A mill town that kept making things

Hollow Pine began in 1864 as a small sawmill settlement at the outlet of Lake Hollow. The rail spur came in 1882, and for almost a century the Sash & Door Works sent doors, windows and stairs to towns all along the line. You can still see its carved trim on porches across Old Town.

The works closed in 1981. The craft stayed. Today Hollow Pine is home to a university, a busy Main Street, a concert hall in the woods and a steady stream of painters, writers and musicians who came for a summer and never quite left.

Welcome, neighbor

Set up water and waste service at Town Hall, register your vehicle with the county, and get a library card. Council meetings are open to everyone, and the second and fourth Tuesday is the best time to meet your neighbors.

Expect a knock within your first week. Somebody will bring bread.

A hollow pine by the water

Local tradition says the settlement took its name from a hollow pine that stood near Lake Hollow. Where exactly it stood, and what became of it, nobody knows for certain.

The roadside sign on the southern approach still reads Population 612. It was accurate once. The town grew and nobody ever repainted it, and by now most residents would object if anyone tried.

One long note at six o'clock

Every year on the second Friday of November, people gather at the old works gate. At six, a former employee pulls the rope and the end-of-shift whistle sounds for about eight seconds. Then there is silence.

There are no speeches, no stage and no vendors at the gate. The celebration happens afterward, back in town.

Whistle Night is not a Town event. It belongs to the people who worked there and their families.