TOWNS
The Richmond County Courthouse is located at 114 East Franklin Street, Rockingham, NC 28379; phone: 910-997-8200.
Richmond County was formed from Anson County in 1779. The county is named for Charles Lennox, the 3rd Duke of Richmond. The county seat was known first as Richmond Courthouse. The name was changed to Rockingham in 1784 in honor of Charles Watson Wentworth, the 2nd Marquis of Rockingham. The County grew slowly as many families moved down from Maryland, Virginia, and up from South Carolina. The County began to grow more as the economy diversified from agriculture to cotton mills. The Richmond Mill was chartered in 1833 and was the seventh cotton mill chartered in North Carolina. It operated until 1865 when it was burned by Sherman's troops. It was rebuilt in 1869 and renamed Great Falls Mill. It burned again in 1972, and the ruins are still standing. Other cotton mills sprang up in the county. [www.richmondnced.com, accessed July, 2012.]