Delhi

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way out in eastern Caldwell County, there's a little community called Delhi, and the story of how it got going is worth pulling over for. The earliest known permanent settlers in the area were Orrin L. and Susannah Winters and their extended family.

They put down roots, others followed, and by 1873 enough of a settlement had taken shape that folks decided it was time to apply for a United States Post Office. Now, a post office means a name, and the name they picked first was Iron Mountain. Postal officials rejected it.

Just like that. Gone. So they went back to the well and came up with Delhi, and that one the postal officials accepted.

Now here's where the story gets interesting. According to local tradition, Delhi was the name of a traveling salesman who passed through, stayed a while, dispensed patent medicines, and provided entertainment for the settlers. A man named Delhi.

Riding in with his cures and his showmanship, leaving behind nothing but good memories and, apparently, a name on the map. John P. Reid served as the community's first postmaster.

And the first store in Delhi was already in operation by the early 1870s, running right out of the home of Daniel T. Winters. The Winters family was everywhere you looked.

The 1880s brought some real momentum. Two churches were founded. A school opened.

Two cotton gins started turning. Over the years, a blacksmith shop, a casket shop, and a syrup mill all took their turn serving the people of Delhi. The post office closed in 1929.

The public school consolidated with the McMahan district in 1947. But Delhi didn't fold up and blow away. It remains a strong rural community to this day, and many of its residents are descendants of those very pioneer families who followed Orrin and Susannah Winters out to eastern Caldwell County in the first place.

A patent medicine man rides through, and a hundred and fifty years later, people are still living where he left his name. That's a pretty good trick for a traveling salesman.

What the marker says

The earliest known permanent settlers in this area were Orrin L. and Susannah Winters and their extended family. By 1873, enough of a settlement existed to make application for a U. S. Post Office. Postal officials rejected the first name selected for the community, Iron Mountain, but accepted the second name, Delhi. According to local tradition, Delhi was the name of a traveling salesman who stayed in the area for a time dispensing patent medicines and providing entertainment for the settlers. John P. Reid served as first postmaster. The first store in Delhi was in operation by the early 1870s in the home of Daniel t. Winters. The Delhi community experienced some growth in the 1880s with the founding of two churches, a school, and two cotton gins. Over the years, additional businesses, including a blacksmith shop, casket shop, and a syrup mill have served the community. Although the post office closed in 1929 and the public school consolidated with the McMahan district in 1947, Delhi remains a strong rural community in eastern Caldwell county. Many of its residents are descendants of the town's pioneer families.