East Bend

History

One of the most significant Native American excavation sites in North Carolina is located near the Yadkin River west of the town of Donnaha. Donnaha was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on December 6, 1978. Experts from Wake Forest University believe this was the site of a village of at least 100 Sioux Indians dating to the late Woodland Period. Earl Norman, an East Bend artifact collector, donated 5,000 pieces of his collection of more than 10,000 relics to the North Carolina Department of Archives and History in 1960. East Bend was first known as Banner's Store. It was named for merchant Martin Luther Banner. Early settler Martin Luther Banner later moved west and founded Banner Elk, North Carolina. On March 7, 1887, the General Assembly incorporated the town of East Bend and named it after the east bend of the Yadkin River. Officers were mayor J.H Johnson; commissioners Dr. Evan Benbow, J.H. Jenkins, J.A. Martin, Dr. W.E. Benbow, and J.G. Huff; and constable J.M. Whittington. J.G. Huff established the first buggy-manufacturing business in town in 1873. The Huff Buggy Factory, built in 1893, was said to be the largest buggy factory in the South. Huff closed the buggy works about 1920 and began operating a funeral home, which is still owned and operated by his heirs. The Yadkin Ripple, a weekly newspaper still published in Yadkin County, began in East Bend in 1896. In 1904, the town's population was 444 and it boasted a hotel, two buggy factories, a tobacco bag factory, a bank, and several stores. However, a decision by the Southern Railroad to bypass the town 1890 put a damper on the town's growth. Roger Moore, now a film critic for The Orlando Sentinel, compared East Bend to Lake Wobegon, "It's a homey town with a lot of history and a few…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all land.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• Forbush High
  High · East Bend · 794 students · 16.2:1 ratio
• Forbush Middle
  Middle · East Bend · 628 students · 19:1 ratio
• Fall Creek Elementary
  Elementary · East Bend · 243 students · 14.3:1 ratio
• East Bend Elementary
  Elementary · East Bend · 208 students · 14.9:1 ratio
• Forbush Elementary
  Elementary · East Bend · 202 students · 14.4:1 ratio
• Yadkin Success Academy
  Other · Yadkinville · 46 students · 11.5:1 ratio