Some historians have criticized the paper and pulp companies of southeastern North Carolina for threatening the local environment. Environmentalists have been especially concerned with the effect of the paper and pulp industry in the area known as the Green Swamp located east of Columbus in Brunswick County. However, some paper and pulp companies have been actively involved in preserving the environment that they have used for profit.
After the Civil War, parcels of southern land were subdivided and sold to former slaves. Historic Oberlin Village was comprised of such parcels and became one of Raleigh’s first freedmen communities.
Founded by Reverend Morgan London Latta in 1892, Latta University was a school and orphanage for former slaves’ children.
As the first president of the largest African American insurance company in the United States, John Merrick created more than personal wealth and economic opportunities for other blacks in Durham. He worked to bring better healthcare and educational opportunities to his community.
On November 3, 1979, an armed confrontation between members of the Maoist Communist Workers Party (CWP) and several Klansmen and Nazis ended with four CWP members and one supporter being shot dead. Three trials soon followed, and CWP survivors and their supporters claimed that their anti-establishment views incited a conspiracy to have them killed.
A bustling, 1800s hub of trade and political activity, home to an important arsenal and center of trade during the Civil War, and home to Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force bases during the twentieth century, Fayetteville has played an important role in North Carolina history and will continue to do so.
On the Cape Fear River during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, only Fayetteville’s and Wilmington’s populations outnumbered Averasboro’s. Yet population and commercial growth were not inevitable. Only a cemetery surrounded by a grove and a Civil War museum remind anyone that the port town once existed.
The second largest Cape Fear River town during the eighteenth century, Cross Creek was formed in 1756, was combined with Campbelltown in 1778, and was later named Fayetteville in 1783. During the Revolutionary War, the town was a hotbed of wartime activity and a home of divided loyalties.
With a population of over 5,000, Whiteville is the largest town in Columbus County and serves as the county seat. Whiteville’s beginnings date back to 1733, when it was originally part of a 640 acre tract inherited by attorney John Burgin and his wife, Margaret
In the mid-1700s, Europeans looking for arable land started settling in modern-day Gaston County. Many arrived with land grants from King George II (1683-1760) or migrated from other colonies, such as Pennsylvania and Maryland. The area’s natural resources attracted skilled laborers, such as miners, lumberjacks, and farmers.