Gibsonville's Revival

A Town Built on Industry and Innovation

The town of Gibsonville was chartered by the North Carolina General Assembly in February of 1871. According to town records written in 1971 by historian Melvin O. Wyrick, the name honors Joseph Gibson, the son of Andrew Gibson. Andrew Gibson was a silversmith who immigrated from Scotland to Charleston, SC in 1765. He moved to Guilford County, NC in 1775 where he opened the unestablished town’s first general store. Gibson likely helped lay the town’s foundations by building community through the store. 

Gibson was influential as the general store manager, a trade which made him wealthier than most men of the time. The farming industry was booming, and Guilford County’s rich soil, relatively stable climate, and rolling grassy fields boasted opportunity.

There are no town records of when Gibson purchased the Gibson Family Estate, which he converted to farming fields for livestock and cash crops, as well as a robust gold mine. The land was located south of the Gibsonville Cemetery, which stands today. The mine was located on what is today known as Gold Hill, a craggy mound of soil and flint rock.

The community’s earliest industry thrived on exporting tobacco, cotton, corn, and wheat crops– and extracting the abundance of precious metal ore.

Joseph Gibson was born in 1785. He inherited the estate and took over operations after his father died in 1823. Joseph’s family, including his two sons, James and Moses Gibson, moved to Arkansas in the early 1840s, leaving the patriarch in town with plenty of industrial power.

In 1848, the North Carolina Legislature passed a bill calling for an east-west railroad to connect the coastal plain with the Piedmont, according to a report from the Gibsonville Museum and Historical Society.

Gibson was now ready to take on the red-hot train industry, which was spreading rapidly for its efficient transportation of goods, but also from wealthy travelers who indulged in lavish private cars. Gibson contracted with the state to grade the roadbed along three-and-a-half miles and began construction in 1851. Gibson hired local men for the grueling work, but the majority of it was completed by slaves he owned. 

Transformation and the Industrial Revolution

In the years leading up to the Civil War, Gibsonville underwent a massive transformation, with the train depot completed in 1854 and the first train entering the station in 1855. It is unclear how much of the labor was completed by slaves versus paid workers.

There are few existing records of slave labor in Gibsonville’s history, but regional evidence of slavery suggests that Gibson and other town citizens likely owned many slaves.  

Most of the buildings of this era were wooden businesses; saloons, postmasters, and general stores. As newer, brick buildings began to replace the original layout, the start of the 20th century brought an industrious energy. Train conductors affectionately dubbed the town “The City of Roses,” after the sprawling beds of red roses flanking the tracks.

“The windows would be down because they didn’t have any air conditioning."

"So the aroma of the roses would come through the windows of the train, and [the conductor] would go, ‘It’s the city of roses.’ And it kind of stuck.”

- Myra Burkhead

During this period, textiles became the main prosperity for Gibsonville's citizens. Strategically positioned along key railroad lines, the town became home to several mills. Minneola Manufacturing Company Cloth Warehouse was opened across from the train depot in 1907, according to the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office. 

The warehouse was owned by Caesar and Moses Cone, brothers from up north who moved to North Carolina in the late 1890s to get their hands at the lucrative textile business. They built mills across Greensboro and Guilford County in the early 1900s, which employed thousands of workers and became the livelihood of the region.

The Cones sold denim to Levi’s and Strauss Co., with whom they signed a deal in 1915 that made them the sole manufacturer of the brand’s iconic 501 jeans. They were also the first manufacturing company to produce stretch denim. The various texile mills in the area continued to employ Gibsonvillians for the century.

"It was a booming, booming little town. And Cone Mills did things for the town. They planted more roses."

- Myra Burkhead

NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, was passed in 1994 as a trade pact between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. It was designed to eliminate tariffs and promote free trade among the three countries. The passage of the agreement devastated the town’s economy. Mills shuttered, jobs disappeared, and Gibsonville, like many small towns across America, faced an uncertain future.

"Products could be made overseas and brought back for a cheaper price. It killed our industry."

- Jim Burkhead

Cone Mills filed for bankruptcy in 2003 and was purchased by billionaire Wilbur Ross in 2004, who formed it into the International Textile Group. The mill was boarded up and sold to a private owner where several businesses set up shop before closing again. The building was vacant until 2011, waiting for the buzz of bustling workers it once held. 

Out with the Old, in with the Antique

Amid this economic downturn, Myra and Jim Burkhead saw opportunity where others saw decline. In 2011, the retired teachers purchased a vacant textile mill and transformed it into Gibsonville Antiques and Collectibles. 

The Burkheads have been avid collectors and antiquers since childhood. Jim recalls tagging along with his father as a young boy to antique auctions, where he marveled at vintage car parts and phonographs.

Jim and Myra married in May of 1970. Myra recalls their visits to her aunt's home in Marietta, Georgia, where she kept an extensive collection of Depression glass.

Depression glass is a type of inexpensive, machine-made glassware produced during the Great Depression (1929–1939). It was often given away as promotional items or sold cheaply in dime stores. Depression glass is known for its vibrant colors (such as pink, green, blue, and amber), unique patterns, and occasional imperfections due to mass production.

At the shop today, Myra and Jim distribute glittering displays of Depression glass, etched in lattice patterns and glowing in crimson, amethyst, and opaque white.

Starting a Business, from Scratch

The Burkheads retired from their previous careers in their late 50s and started hosting antique booths at various locations in North Carolina.

"I decided one day, I wanted it all put together into one nice little shop."

"We started looking at other places and found Gibsonville... we walked in and thought 'It's the perfect place for antiques because there's so much history here."

Myra Burkhead

The couple had no prior business experience, and restoring the old mill was no small challenge. They spent weeks tearing out plywood to reveal the original maple floors, breathing new life into the century-old building. 

In order to stock their shop with treasures, the Burkheads frequently attend antique showings. They have built a large network of vendors, who pay to operate booths in the sprawling, two-story mall.

Antiquers flock to the store from all over the country. Myra recalls vendors from Russia and Japan browsing the aisles and bringing home old Coke machines, jukeboxes, and records.

Myra describes herself as a sort of community therapist, chatting with customers at the register, sometimes for hours.