The place first known as Matthews Crossroads gained a rural post office named Energy in 1880, and the arrival of the railroad in 1884 stimulated the development of a town first known as Siler Station. The town was named for Samuel Siler, who deeded the land on which the railroad station was located, and its population in 1890 was 254. The school bell used at Siler City from 1887 to 1977 served at Thompson School from 1887 to 1897, at Siler City Institute from 1897 to 1905, and in the public graded schools from 1905 to 1977. The building in which it was used from 1887 to 1923 stood near the site of the present city hall, and the bell was used at Paul Braxton School from 1923 to 1977. Mayors of Siler City, N.C., were J.A. Turner, 1885-1887; J.B. Guthrie, 1887-1889; E.R. McLean, 1889-1891; D.G. Fox, 1891-1893; W.L. Hudson, 1893-1895; G.A. Smith, 1895; C.E. McManus, 1895-1897; W.S. Durham, 1897-1899; W.D. Siler, 1899-1903; C.E. Johnson, 1903-1905; C.N. Bray, 1905-1909; J.F. Milliken, 1909-1913; L.L. Wren, 1913-1915; J.T. Milliken, 1915-1917; R.F. Paschal, 1917-1919; J.B. Marley, 1919-1923; J.C. Lane, 1923; J.S. Wrenn, 1923-1927; R.F. Paschal, 1927-1931; O.B. Reitzel, 1931-1947; R.F. Hedrick, 1947-1949; C.C. Brewer, 1949-1951; J.B. Wood, 1951-1953; G.C. Wrenn, 1953-1955; J.B. Wood, 1955-1956; R.A. Williams, 1956-1961; D.L. Paschal, 1961-1969; Willis Wrenn, 1969-1971; D.L. Paschal, 1971-1974; Cecil Budd, 1974-1981; Earl B. Fitts, 1981-1999; C.L. Turner, 1999-2009; C. Johnson, 2009-2013; and John Grimes, 2013-2020.