Altavista was planned by the Lane Brothers Construction Company on 2,000 acres purchased in 1905 at the crossing of its newly completed section of the Virginian Railway and the existing Southern Railway, now Norfolk Southern Railway. Tradition holds that several members of Lane Brothers chose the town name by casting ballots in a hat, and the winning name, Altavista, meant “high view.” The company organized the new community with businesses along Main Street and to the southwest, residences to the north, and industry to the east. By 1909, the Altavista Land and Improvement Company had developed as a branch of Lane Brothers to continue construction, including road improvements. The rapidly growing town was incorporated in 1912 and had depots for each railroad that brought passengers and goods each day. Railroads were critical to the area’s growth, and lumber companies expanded rapidly to supply materials for continued development. Local industries included the Frazier Lumber Company, founded in 1905 by W. S. Frazier and later expanded to include a construction company, and a lumber company opened in 1909 by builder W.B. English that became English Construction Company; both firms built projects throughout Altavista and the surrounding counties. The Lane family remained active in the town and in 1912 purchased the Old Dominion Box Company for Edward H. Lane. Renamed The Lane Company, Inc., the business produced furniture and its well-known cedar chests, eventually employing 2,000 residents as those chests grew more popular after World War II. Altavista Cotton Mills opened in 1911 after South Carolina investors who had constructed the original building sold it to local investors. A village for mill workers grew along 4th and 5th Streets as the mill expanded rapidly in the early 20th century. After the textile industry began to slow in the 1920s, J. Spencer Love of Burlington Mills began producing rayon fabrics in North Carolina. Burlington Mills purchased Altavista Cotton Mills in 1933 and continued rayon production until glass fiber fabrics began to be made in 1956 under the name Altavista Weaving. The company expanded operations to Hurt in 1949 with the opening of the Burlington Industries Finishing Division.