Population:  1,275

Form of Government: Mayor and Commissioners

Mayor:  Theron Bell

Town Administrator:  Brant Sikes

Phone:  (910) 948-2431

Address:  101 N. Middleton St., 27325

Gunsmith David Kennedy built a sawmill in 1795 on the spot where the Fayetteville-Salem Road crossed Bear Creek in northern Moore County. 

A textile mill was established in the area in 1926. It had several owners until it was purchased by Karl Robbins and began to prosper. 

Known early as Mechanicks Hill and Mechanicsville and then as Elise, the area was incorporated as Hemp in 1935.

The mill provided jobs for many, and the town was renamed Robbins in honor of the Russian immigrant (his original name was Rabinsky) who brought it growth and security in the midst of the Depression.

Robbins became well known for textiles, minerals and processed ­poultry as well.

Robbins prides itself as the ­hometown of U.S. Sen. and 2004 Democratic vice-presidential ­nominee John Edwards and the late NASA Astronaut Dr. Charles Brady.

Robbins’ annual Farmers Day ­celebration draws crowds that ­number in the tens of thousands.