North Carolina

From Durham, North Carolina's start in the tobacco and textile industries, the stories of the history and evolution of the Bull City are fascinating and sometimes unexpected.

From the Cigarette City to the City of Medicine, Durham has progressed from a country crossroad, famed for rum and rowdiness, to a prosperous metropolis, renowned for medical research and advanced technology. Recognized as a thriving point in North Carolina's Research Triangle, the city began along industrial and commercial networks as early as the seventeenth century, paving the way for famous beginnings in the distinctive tobacco and textile industries. From its roots in the agrarian Carolina backcountry to its foundation as a railroad stop, growth into a tobacco-based industrial area, and transformation into a coming-of-age city, the Bull City story is wrought with tales of coincidence, good fortune, and unexpected outcomes. Durham exists through quirk and happenstance, derived from a slave's drowsiness, a textile tycoon's authority, and the union of a widower and the county's loveliest girl. The developing city embodies the spirit of these unique beginnings.

Starting long before North Carolina was established and extending to the present, Durham: A Bull City Story recounts the engaging, comprehensive history of an environmentally and culturally rich area of the state. A myriad of first-hand accounts allow the reader to mingle with Durham's residents throughout significant historical times.

The lives of the Native American, African, and European inhabitants of Bertie County have not only shaped, but been shaped, by its landscape.

One of the oldest counties in North Carolina, Bertie County lies in the western coastal plains of northeastern North Carolina, bordered to the east by Albemarle Sound and the tidewater region and to the west by the Roanoke River in the piedmont.

The county's waterways and forests sustained the old Native American villages that were replaced in the eighteenth century by English plantations, cleared for the whites by African slaves. Bertie County's inhabitants successfully developed and sustained a wide variety of crops including the ""three sisters""-corn, beans, and squash-as well as the giants: tobacco, cotton, and peanuts. The county was a leading exporter of naval stores and mineral wealth and later, a breadbasket of the Confederacy.

Bertie County: An Eastern Carolina History documents the long history of the region and tells how its people, at first limited by the landscape, radically altered it to support their needs. This is the story of the Native Americans, gone from the county for 200 years but for arrowheads and other artifacts. It is the story of the African slaves and their descendants and the chronicle of their struggles through slavery, the Jim Crow era, and the Civil Rights Movement. It is also the story of the Europeans and their rush to tame the wilderness in a new land. Their entwined history is clarified in dozens of new maps created especially for this book, along with vivid illustrations of forgotten faces and moments from the past.

Located at the very heart of the Crystal Coast in Carteret County, Beaufort represents the best of the old days and the old ways of historic North Carolina. Seeking a natural, deep-water harbor, settlers in the early 1700s chose the site of the former Coree Indian village named Cwarioc, or "fish town," and upon this land, developed a home that would become rich in maritime heritage. Brimming with stories of pirates and privateers, suitors and soldiers, merchants and fishermen, this memorable village attracts thousands of tourists and newcomers each year, eager to explore its charming waterfront shops and streets lined with elegant residences. This unique volume takes readers on a remarkable journey across Beaufort's 300-year history, bringing to life the generations of men and women who shaped the town's personality and guaranteed its longevity through their hard work and perseverance along its coastal waters. Touching upon the major events that played a role in the town's evolution, Beaufort, North Carolina chronicles the life of the colonists under the direction of the Lord's Proprietors, their participation in the revolt against English rule and the following conflicts such as the War of 1812 and the Civil War, which brought the terrors of battle into their backwaters, and the commercial and technological changes of the twentieth century that fashioned the Beaufort of today.

Marked by the diversity of its land and the resilience of its people, Harnett County boasts a rich history characterized by military battles and local politics, notable figures and prominent industries, and the commitment of its people to improve their communities for future generations. From the steep hills and swift creeks of the Piedmont to the scrub oaks and barren soil of the Sandhills, from the Mingo Swamp to the Cape Fear River, Harnett County's topography has challenged and inspired newcomers for centuries, strengthening their spirit, hardening their resolve, and shaping each community they created.

In the eighteenth century, stalwart pioneers began to establish settlements in the rough and varied landscape of the region that was one day to become Harnett County. Traveling along old Native American trails or following the watery highways of the Cape Fear River and its tributaries, these mainly European settlers-including a large influx of Highland Scots-made their way into the remote interior of the province, where they constructed modest cabins and set about farming the land. Through the years, the people of Harnett joined in the struggles to win freedom from England, to defend the South, and to battle the forces of evil on the other side of the world, but they also fought to build strong communities, such as Erwin, Lillington, and Dunn, and to enhance the daily lives of all county residents. Plank roads and canals, mills and iron works, railroads and academies, all served to connect citizens to the world beyond their doors and to advance the growing prosperity. Situated between the metropolitan cities of Raleigh and Fayetteville, the county begins the new century with a focus on developing industry and fostering the pride so deeply felt by all who call Harnett County home.

Before Guilford County's formal establishment in 1771, legions of brave pioneers, such as English Quakers, German Lutherans, and Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, journeyed the Great Wagon Road from points north to find religious freedom and new opportunity within North Carolina's virgin frontier. From the vision and perseverance of these early families flourished the communities of Jamestown, Gibsonville, Pleasant Garden, Stokesdale, Summerfield, and eventually the larger urban centers of Greensboro and High Point.

With over 100 black-and-white illustrations and photographs, Guilford County: Heart of the Piedmont traces the fascinating story of one of North Carolina's most historic piedmont counties, from small backcountry settlements to the large industrial complexes scattered across today's landscape. Within this work, readers will experience the dramatic changes to the county traditions and practices as modes of transportation evolve and industry expands to provide new luxuries and new opportunities. Putting a human face on the county's past, this illustrated history recalls memorable county luminaries such as former governor John Motley Morehead, cotton mill magnate Henry Humphries, and Vick's VapoRub entrepreneur Lunsford Richardson Sr. and allows today's generation to see their contributions to Guilford County's culture and commerce over the decades.

Edgecombe County, in the coastal plains of North Carolina along the Tar River, was once home to the Tuscarora tribes and was founded by English immigrants from Virginia. The county swelled as an agricultural center in the cotton and textile industries, bolstered by a wealth of lumber and sustained by a thriving inland river port and railroad. Though the residents struggled through natural, industrial, and economic upheaval, their courage and fortitude endured these hardships and unified their community.