Frank Mebane

[2] With the railroad having expended much of his financial resources, his main creditor, the Marshall Field Corporation of Chicago, assumed control of all but two of Mebane's mills.

The only modern crossing over the Dan River in the vicinity of this area connecting his land to the nearby towns was the North Carolina Highway 87 bridge.

Wanting a more direct route to his plant from the towns, Mebane decided that a new bridge should be constructed near the confluence of Fishing Creek and the Dan River.

In 1922, he sought out three men to support his proposal: Josiah Ferre McCollum, Thomas Ruffin Pratt, and William Franklin Pruitt.

[8] Undaunted, Mebane's commissioners, having a majority on the board, voted on March 19, 1923, that a bridge near the confluence of Fishing Creek and the Dan River was a "public necessity".

[12] The injunction was denied on appeal, and the bridge opponents instead formed a "Citizens Committee" and organized three mass meetings at the Rockingham County Courthouse to protest the project.

[13] Speakers at the sessions denounced the bridge plan as a waste of money and as a sign that special interests were in control of the county commission.

[15] County residents were enraged by the signing of the contract, and the political situation became so tense that Pruitt resigned and was replaced by anti-bridge commissioner.

[17][10] Mebane arranged for his Spray Water Power and Land Company to give the firm $25,000 in liberty bonds to help cover their expenses.

[10] Mebane died after a brief illness on June 15, 1926, in New York City, while awaiting passage to London aboard the RMS Aquitania to visit his wife.