The One And Only Cliffside!

The R. R. Haynes memorial clock in Cliffside stands in honor of its’ founder and benefactor. Raleigh Rutherford Haynes left and indelible mark on this area of Rutherford County. He was definitely one of a kind and highly thought of even to this day, sai

This year’s Cliffside Day Fall Festival was celebrated on Saturday, October 11th. There truly is one and only Cliffside, North Carolina... where mill workers and a great community existed years ago. The mill may be gone, but the people who were raised there and worked there come together once a year to memorialize and share stories about the community that Raleigh Rutherford Haynes founded. 

Mr. Haynes was already very successful, but he found the availability of water, in the area, for energy purposes and envisioned a place where the plant he would build would include people who were brought together in a Christian atmosphere. Cliffside was to become flourishing. It was built on the Second Broad River and made two classes of gingham, a yarn-dyedcotton fabric. In addition to the mill, thoughtful accommodations were made for its’ workers. Stores and playgrounds were incorporated into the town. One of the most famous remembrances was the big clock. It first rang in the morning to wake everyone, then a second ring was for the workers to start work. Cliffside became a small, caring town and still is today.

We met at man at this year’s celebration who said he’d moved away, but after three and a half years moved back. “There is just no place like Cliffside!”, he said. People from all over the country return every year for this very special event.