Ruffin is an
unincorporated community located in
Rockingham County, North Carolina. It is northeast of
Reidsville, North Carolina
Reidsville is a city in Rockingham County in the U.S. state of North Carolina. At the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 14,580. Reidsville is included in the Greensboro–High Point Metropolitan Statistical Area of the Piedmont T ...
, and southwest of
Danville, Virginia, just off
US 29
U.S. Route 29 (US 29) is a north–south United States highway that runs for from Pensacola, Florida to the western suburbs of Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland in the Southern United States, connecting the Florida Panhandle to the Baltimore-Was ...
(future
Interstate 785). It has a population of 419.
Neighboring communities and municipalities include
Reidsville,
Eden
Eden may refer to:
* Garden of Eden, the "garden of God" described in the Book of Genesis
Places and jurisdictions
Canada
* Eden, Ontario
* Eden High School
Middle East
* Eden, Lebanon, a city and former bishopric
* Camp Eden, Iraq
O ...
,
Pelham,
Casville, and
Wentworth. Ruffin had the first established volunteer fire department in Rockingham County. Residents produce tobacco, vegetables and strawberries. The area also had a gold mine. Churches in the community include Ruffin United Methodist Church and Ruffin-Stacey Baptist Church.
With the completion of the vital Piedmont Railroad by the Confederate Government in early 1864, the village of Ruffin experienced steady growth. Subsequently, Ruffin became an important center of trade for both Rockingham and Caswell counties. Yet substantial growth and commerce were to elude Ruffin. Instead the prosperity was to find a home in a smaller crossroads hamlet to the south by the name of
Reidsville. Tradition relates that growth in Ruffin was doomed because the large local landowners wanted to remain just that. Consequently, a booming town could not develop. From 1887-1897 though, Ruffin was incorporated with its own mayor. The last mayor of Ruffin was Victor M. Holderby, who was an active member of the Ruffin Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
The community is named after
Thomas Ruffin
Thomas Ruffin (1787–1870) was an American jurist and justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court from 1829 to 1852 and again from 1858 to 1859. He was chief justice of that Court from 1833 to 1852.
Biography
Thomas Ruffin was born on November ...
(1787–1870) an American jurist and Justice of the
North Carolina Supreme Court from 1829 to 1852 and again from 1858 to 1859. He was Chief Justice of that Court from 1833 to 1852. He lived in the community for a short while.
On April 15, 2018, Ruffin was struck by an
EF1 tornado
The Enhanced Fujita scale (abbreviated as EF-Scale) rates tornado intensity based on the severity of the damage they cause. It is used in some countries, including the United States, Canada, China, and Mongolia.
The Enhanced Fujita scale repla ...
which was part of a larger
outbreak across the southeast.
NOAA Tornado Incident Data April 15th, 2018
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References
Unincorporated communities in Rockingham County, North Carolina
Unincorporated communities in North Carolina
{{RockinghamCountyNC-geo-stub