Editing East Bend, North Carolina (section)

==History==

===Native American settlement===
One of the most significant [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] excavation sites in North Carolina is located near the Yadkin River west of the town of [[Donnaha, North Carolina|Donnaha]]. Donnaha was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on December 6, 1978.<ref>[http://www.arch.dcr.state.nc.us/sites/donnaha.htm North Carolina Office of State Archaeology]</ref> 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.<ref>''An Illustrated History of Yadkin County, 1850-1980'', by W.E. Rutledge Jr., Page 11</ref>

===Establishment of town===
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]].<ref>Winston-Salem Journal article, September 16, 1996</ref>

On March 7, 1887, the General Assembly incorporated the town of East Bend and named it after the east bend of the [[Yadkin River]].<ref>''An Illustrated History of Yadkin County, 1850-1980'' by W.E. Rutledge Jr., Page 31</ref> 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.<ref>''An Illustrated History of Yadkin County, 1850-1980'', by W.E. Rutledge Jr., Page 32</ref>

''[[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 ''[[Orlando Sentinel|The Orlando Sentinel]]'', compared East Bend to [[Lake Wobegon]], "It's a homey town with a lot of history and a few 'might-have-beens,' " Moore wrote in ''[[Winston-Salem Journal|The Winston-Salem Journal]]''.<ref>"No Regrets," Winston-Salem Journal, September 16, 1996</ref>

The Yadkin County Agricultural Fair was held in East Bend from 1914 until 1978. The fair was first held at the old schoolhouse and in later years was moved to a tract east of town on [[North Carolina Highway 67]]. The fairgrounds were later converted to a community softball park.<ref>''An Illustrated History of Yadkin County, 1850-1980'', by W.E. Rutledge Jr., Page 36</ref>