Here's some fun trivia about Cole Mill Road:

The name comes from a real mill. The road is named for a gristmill on the Eno River that once stood just a quarter mile away. The mill's story starts in 1813, when John Cabe's daughter Rachel married Moses McCown, and Cabe helped the couple settle on the south bank of the Eno River at a spot where the water drop was strong enough to power a mill. Rachel and Moses built a mill that first operated as a tilt hammer for forging metal, then later became a sawmill and gristmill. Open DurhamOpen Durham

It changed names (and hands) over time. The mill was originally called McCown Mill and only later became known as "Cole Mill" — the road was presumably named for its proximity to the mill after it changed ownership in 1874. Mark All My Words

The mill is now ruins you can hike to. The remains of the old mill sit along the Laurel Bluffs Trail in Eno River State Park, a stretch known for being less traveled, occasionally steep, and quietly beautiful along the riverbank. So if you've ever driven Cole Mill Road without knowing why it's called that, the answer is hiking distance away. Mark All My Words

There's a historic house tied to the same family. The McCown-Cole-Sparger-Nygard House at 4015 Cole Mill Road dates back to 1813 — the same year Rachel and Moses settled there — and was later modified in 1948. It's built in a Greek Revival/Quaker Plan style.

A church took its name from the road, not the other way around. Cole Mill Road Church of Christ has been at its Cole Mill Road location since 1974, and has a whole documented history involving radio ministry, TV broadcasts on WTIK and Channel 11, and community outreach programs in the late '60s.

It runs near the Eno River watershed infrastructure too — the area saw a lot of water-related development in general, since Durham's growing water demand in the 1870s–80s led to pumping stations and reservoirs nearby (like the Huckleberry Hill Reservoir pumping station).

For more information about Cole Mill Road visit OpenDurham at https://www.opendurham.org/category/street/cole-mill-road