Rocky Mount is a city in North Carolina. Its dawning days were more or less centered around cotton mills in the early 19th century, though it was settled as early as the 1700s by Europeans. Eventually tobacco became the prized crop and warehouses and rail stations sprung up to export this commodity. Rocky Mount, though with a reputation tarnished somewhat by crime and urban decay, is the birthplace of Mike Tyson and Hardee's fast food restaurants and where Jim Thorpe debuted with the Rocky Mountain Railroaders and Jack Kerouac wrote parts of "The Dharma Bums" during his visits there.

Get in

By car. Rocky Mount is directly connected by highway with Roanoke Rapids (Interstate 95), Fayetteville (Interstate 95), Raleigh (US 64), Tarboro (US 64), and Wilson (US 301).

By plane. The nearest commercial airport serving the area is Pitt–Greenville Airport (PGV ^IATA).

See

• The Imperial Centre for the Arts & Sciences, 270 Gay St, ☏ +1 252-972-1266. A multipurpose facility that includes the Children’s Museum & Science Center, the Marie V. Howard Art Museum, and a theater. art gallery is free. 

Do

• 1 Battle Park, 270 Gay St (entrance off Battlepark Lane), ☏ +1 252-972-1151. Daily 6AM-9PM. This park allows you to see the falls and "rocky mounds" on the Tar River for which Rocky Mount was named, as well as the Rocky Mount Mills, the cotton mill from the town's early days built in 1816 that has been redeveloped into breweries and other space. You can also access the 7-mile long Tar River Trail here that crosses an impressively long wooden suspension bridge to the southeast. 
• 2 Dunn Center For The Performing Arts at North Carolina Wesleyan College, 3400 N Wesleyan Blvd, ☏ +1 252-985-5197. Catch a performance here among options that include the Wesleyan Players productions and concerts of the Tar River Swing Band and Orchestra. 
• Watch the North Carolina Wesleyan College's Battling Bishops play NCAA sports.

Eat

• 1 Rocky Mount Mills, 1151 Falls Rd, ☏ +1 252-969-0909. The former mill now has a number of restaurants, such as: 
  • The Prime Smokehouse: Barbecue & Beyond - overlooking the river
  • The Tipsy Tomato - pizza restaurant

• 2 Gardner's Barbecue 301 Flagship Store, 1331 N Wesleyan Blvd, ☏ +1 252-446-2983. Carolina bbq in a buffet-style format, more distinctive than the Western Sizzlin down the road. 

Drink

Koi Pond Brewing Company also at the Rocky Mount Mills.

Sleep

• Country Inn & Suites By Radisson, 672 English Road, ☏ +1 252-442-0500. Free breakfast and high speed internet. 
• Candlewood Suites Rocky Mount, 688 English Road, ☏ +1 252-467-2550. High speed internet and very clean rooms 

Go next

Routes through Rocky Mount

Washington, D.C. ← Petersburg ←	N  S	→ Wilson → Fayetteville
Washington, D.C. ← Petersburg ←	N  S	→ Fayetteville → Savannah
Washington, D.C. ← Petersburg ←	N  S	→ Raleigh → Savannah
Richmond ← Roanoke Rapids ←	N  S	→ Wilson → Fayetteville
Raleigh ← Zebulon ←	W  E	→ Tarboro → Nags Head