Hamlet's early growth was sustained by Seaboard, which heavily invested in facilities within the town. By the end of World War I, 30 trains passed through Hamlet daily, and the corporation decided to construct a maintenance shop, a roundhouse, and a shipping yard. After World War II, an $11 million classification yard, the first one in the Southeastern United States, was established about one mile north of town, opening in 1954. The Seaboard Line carried mostly freight traffic, but also brought tourists through Hamlet on the Orange Blossom Special, the Boll Weevil, and the Silver Meteor. Before sleeping cars became predominant, many rail passengers would stop in Hamlet and board at the Terminal Hotel or Seaboard Hotel. They provided traffic to the businesses on Main Street, which included several banks, a jewelry store, shoe shop, drug store, hardware store, opera house, and a bowling alley. Throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries Hamlet was visited by prominent persons including Booker T. Washington, William Jennings Bryan, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Buffalo Bill, Jenny Lind, and Enrico Caruso. Seaboard provided thousands of mostly white men with well-paying, secure employment as conductors, engineers, and brakemen. Workers received sick pay, pension plans, and wages negotiated by national unions. As a result, Hamlet developed a large middle class, unlike the nearby city of Rockingham, which was home to many poorer textile mill workers.
Hamlet's early growth was sustained by Seaboard, which heavily invested in facilities within the town. By the end of World War I, 30 trains passed through Hamlet daily, and the corporation decided to construct a maintenance shop, a roundhouse, and a shipping yard. After World War II, an $11 million classification yard, the first one in the Southeastern United States, was established about one mile north of town, opening in 1954. The Seaboard Line carried mostly freight traffic, but also brought tourists through Hamlet on the Orange Blossom Special, the Boll Weevil, and the Silver Meteor. Before sleeping cars became predominant, many rail passengers would stop in Hamlet and board at the Terminal Hotel or Seaboard Hotel. They provided traffic to the businesses on Main Street, which included several banks, a jewelry store, shoe shop, drug store, hardware store, opera house, and a bowling alley. Throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries Hamlet was visited by prominent persons including Booker T. Washington, William Jennings Bryan, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Buffalo Bill, Jenny Lind, and Enrico Caruso. Seaboard provided thousands of mostly white men with well-paying, secure employment as conductors, engineers, and brakemen. Workers received sick pay, pension plans, and wages negotiated by national unions. As a result, Hamlet developed a large middle class, unlike the nearby city of Rockingham, which was home to many poorer textile mill workers.