Some time ago I posted about the Henry River Mill Village and the fact that the entire village was for sale. The village was used in the filming of the Hunger Games as the poor District 12 home of the heroine, Katniss. I was traveling through the area last week, and took the short detour off the Interstate to see Henry River for myself.
The entire tract is privately owned (and still for sale) and due to on-going problems with sightseers, trespassing is forbidden, but the state road runs through the village so it is possible to get a good look from one’s car. There are about twenty houses still standing, with more outhouses than I’ve seen in a very long time.
Henry River Mill was opened in 1905 as a producer of cotton yarn. Originally it was water powered, and a dam that was built to concentrate the falling water is still standing. The mill closed in the 1960s, and the mill building burned in 1977. Like many mill villages, Henry River was fairly self-sufficient, with a company store, a school and a church. The mill was even able to produce electricity for the village.
The setting is quite beautiful. The site starts on the top of a hill and the village winds down the hill to the river. I just hope that any buyers of the site plan to preserve the village as mill villages are now few and far between.
This building is the old company store. In the Hunger Games it was a bakery, and you can see the word “cakes” painted beneath the windows. Note the very white board to the left of the door, under the windows. The word “Pastries” was painted there, but one day the owner arrived to find that someone had ripped out the boards and taken them as a souvenir. He replaced the boards and placed the site off limits to the public. Can’t say that I blame him.
The Vintage Traveler 
Appreciated seeing the old southern mill village…glad you included a few “out houses” in your shots….truly vintage. Looked like the doors were facing each other on a couple of em.
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Great photos – what a beautiful sky for a backdrop! I’ve always found it silly how people get crazy about a spot after a movie or tv show films there. I understand wanting to see a place with your own eyes (& not confined to the camera frame) but why is it necessary to steal pieces of a set? I’d much rather have a few photos to keep as a memory.
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I’m not sure if I linked to it, but in one interview I read the owner of the site said he drove up to find 6 women loading windows they had pried from the houses into the back of their car! He told them to put them back and they at first refused! He had to threaten to call the police. Can you just imagine?!
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It looks very pretty. I have a pretty serious obsession with old structures and will often make a detour to get a look at a building or historic area I want to see. Thanks for sharing your pics!
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You are welcome. We have similar traveling styles I see!
It is located just off I-40, exit 119, about a mile south of the Interstate.
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This town is gorgeous–makes the Utopian in me wish for a wealthy uncle to leave me a little inheritance!
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You could probably make money in the long run, but the $1.4 million asking price is just the beginning of the expense.
Preservation North Carolina has actually taken on the restoration of a few villages. They don’t try to do historically correct projects; they are in the business of saving the buildings and making them available for the next stage in their lives.
I think it would be great to make most of the houses habitable for people today, but to restore one to the way it would have been when it was inhabited by mill workers.
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Thank you, this is fabulous to see. What a great tourist attraction this would make.
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