In the late 1800's Raleigh Rutherford Haynes, a farmer and store owner, introduced textiles to the Broad River Basin of Rutherford County, North Carolina. He was a visionary, who saw the potential for profit in melding locally-grown cotton and available water power. With his partners and investors, in only a score of years, he transformed the county into a place where new mills and towns provided homes and jobs for generations of workers. His ultimate project was the creation of the town of Cliffside on the lower Second Broad River, where he built a huge mill and a model village. This book is his story, and the story of Cliffside. Originally published in 1954, this is a revised edition, published as a preservation project by the Cliffside Historical Society.