Hope Mills is a town in Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 15,176 at the 2010 census.GeographyHope Mills is located in western Cumberland County at, south of Fayetteville, the county seat. The town center is next to a dam on Little Rockfish Creek, forming Hope Mills Lake. Little Rockfish Creek flows southeast to Rockfish Creek, a tributary of the Cape Fear River.North Carolina Highway 59 runs through the center of the town, leading north 5mi to U.S. Route 401 in western Fayetteville, and south to Interstate 95 at Exit 41. Several pieces of land around Exit 41 are within the town limits although not connected to the town center.According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 18.2km2, of which 18.0sqkm is land and 0.2km2, or 1.40%, is water, including Hope Mills Lake.HistoryChartered in 1891, Hope Mills can trace its beginning back to 1766, when due to the wealth of natural water power and the abundance of timber, a lumber camp, saw mill, grist mill and pottery business were established. In 1839, construction of the first cotton mill powered by the Hope Mills Dam was completed and was the beginning of a new era for the town. Much of the heritage and the town's name itself can be attributed to the cotton milling industry that followed.