HISTORY OF HIGH POINT & GREENSBORO
Greensboro was established in 1808 as Guilford’s county seat because of its location as the center of North Carolina. 42 acres were bought from Ralph Gorrell for just under $100 as many other towns, the town was laid out in a grid. Originally Greensboro was a paper town. A paper town is a town which in reality exists only on paper and has little or no buildings, infrastructure or permanent inhabitants. Greensboro was named after Revolutionary War hero, Nathanael Greene, who selected the area in 1781 to fight the British.
In 1828, back when horses were a primary mode of transportation, Henry Humphreys (the town's richest resident) began operating a steam-powered cotton mill, which was the first of its kind in North Carolina. By 1833, There were about 70 looms in production, and cotton was being shipped to neighboring areas and states. Textile manufacturing became an early part to Greensboro’s economic history.
Another critical event occurred during the ante-bellum era. In 1856 the first train ran on the completed tracks of the North Carolina Railroad. This rail system was an alternative to a river for linking eastern and western portions of the state since no such river existed. A network of railroad lines ensued. The railroads and colleges had a significant influence on the development of suburbs, as people preferred to live outside the congested business district.
In 1865, Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston chose the town to engage General Sherman in battle. However, Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox made that fight unnecessary. During the following time of Union occupation, large numbers of military troops dominated town life.
After the Civil War, Greensboro welcomed newcomers from the North. Thanks to Northern Quakers, freed blacks began the neighborhood of Warnersville. During the Reconstruction era many new businesses were started, including tobacco manufacturing, furniture plants, and metal foundries. There was even a law school in the mid 1870s. By 1891, there were 16 major manufacturing plants in the city. Railroad development continued and there were railroad lines running pretty much every direction. Because of the large number of trains daily, Greensboro received its nickname the Gate City.
Early in the 20th Century tension between Greensboro and its neighbor High Point developed because the two were locked into one county with one county seat. To make the situation worse, it was a four-hour trip between the two. In 1910 High Point, with a population of 9,000+, attempted to secede from Guilford by having the General Assembly create a new county with it as the county seat. The bill was defeated by a floor vote in the General Assembly, but the issue would arise at other times. To ease the situation a modern highway, known to us as the High Point Road, was constructed in 1916. An early 20th century movement by the cities of the Triad (Greensboro, High Point and Winston-Salem) to obtain one of America’s new airmail routes also eased tension. Since Winston-Salem was the largest city in NC at the time, it seemed the likely site.
The 1920s brought modern buildings downtown with the Jefferson Building, a 2.5 million-dollar investment, as the focal point. It was our only skyscraper for many years, and when Will Rogers visited Greensboro he said that local citizens were as proud of the one building on its skyline as parents are of a baby’s first tooth! With the growth of Jefferson Standard and Pilot Life, insurance joined textiles and education as a major industry, and many referred to Greensboro as the "Hartford of the South." Real estate development was also important in this decade, and new neighborhoods included Westerwood, Lake Daniels, Sunset Hills, Hamilton Lakes, and Latham Park. The development of Sedgefield hinted that Greensboro and High Point would eventually merge.
The question of an airmail route and supporting field was decided in the 1920s when land west of Greensboro was selected over a Winston-Salem tract, and that city withdrew from the Tri-city Airport Commission. Leaders to keep our airport strong included E.B. Jeffress in the 1920s, Caesar Cone II from 1941 until his death and Stanley Frank after 1968. A new railroad station and an airfield were reasons for bragging in 1927, and new buildings included the Carolina Theatre, Aycock Auditorium at UNCG, and the King Cotton Hotel.
During World War II a major training camp, later a replacement depot, was located within the city on a large tract of land in northeast Greensboro. More than 300,000 men and women, black and white, went through this army facility between 1943 and 1946. At the end of the war O.R.D., as it was called, became a major business incubator.
LIFETIME WARRANTY GREENSBORO & BURLINGTON FENCES
Today, Greensboro's population is around a quarter million residents, making it another great North Carolina city to construct fences in. With the economy shrinking at an alarming rate, our Greensboro fence company has been expanding into cities like High Point and Winston Salem and other counties where people need to save money. Our average homeowner saves several hundred dollars by hiring our fence company. Our nearly decade long fence career shows we have what it takes to build the most affordable wood fences around.
Burlington is a city located in Alamance county in North Carolina. It is the principal city of the Burlington, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Alamance County, in which most of the city is located. Burlington's population is around 50,000. LabCorp, one of the largest clinical laboratory companies in the world, has its headquarters and several testing facilities in Burlington. LabCorp is Burlington's largest employer, employing more than 3,000 people in Alamance county.
Mebane is a city located partly in Alamance County, North Carolina, and partly in Orange County, North Carolina. It is part of the Burlington, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population is a bit more than 10,000. According to the Official website of Mebane, NC, the town was named for General Alexander Mebane, Jr., a Revolutionary War figure and member of the U. S. Congress. It was incorporated as Mebanesville in 1881, then the name was changed to Mebane.
Lightning strikes caused a major fire at a gas company in North Carolina on June 13, 2010 in the early morning hours, fire officials said. The blaze started at Colonial Pipeline Company in Greensboro after midnight, said David Douglas, an assistant fire chief in Greensboro. A pipe with 20,000 gallons of gas was burning and two tanks with about 12,000 gallons of gas caught on fire, Douglas said.
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