Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina

Roanoke Rapids is a city in Halifax County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 15,754 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Roanoke Rapids Micropolitan Statistical Area, and is also a part of the Golden East metro area.GeographyRoanoke Rapids is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 7.9sqmi, of which, 7.8sqmi of it is land and 0.04sqmi of it is water.The town is located at the beginning of the North Carolina Piedmont, on the Roanoke River at the fall line, which marks the area where an upland region and a coastal plain meet. The fall line is typically prominent where a river crosses it, for there will usually be rapids or waterfalls. Because of these features, river boats typically could not travel any further inland. Because settlements needed a port and a ready supply of water power, they often developed where the river crosses the fall line. The Roanoke River and its falls inspired the development of Roanoke Rapids; businessmen such as Sam Patterson and other textile manufacturers used the river to power their mills.The most prominent example of fall line settlement was the establishment of the cities along the eastern coast of the United States where the Appalachian Rise and the coastal plains meet.