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Power plant building at Narrows Dam on the Yadkin River near Badin
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History

Gold, Railroads & Industry in Stanly County

Follow linked town histories to explore mining, railroads, textiles, aluminum and changing local economies.

Badin & aluminum →Gold in New LondonRail in Oakboro

Pictured: the power plant at Narrows Dam, Yadkin River, Badin. Photo: Wasrts / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Different industries left different marks on Stanly County. The gold-mining story is especially visible in New London and the Misenheimer area. Railroad development is central to Oakboro and Stanfield. Badin’s planned streets and lake connect local history to hydroelectric power and aluminum production.

Map artwork of New London, North Carolina, showing the actual 2025 Census municipal boundary in copper with a Stanly County context inset.New London municipal map · U.S. Census Bureau · 2025Gold & investment

New London

From Bilesville to a mining-era name change.

Explore →Pfeiffer University buildings with Norfolk Southern railway in foregroundMisenheimer, North Carolina · 2020 · Indy beetle / CC0Mining & education

Misenheimer

Gladstone, springs and an educational community.

Explore →Brick storefronts along North Main Street in Oakboro, North CarolinaNorth Main Street in Oakboro, North Carolina · 2023 · Indy beetle / CC0Rail & textiles

Oakboro

A depot, a town and an industrial workforce.

Explore →Map artwork of Stanfield, North Carolina, showing the actual 2025 Census municipal boundary in copper with a Stanly County context inset.Stanfield municipal map · U.S. Census Bureau · 2025Rail & schools

Stanfield

Track the difference between settlement and incorporation.

Explore →Downtown Badin streetscapeBadin, North Carolina · 2021 · Indy beetle / CC0Power & aluminum

Badin

A local landscape connected to international industry.

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Follow the workers, too

A fuller industrial history asks who performed the work, where families lived, how labor was organized and who bore the environmental costs. Company publications, newspapers, maps and oral histories can disagree; preserve those differences instead of smoothing them into a single promotional narrative.

From the County Journal

See the story in photographs and graphics.

How Stanly County Took Shape: Rivers, Railroads, and the Stories Between Its Towns

Continue with all County Journal features, the research guide and local museums.

Browse the complete guide →
Places you can recognize

A closer look at Stanly County.

Restored train station and railway tracks in Albemarle, North Carolina
Albemarle’s restored train station beside railway tracks, photographed in 2019. Photo: Indy beetle · CC0.
Downtown Badin streetscape
Downtown Badin, photographed in February 2021. Photo: Indy beetle · CC0.
Brick storefronts along Main Street in Norwood, North Carolina
Main Street in Norwood, photographed in January 2020. Photo: Indy beetle · CC0.
Brick storefronts along North Main Street in Oakboro, North Carolina
North Main Street in Oakboro, photographed October 2023. Photo: Indy beetle · CC0.
The whole county

All ten towns. One map.

Explore more maps →

Choose a town on the map or in the list below. Points are the U.S. Census Bureau’s published municipal reference locations; use the street maps for local directions.

Stanly County boundary and reference locations for all ten incorporated municipalities1Albemarle2Badin3Locust4Misenheimer5New London6Norwood7Oakboro8Red Cross9Richfield10Stanfield
Geographic orientation: 2025 U.S. Census Bureau county boundaries and municipal Gazetteer reference points. These identify communities, rather than visitor entrances or town halls. Locust also extends into Cabarrus County.
1 Albemarle2 Badin3 Locust4 Misenheimer5 New London6 Norwood7 Oakboro8 Red Cross9 Richfield10 Stanfield
Roads & neighborhoods

Find your way around.

Zoom into the county’s towns, roads and lakes. Open Google Maps for a route to your chosen destination.

Stanly County geographic map; open the county street map

Open county street map ↗ · Parks & lakes guide →