In the years from 1851 to 1856, the North Carolina Railroad Company built a railroad running from Goldsboro to Charlotte which passed through a heavily wooded area
known today as the Town of Elon.

A description of Elon (then Elon College) in the Centennial edition of the Burlington, N.C. Daily Times-News states that "Two dirt roads crossed at the railroad tracks." One of these,
following the railroad tracks, ran from Gibsonville to what is now Burlington. The other ran south from Ossipee through present day Elon. Continuing south, it afforded access to a stage coach inn located slightly west of the intersection of today's Highway 70 and South Williamson Avenue extension. The inn was operated by Squire John Boon; hence the spot where the Ossipee and Gibsonville-Burlington roads crossed at the railroad was known as Boon's Crossing.

In the fall of 1887 it was rumored that a depot would soon be built at Boon's Crossing. A newspaper report in April 1888 noted that "Mill Point is the name of the new railway station recently established about 4 1/2 miles west of Burlington....It is to be the shipping point for several cotton mills . . ."

Older residents generally agree that, prior to the building of the freight depot, there were only two houses in the area that later comprised the first corporate limits of Elon College. Neither house is now in existence. The older of these, a short distance north of the present town water tank, was located on South Williamson Avenue. It was built by Joseph James, and on his death was occupied by his son, Peter James. The second dwelling, the home of the W. P. Huffines family, was on North Williamson Avenue, almost immediately behind the now razed Exxon service station at 102 E. Haggard Avenue.

In 1888, a post office was opened at Mill Point, with John Q. Gant, one of the owners of Altamahaw Cotton Mill, serving as the first postmaster. In the application for the
post office, Mill Point was described as "new place—no settlement."

A settlement quickly sprang up in 1889. However, when in that year the Christian denomination established a four-year, coeducational college at Mill Point. The denomination at the time was leasing from Dr. W. S. Long his private school at Graham, Graham Normal College. To afford a nucleus for the four year college, Graham College was moved to the new location. Dr. Long was chosen as president of the newly established school.

The Mill Point site for the institution was on about 50 acres of land donated by W.H. Trollinger of Haw River. Because the selected location abounded in oak trees, the college was given the Hebrew name for oak, Elon. A past church history by the late Dr. Durward T. Stokes and the late Dr. William T. Scott credits Capt. Williamson with giving "the largest single cash donation" to the new school.

Construction began in 1889. When the college opened in 1890 with 76 students, one brick building had been erected on the campus. Although incomplete, this housed some men students and faculty members, and contained offices, classrooms, and an auditorium. A small frame building close by served as a dining hall. A dozen or so women students roomed in the Williamson house, while still other students were quartered in homes of the village. At the same time, erection of a dormitory for women was well
under way.

Construction of college buildings had spurred a residential building boom. In general, these new homes were for college personnel and for families moving to the community to enter their children in college. Dr. Long's own home was one of those in the first category.

Dr. W. T. Scott, Director of Church Relations for the college 1963-67, has stated, "In 1890, the town was laid out and platted by Professor S. A. Holleman, a member of the faculty of Graham College and of Elon College. The campus was placed at the center of the town flanked and divided by avenues (not streets!)." Williamson and Trollinger Avenues obviously were named for James N. Williamson and W. H. Trollinger. O'Kelly Avenue honors the Rev. James O'Kelly, founder of the Christian Church, while Haggard Avenue is in honor of Rice
Haggard, who first proposed the name "Christian" for the new denomination. In general, other avenues bear the names of Biblical places or of persons notable in the Christian denomination.

While the town was and is primarily a college and residential community, in its early days it had a variety of business establishments which are no longer in operation. An
account of some of these, as remembered by older residents, follows.

During the town's first years of existence, a blacksmith shop run by Boston Cable and his brother Peter was located on the north side of the railroad, between North Holt and North Lee Avenues. Another one, owned by Jerry Cable, was situated south of the railroad, near the intersection of East Trollinger and South Williamson Avenues.

A livery stable run by Peter Hughes was conveniently located some distance back from West College Avenue, on the south side between Holt and Williamson Avenues. A second—possibly later—stable was operated by Mark Cook on Lee Avenue near its present intersection with West College Avenue. A son of the Cook family was given the duty of meeting incoming trains in case any passengers might need horse-drawn transportation. The town's early livery stables and Southern Railway passenger service alike have passed into history.

A grist mill was built on Lee Avenue by J. J. Lambeth and J. B. Gerringer. Operated first by Thomas McPherson, it was taken over by J. P. Huffman. According to Garland Huffman, a Burlington resident who is the son of J. P. Huffman, when the family moved to Elon College in 1908, they brought with them a sawmill. The grist mill and sawmill, both operated by J. P. Huffman, stood beside each other immediately behind an apartment house that today is at 301 W. Haggard Avenue.

For a short time early in the 1900s, a hosiery mill, manufacturing men's socks, was operated by W. T. Noah in a small one-story building on North Williamson Avenue. The mill was located fairly close to today's College Coffee Shop at 108 N. Williamson Avenue. At the time, the Noahs were living in the house built by Peter Cable at 208 W. Lebanon Avenue. Here they provided room or board, possibly both, for one or two mill employees and for a few male college students.

Fairly early in the century a bank was organized, existing for about 25 years. It was housed in a brick building at the southwest corner of West Trollinger and South Williamson Avenues.

Several years later, the Southern Christian Convention erected a publishing house on West Trollinger Avenue beside the bank. Printing, which began in 1913, was discontinued after a few years. The building then was acquired by Elon College for dormitory use, and served thus until gutted by fire on April 15, 1956. The bank and publishing house buildings have been razed and the corner is vacant today.

Just outside the corporate limits of the town are four industries. The oldest and largest, Carolina Biological Supply Company, is east of town on Highway 100. The others are, to the south and east, LabCorp, Inc., Stadler's Ham, and to the west,  and the Alamance Plant of Sonoco Products Company (textile yarn tubes) on Cook Road.

In 1947 a Volunteer Fire Department was organized. A combination Fire Station-Town Hall was erected on a lot owned by the town on North Holt Avenue. These facilities were eventually outgrown and in January, 1972, the citizens of Elon College approved a $65,000 bond issue for a new fire station. The firemen began use of the new station in February, 1973. The department at present consists of 29 men. Eddie King is the fire chief with Alva Sizemore as an assistant chief.

As the town grew in area and population, it became evident that maintenance of the streets and the water and sewer systems demanded the services of a full-time employee. The succession of part time employees already busy with other occupations was ended in June, 1953, when Larry Caldwell was engaged to do police duty and superintend streets and the water system. These functions were assumed in December, 1953, by Henry F. Hilliard. In 1954, maintenance of the sewer system which had just been completed was added to the duties of the post. Mr. Hilliard's title then became Chief of Police and Superintendent of
Sewer, Water, and Streets.

In the early days there was a jail, usually referred to as the calaboose, which was a small building at the intersection of West College and North Holt Avenues. It was not used 
after about 1920.

The town operated a Recorder's Court for a number of years prior to December, 1968, when the local tribunal was discontinued to make way for a statewide system of District Courts.

To handle the increased volume of clerical work brought on by the growth of the town, a town clerk was added to the staff of municipal employees in 1947. The first clerk was F. H. Gray, who was already serving as "Collector and Bookkeeper." 

Affairs of the Town of Elon College are administered by a mayor and a board of five aldermen. From an early date, possibly from the time of the town's incorporation, nominations of these officials were made in a Town Meeting of all citizens. Since 1973 a uniform state system has required candidates for these offices to file with the County Board of Elections. Elections are held biennially in November of odd numbered years—the mayor being chosen for a two year term, and the aldermen for staggered four year terms. In addition to the mayor and aldermen, the town manager, attorney, police chief, and a representative of the town's engineering firm all attend meetings of the Town Board.

The predecessors of the current Board transacted town business in a variety of locations: private homes, college classrooms, the Jr. O.U.A.M. Hall (on the second floor of 100 N. Williamson Avenue)—even in the railroad station. In 1946 the Board found a temporary home in the building now occupied by College Coffee. In 1949 the town office was moved to the former fire station on North Holt Avenue, and in 1963 to the present quarters at 104 N. Williamson Avenue. From these several sites—and others—successive Town Boards have struggled to provide essential services for the citizens they represent.

The town now covers 4.5 square miles. In 1925, at the time bonds were issued for sidewalk improvements and water supply, the assessed property valuation was $325,000. 
Today, with a tax rate of $ .65, the valuation is $7,486,223. (The Elon tax rate is the lowest in Alamance County.) In 1900, the year of the first census after the town's incorporation, the population was 638. For some reason as yet undiscovered, it had dropped to 210 by the time of the next census in 1910. From that low figure it has climbed to 2,150 in 1970 and to 6397 in 2001 including students living on campus.