Bynum, North Carolina is a teeny tiny town on the banks of the Haw River. It lies between Chapel Hill and Pittsboro off 15-501. Bynum is small, but it produces some impressive folks:
- Clyde Jones, whose work is nationally known and is included in many museum folk art collections including the Smithsonian’s.
- The Bynum General Store is also nationally known. Molly Matlock Parsons and others made it such a unique destination it gets press in the Washington Post! The Bynum Front Porch Music Series runs every Friday evening rain or shine, May – September at the Bynum General Store.[2] Tift Merritt started her music career playing on the General Store’s front porch.
- On a more prosaic note, Bynum produced Sara Donaldson. She owns the State Farm Insurance office in Pittsboro. Sara grew up in Bynum when most everyone in Chatham County knew everyone else. Mill workers could walk onto their front porch and wave to the Dean of the Law School.
The old mill site is now part of the Lower Haw River State Natural Area. You will find a canoe put-in, trail head and parking lot on Bynum Church Road. The area adjoins and is managed by the Jordan Lake State Recreation Area.
The pedestrian bridge crossing the Haw River was built in 1922 and served motorists until 1999. It is now part of a bicycle route.