About
About Brookford
A small town with a big heart in Catawba County, North Carolina.
Our Spirit
Big Heart. Strong Current.
Brookford was built along the hills above the Henry Fork River, but our story has always been about more than geography. It is the story of a close-knit community where people still know one another's names, neighbors show up during difficult times, and residents take pride in looking after their town. That spirit is the "Big Heart" of Brookford.
The words "Strong Current" represent both the river that shaped our community and the character of the people who call Brookford home. Our town has faced its share of challenges, change, and times when it may have felt overlooked, but Brookford has never lost its identity, independence, or determination. We may be a small town, but we have a strong voice, a resilient spirit, and the backbone to stand up for our community.
Our current mission is to continue to revitalize Brookford without losing what makes it Brookford. We've been working on it, and we're not stopping. We are committed to improving public spaces, strengthening infrastructure and town services, preserving our history, encouraging responsible growth, and creating new opportunities for residents to come together. We want to honor where we came from while building a safer, stronger, and more welcoming future.
Brookford is close to everything, yet still unmistakably its own community. We are rooted in our history, strengthened by our people, and moving forward together.
Big Heart
A close-knit community where people still know one another's names, neighbors show up during difficult times, and residents take pride in looking after their town.
Strong Current
Both the river that shaped our community and the character of the people who call Brookford home — a resilient spirit that has never lost its identity or determination.
Moving Forward
Rooted in our history, strengthened by our people, and building a safer, stronger, and more welcoming future — together.
Where We're Headed
We've adapted. We've grown. And we're just getting started.
"Big Heart. Strong Current." isn't just a motto — it's who we are. This town has been revamped for a new era, and we're leaning into it. We've kept our roots, sharpened our edge, and doubled down on the things that have always made Brookford worth coming home to. New energy, same heart.
Being the best version of ourselves — that's a daily thing. We're obsessed with finding who we are now, not having to prove anything to anybody other than ourselves, and realizing that that is enough. Giving your best is enough. And sometimes we lose track of that. So to anybody out there reading this: you're enough. Brookford's enough. And together, we're unstoppable.
Our History
Long before it was a town, Brookford was a mill village. In the late 1800s, two local industrialists — A. A. "Holbrook" and the Shuford family — built a cotton mill on the hills above the Henry Fork River, and the community that grew up around it took its name from a blend of theirs: Holbrook + Shuford = Brookford. The mill drew workers and their families, who lived, worshipped, and raised children within sight of the mill's smokestack. The company even operated a school in the village as far back as 1898, holding classes in a small frame building before the town itself was ever on a map.
On March 1, 1907, the village officially became the Town of Brookford. By then the Brookford Cotton Mill — later known as Shuford Mills — was the heartbeat of the community, and life moved to the rhythm of its shifts. In his book Brookford Memories, native son Dyke Little recalled growing up there in the 1930s and '40s: "the Depression was over but World War II was starting. This was a time when we all felt closer to each other… the pace of life was slower and people had more time for each other." That closeness — neighbors looking out for neighbors — became the town's defining character.
As the textile industry faded across the Piedmont in the decades that followed, the mill eventually closed, but Brookford endured. Families stayed, new ones arrived, and the little town on the river held onto the tight-knit spirit of its mill-village beginnings. Today, with a population of a little over 500 and roughly four square miles of quiet streets just minutes from Hickory, Brookford remains a place where everybody knows everybody — and where the echo of the old mill whistle can still be felt in the way this community looks after its own.
The town seal, with its bear emblem, honors that heritage — a nod to the wild, outdoorsy corner of Catawba County that those first mill workers and their families called home.
In more recent years, Brookford found itself in the national spotlight. In 2023, under Chief Willie Armstrong, the Brookford Police Department made its debut on On Patrol: Live, a television documentary series on the REELZ network that follows officers across the country in real time. Every Friday and Saturday night, viewers from coast to coast tuned in to watch our officers doing what they do best — patrolling the streets, helping neighbors, and looking out for this little town. For a community of just over five hundred people, it was a rare moment in the sun, and it put Brookford on the map in a way its mill-town founders could never have imagined. There was a time when most people didn't even know Brookford existed — a tiny dot on the map you'd miss if you blinked driving through. Today, people from all over the country make a point to stop by, pulling off the highway just to see our little town, snap a picture in front of the police department, and take home a story to tell. What started as a few minutes on television turned into something lasting: a quiet mill village that suddenly became a destination, and a community proud to welcome the visitors who made the trip.
500+
Population
4 sq mi
Land Area
1907
Incorporated
Catawba
County