Hamlet was founded in the late 1800s by an Englishman named John Shortridge who established a woolen and saw mill along Marks Creek. In 1873 there were only a few houses located here and in England they call a small cluster of houses a hamlet, so that is what they named the town. Hamlet is located in Richmond County between Monroe and Laurinburg along US Hwy 74 near Rockingham.
The Railroad Passenger Station (circa 1895) located here, is registered as a Historic Landmark and is said to be the most photographed station in the eastern United States. The National Railroad Museum and Hall of Fame is housed in the station where artifacts and photographs of an earlier era of railroading are displayed.