Journey through Duplin County

Duplin County was formed in 1750 from New Hanover County. It was named for Thomas Hay, Viscount Dupplin (later 9th Earl of Kinnoull), as he was known when he served on the Board of Trade and Plantations in England in the 1740s. In 1784, the western part of Duplin County became Sampson County. The county’s …

Journey through Guilford County

Guilford County is the third-most populous county (and city) in North Carolina behind Mecklenburg County (Charlotte) and Wake County (Raleigh). The original inhabitants of the area were a Siouan-speaking people called the Cheraw. Beginning in the 1740s, settlers arrived in the region in search of fertile and affordable land. These first settlers included American Quakers …

Journey through Raleigh

Raleigh is the second-largest city in North Carolina by population, fifth-largest by size, the 10th-most populous city in the Southeast, the 41st-most populous city in the U.S., and the largest city of the Research Triangle metro area. Raleigh is known as the “City of Oaks” for its many oak trees, which line the streets in …

Journey through Davidson County

The original Davidson County was formed in 1786 as the far western portion of North Carolina, with its county seat at Nashville and a territory covering most of what is now Middle Tennessee. However, when Tennessee was established as a separate state in 1796, this county became Davidson County, Tennessee. The current North Carolina county …

Journey through Pitt County

If I could associate a color with Pitt County, it would most certainly be purple, as Greenville in Pitt County is home of the Eastern Carolina University (ECU) pirates. In addition to having a college town metropolis, you’ll also find a plethora of farmland, including tobacco, corn, dense pine forests, tobacco farms, and fertilizer mining …

Journey through Vance County

As one of the smaller counties in North Carolina, we were comfortable able to tour through the area in a day. If you have enough time, you may want to pair this county with Granville County or Franklin County. A little history on the area… the Occonachee Native Americans were the first inhabitants of what …

Journey through Randolph County

Home to the original school that became Duke University, some of the first European settlers moved into this area of the Piedmont. The county was formed in 1779 from now neighboring Guilford County and part of a then larger Rowan County. Randolph County was named for Peyton Randolph, the first president of the Continental Congress. …

Journey through Rowan County

Considered part of the Charlotte metropolitan area, Rowan County was formed in 1753 as part of the British Province of North Carolina. It was originally a vast territory with unlimited western boundaries, but its size was reduced to 524 square miles after several counties were formed from Rowan County in the 18th and 19th centuries, …

Journey through Scotland County

Scotland County was founded in 1899 from the southeastern part of Richmond County, which was divided to reduced the travel time for residents to the county seat of Rockingham. The county name documents the strong historic and cultural influence from the early settlers from Scotland. Scotland County is often referred to as the “Soul of …

Journey through Catawba County

Wow! Catawba County was chockful of little discoveries! This county is well worth the trip. Catawba County, name after the Catawba River, was formed in 1842 from Lincoln County. The word “catawba” is rooted in the Choctaw sound kat’a pa, loosely translated as “to divide or separate, to break.” However, scholars are fairly certain that this word was imposed …