Longtime local rum distillery to transform historic mill in Mount Holly

MOUNT HOLLY, N.C. — Muddy River Distillery co-founder Robbie Delaney never thought he’d be able to quit his day job. Now, his rum distillery — the oldest in the Carolinas — is set to more than triple its footprint with a move to Mount Holly.

Delaney and wife Caroline recently purchased the Mount Holly Cotton Mill for $1.3 million. The mill, built in 1875, is the oldest surviving textile mill in Gaston County. It sits on a roughly 4.5-acre parcel at 250 N. Main St. in Mount Holly.

“We got a piece of North Carolina that is just irreplaceable,” he says. “We’ve got the building the town of Mount Holly was named after.”

They plan to invest roughly $2 million into the first phase of preserving and transforming the historic, 17,000-square-foot building. A separate, 3,000-square-foot building will be added for barrel-aging storage. The goal is to have the facility fully functional by spring 2024 — though Delaney says it could open in phases. That could mean events and festivals on site as early as this fall, for example.

Read more and check out photos here.

(Watch the video below: Hickory social district allows alcoholic drinks on sidewalks, public areas)

Hickory social district allows alcoholic drinks on sidewalks, public areas

©2022 Cox Media Group