By admin 
PIEDMONT TRIAD, N.C. (WGHP) — Where Guilford County meets Alamance County, a narrow road winds past a body of water that many drivers barely notice. Yet tucked among the trees is one of the region’s oldest surviving landmarks, the Kimesville Dam.
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Built in 1812 by early settlers to power a grist mill, the dam has stood for more than two centuries. In its early years, a cotton mill operated nearby, helping fuel the local economy. A faded photograph from that era shows mill workers gathered outside during a lunch break, offering a rare glimpse into a world long disappeared.
“It’s the oldest bed of rock around here,” said Bob Herdon, 95. “I don’t know anything else that old.”
Herdon has become one of the unofficial keepers of the dam’s history.
“It is important to preserve history,” he said.
The mill is gone now, but the stories remain.
For Herdon, an old photograph is more than a snapshot. It is a doorway into the past. Sitting beside pictures that document the area’s earliest days, he recalls names, places and events with remarkable clarity.
He first purchased property along the 50-acre lake in the 1960s. Though he sold it in 2012, his connection to the place has never faded.
After the cotton mill era ended, the lake took on a new life.
Entrepreneurs transformed the area into a resort destination. Cabins lined the water. Families came to picnic, swim and escape city life. On summer weekends, visitors packed the grounds.
“People bought it and turned it into a resort,” Herdon recalled. “They had cabins. People would come out to the lake.”
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The attraction became so popular that locals viewed it as a destination long before rural tourism became fashionable.
“It was fun,” Herdon said. “They had sandwiches, hot dogs and drinks, and it was out in the middle of nowhere.”
Today, the property is private, and the crowds have disappeared.
We spent some time near the dam and ran into fishermen sharing stories about trophy-sized bass.
“There are some huge bass in this place,” one angler said. “I can go in here and catch five eight-pound fish.”
And the fish are not the only creatures that have earned a reputation.
“You will be surprised how big the snakes are here,” another visitor said.
“That snake was 12 feet long and as big as my arm.”
Through the decades, Kimesville Dam has endured hurricanes, tropical storms and floods, including Hurricane Florence. The water has risen, the landscape has changed and generations have come and gone.
But the dam remains.
And so does Herdon.
At 95, he continues to share its history with anyone willing to listen, ensuring that one of the Triad’s oldest landmarks is remembered not just as a dam, but as a place where the stories of a community still flow.
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