineer. It was 65' x 30' with a 4' wide platform on ends and 3' wide platform along sides. Exterior walls were board and batten and the roof (overhang of 42" on sides and 24" at ends) had metal shingles in 1916. The platform decking was 2" and the side boards reaching up 2' from ground were 1" wide and vertically placed. The passenger station interior had 7/8" tongue and groove flooring and walls. The fireplace had a plain wood mantle. Freight side had plank floor and 1" boards lining walls up to 4'. It was built in 18xx according to the ICC valuation engineering reports.

Track Diagram

The A&Y tracks at Cumnock had a capacity for 14 cars as of 1943.

Industries

A Southern Railway Shippers Guide from 1916 indicates the following industries were located in Cumnock and using the A&Y for delivering and receiving products by rail (although some may have used the station or team track rather than having a dedicated siding). I will add other industries as I receive information about them:

Industry	Goods Shipped/Rec'd	Company Name
brick factory	kiln-burned brick	Goldston Brick Co.
cotton gin	cotton	Egypt Imp. Co.
flour and grist mill	corn meal	Egypt Imp. Co.
livestock	cattle	Egypt Imp. Co.
sawmill	pine and oak rough	Egypt Imp. Co.
sawmill	pine and oak rough	J.R. Burns
sawmill	pine and oak rough	Gough & Arnold Bros.
sawmill	pine and oak rough	Henry Shaw
sawmill	pine and oak rough	W. H. Gilmore
sawmill	pine and oak rough	J. M. Wilcox

Odds and Ends

Dalton dwelling #1 pictured here was similar to dwelling in Cumnock.	Around the station were two employee dwellings similar to those at Dalton. Dwelling #1 was at "type 12" sized 25'x36' with a porch, lean-to in back, lapped siding, and double hung plain windows. Dwelling #2 was "identical to dwelling #2 at Dalton. In addition, the ICC field engineer noted a well, chicken house, corn crib, hog pen, and scrap bin. A tool house was supposed to be there, but was not evident to the engineer and he assumed it was removed. Images are photos of Dalton dwellings by ICC valuation engineer.	Dalton dwelling #2 pictured here was identical to dwelling #2 in Cumnock.
	The Egypt coal mine operated from 1855 until 1928 and supplied coal for Confederate blockade runners. In addition to the coal mine, there was an iron works. Click on thumbnail to right to see details of the coal mine.
	Near Cumnock, the A&Y crossed the Deep River on it's way to Sanford. Click on the thumbnails for larger images. To the left and below on the right are photos from both sides of a road bridge showing the newer Norfolk Southern (NS) line with the approach (left) and the crossing of the river on a through truss bridge (below right). In the left photo is a scrap carrying gondola dropped off by the Atlantic & Western Railway (ACW).
The photo on the right is the Norfolk and Southern truss span across the Deep River with the realignment of ex- A&Y track tying in before bridge. Abandoned in place is the A&Y through truss span a few hundred feet to the west of this span (see photo below). The track is operated by Atlantic and Western Railway on the Cumnock MPCF123.0 to Brickhaven with NS still owner. Cumnock to Sanford CF 123.5 to CF 130.1 is owned and operated by Atlantic and Western Railway 1995 to present. ACW ends at Gulf and is out of service from Robbins to Gulf. Thanks to Billy Joseph Tucker (ACW GM) for this info!
	This photo by Billy Joseph Tucker shows the actual A&Y two span truss bridge abandoned in place.
	The corn that attracted all those buyers to "Egypt" must still be produced. There are quite a few active and abandoned feed mills in this area. Left is a shot of the huge Gold Kist chicken feed mill in Cumnock. I have no idea if this is serviced by rail, though it is certainly big enough, and it is visible from the road bridge where I took the above photos.
The final shot here is not actually taken in Cumnock but between this town and Sanford. It is the only good trestle photo I was able to take and wanted to make sure it got on the website. It's trestles like this that limited the A&Y to lighter motive power. During the steam era, Consolidations (2-8-0 wheel arrangement) were the heaviest power used on the line. Even after the Southern took over and used diesels, there were restrictions on speed and size of locomotives.

If you have any information regarding the history of Cumnock, NC, please contact me.