Gaston

… former town in NW Northampton County on Roanoke River. It developed as the N terminus of the Raleigh and Gaston Railroad, chartered 1835 and completed 1840. The town began to decline after 1865 when the bridge across the Roanoke River was burned. Named for Judge William Gaston (1778-1844). The site is now under the waters of Roanoke Rapids Lake. The modern community of Thelma, across the river, is S of the site. See also South Gaston.