Bynum, North Carolina

Bynum, North Carolina
Bynum General Store
Bynum General Store
Coordinates: 35°46′27″N 79°08′32″W / 35.77417°N 79.14222°W / 35.77417; -79.14222
CountryUnited States
StateNorth Carolina
CountyChatham
Elevation341 ft (104 m)
Time zoneUTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (EST)
Location of Bynum, North Carolina
Location of Bynum, North Carolina

Bynum is an unincorporated community in northeastern Chatham County, North Carolina, United States on the banks of the Haw River. Bynum is five miles (8.0 km) north of Pittsboro and eleven miles (18 km) south of Chapel Hill. It is also known as Bynum Mill Village or Bynum Mill Hill.[2]

Bynum's most notable building is the Bynum General Store at 950 Bynum Road, Bynum, NC 27228. For many years the store, run by Frank and Louise Harris, was known as Harris and Farrell General Store. The post office, once located at an older store to the south, brought everyone in town and many nearby rural residents to the store. Retired loggers, business people, and mill workers often sat on the bench in front of the store passing on news and rumors and telling stories. The store was a natural community center and information hub. When the store and post office closed in 2006, the community formed a non-profit called Bynum Front Porch and kept the store in use as an event and community center. The Bynum Front Porch Music Series runs every Friday evening, May–September at the Bynum General Store.[3] Tift Merritt started her music career playing on the General Store's front porch.[4]

  1. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Farrington, North Carolina. Retrieved on 2022-12-29.
  2. ^ Cynthia Raxter, oral history interview, June 17, 2011.
  3. ^ "BYNUM Front Porch". bynumfrontporch.org. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved September 2, 2015.
  4. ^ "Tift Merritt Performs in NPR's Studio 4A : NPR". npr.org. Retrieved September 2, 2015.