Merchants Millpond State Park in North Carolina preserves a coastal plain landscape shaped first by local commerce and later by conservation. Near Gatesville, the park encompasses about 3,520 acres centered on a 700-acre millpond and Lassiter Swamp, known for canoeing among bald cypresses and wildlife including alligators. Settlement began in 1660, and milling became important by the early 18th century with Hunters Millpond on Bennetts Creek. After that pond was destroyed in 1922, Norfleets Millpond, built in 1811, remained a trading center with mills and stores. Donations by A.B. Coleman and the Nature Conservancy helped create the park in 1973 and protect this historic swamp landscape.