Articles in regional publications that pertain to a wide range of North Carolina-related topics.
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for "Greenville Times / Pitt's Past"
1.A History of Hanrahan by Kammerer, Roger Greenville Times / Pitt's Past Vol. Issue , May 5-18 1999
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22980
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The village of Hanrahan, located southwest of Greenville, was first known as “Pleasant Hill” and later as “Hanrahan’s Mills.” It was named after James A. Hanrahan (1831-1891) who had a store there. A post office was established there called “Hanrahan,” with Sarah R. Collins as first postmaster. After the railroad came through in 1890, James A. Hanrahan and his brother-in-law, J. T. Worthington erected grist mills and a cotton gin. The business was called the “Hanrahan Milling Company.” The business died sometime after 1910.
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22886
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The railroad dramatically changed everything about Eastern North Carolina. Two particular changes were the development of businesses and the establishment of towns. The railroad led to the development of the communities called House and Whichard. Originally, House Station was located three miles north of Greenville and was named for David House (1816-1894). The post office became known as House when it opened on August 31, 1891 It remained open until December 7, 1900. The post office was opened again on November 5, 1901. On May 30, 1897, an earthquake in the town shocked many residents. The town slowly died after the telegraph office was closed in June 1899. Similarly, Whichard had a short-lived existence. Whichard Station, named after Willis R. Whichard, was started because of the railroad. A post office was operated there from December 28,1891 until April 1896. However, the town died after the timber interests and the railroad line left it.
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22930
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The first lodge in Pitt County and the first Masonic lodge in the State was at Crown Point, Pitt County in 1766. Thomas Cooper established this lodge. It was at Crown Point Lodge that George Washington spent the night in Pitt County during his 1791 tour. The next lodge was established before 1822 in Greenville and was known as the Sharon Lodge #78. After the Civil War, Sharon Lodge disbanded and the members transferred to Rountrees Lodge. The next lodge appears in 1874 as the Woodson Lodge Number 16 Knights of Pythias. In 1888, Greenville then had five lodges. The Greenville Masonic Lodge had a school. The Red Man Lodge formed in 1903, the Winterville Lodge formed in 1904 and the new Sharon Lodge formed in 1911.
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4.A History of Pactolus by Kammerer, Roger Greenville Times / Pitt's Past Vol. Issue , Dec 7-20 1988
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22880
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Pactolus is a rather small town in eastern Pitt County. Named about 1770 by a school teacher named Lincoln, it was not until May 30, 1832, that Pactolus was granted a post office. Churchill Perkins the leading early merchant, served as the postmaster. The first business for the town was started in 1840. There were two early academies at Pactolus, the Jordan Plains Academy in 1831 and the Midway Male and Female academy in 1849. Kammerer gives the history of some of the leading citizens and merchants like Henry Irwin Toole, James R. Davenport and R. R. Fleming. In 1892, the rail road came through Pactolus and the depot burned several times. Prohibition caused a divide and the town of Maupin was created in 1905 until its charter was revoked in 1911.
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22863
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As early as 1908, Ben Higgs got a 99 year lease of the Greenville riverfront for developing a waterway with a terminal at Greenville. Efforts were being made to transform Greenville into a port. The Tar River was dredged from Washington to Hardee’s Creek in 1939, 100 feet wide and 12 feet deep. The Port Terminal Commission acquired 45 acres on Hardees Creek for a warehouse beside the landing. The first freighter, The Eldora, from Savannah with sugar, landed at Port Terminal on October 12, 1940. Port Terminal operated until March 1942. The channel was re-dredged in 1949.
In 1908, Greenville citizens attempted to establish a port. Port Terminal, located on the Tar River near Hardee's Creek, later became the site of the port, opening on October 12, 1940, and operating until March 1942.
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23702
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“A history of racing in Pitt County”
Since the mid 1950’s drag racing, Go-Kart racing and slot car racing had taken ahold the country and Pitt County. In 1955, there was Micro Midget racing around Guy Smith Stadium, then across from Pitt Memorial Hospital and then in the Pitt County Fair Grounds. In 1956 it was reported that 2,000 people would turn out every Sunday to see the races. In 1960, the first Go-Kart track built east of the Mississippi was built in Bethel. In 1961 a stock car racing track was built south of Tarboro and in 1962 L. T. Hardee built the “Greenville Drag Strip” three miles east of Greenville.in 1967, the “Pitt Stop Raceways,” for slot cars opened at 416 Cotanche Street.
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Record #:
22842
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In 1929, the Greenville Merchants Association wanted a better way to advertise. They formed a stock company called Greenville Broadcasting Station, Incorporated to inform the public about their products. However, the first successful radio station began broadcasting in September 1933, under the station tag of WEED and under the management of Avery Wynne. This station could not stay in Greenville and was replaced by WGTC (World's Greatest Tobacco Country) in 1940. This was Julian Jordan White's brainchild. It also had North Carolina's tallest tower at 208 feet to give WGTC a clearer reception. It, too, did not last. In the span of four years, three different stations opened to try their luck.
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23354
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In 1758, Reverends Thomas Pope and Joseph Willis were sent by the Primitive Baptist Association in Philadelphia to Pitt County to establish a church. The first church was known as Red Banks Meeting House and it was located on the north side of the Tar River. The congregation outgrew the building and a new church was opened in 1802. Another new church was built by 1837. Numerous groups splintered from this church to form various Baptist groups throughout Pitt County. The congregation moved south of the river and had a church built there. In 1863, Red Bank Church was burned down by Union forces and a new one was built. A new church building was built in 1893 which is still standing today. The Church celebrated its 200th anniversary in 1958, and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.
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23007
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First known as Riverview Nursery and later as Riverside Nursery, it was started in1884 by Pitt County Sheriff, Allen Warren. Allen Warren (1829-1904) was Greenville’s first florist, selling flowers all over the South after the railroad came to Greenville in 1890. The Riverside Nursery gained statewide notoriety and was a leading supplier of trees and shrubs in the South at the time. After his death, the nursery fell to his son, Ollen E. Warren. The nursery appears to be gone by 1907.
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Record #:
22907
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Harper Donelson Sheppard, born 1868, was the son of William Henry Haywood Sheppard and Elizabeth Anne Neal Turnage. Sheppard, orphaned at a young age, helped his uncle oversee three plantations. Harper Sheppard married Henrietta Dawson Ayres in 1896 and later, became a wealthy man after the successful establishment of his shoe company. In 1929, Sheppard's nephew asked him to contribute to Greenville's library building fund. Sheppard contributed $50,000 under three conditions: (1) the town had to provide the site; (2) two of the three building committee members had to be his two nephews, Dr. R. L. Carr and Haywood Dail; and (3) future support had to come from Greenville citizens. With the conditions met, Harper Sheppard increased the total donation to $60,000 and the library opened in 1930.
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22815
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The mill pond located near Stokes, Pitt County begins with Abraham Congleton who gave it to Simon Congleton in 1816. Simon Congleton died in 1836 and the mill pond was allotted to his daughter Clementine Congleton, the wife of Thomas J. Sheppard (1810-1900). Thomas and Clementine were a curious pair and built a large house by the mill pond. After his death his property was sold to C.T. Munford and E.A. Moye, who then sold it to Charles McLawhorn and J.R. Barnhill, who ran the grist mill. It continued in operation until 1920 when high water washed the dam out. Coy Forbes then got the mill and ran it until 1940. As of 1993, Charles Alfred Forbes owned the pond, and Patrick J. and Sonya M. Fiscus operated the house as a bed and breakfast.
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12.A History of Simpson by Kammerer, Roger Greenville Times / Pitt's Past Vol. Issue , Dec 6-19 1995
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23030
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The town of Simpson (Chicod) has had an interesting history. The town was named for Col. John Simpson (1728-1788) local Revolutionary soldier. A post office was established there in 1888 called “Chicod,” with Lewis Nash Edwards as first postmaster. In 1896, Charlie G. Barron and W. L. Wootten came from Clarksville, VA to help farmers grow tobacco. They bought land, built houses and developed the town. In 1907, the Norfolk & Southern Railroad built a line through Chicod and it was said Capt. J. J. Laughinghouse named the depot “Simpson.” The town had an identity crisis and the town remained double named until 1965. In 1923, the town of Simpson was incorporated, but the charter was revoked during the Depression for non-payment of taxes. The town of Simpson was again incorporated in 1975.
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22839
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Rising out of oppression and segregation, African American community leaders in Greenville decided to form their own church. St. Gabriel's resulted from those dreams. Started by Father Charles J. Gable and Father Maurice Tew, this church opened its doors on March 1, 1936. Continuing to fight oppression and Jim Crow, the parish operated a mission to educate black children from 1956 until 1965.
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22889
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Traveling northeast from Greenville, a person might drive through two rather small communities: Stokes and Oakley. Stokes was named after William Green Stokes (1864-1953), who opened a store there along the railroad line in 1892. Stokes was, and still is, the principal center and post office for Carolina Township. The town was incorporated on February 1, 1903. Mrs. Addie Stokes was serving as postmistress in 1892. The small community of Oakley is located about six miles north of Stokes. It once was a major shipping point and depot for the surrounding communities. On April 23, 1892, it was reported that Willis H. Williams was the postmaster. After its incorporation in 1903, a town hall was built.
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Record #:
22797
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Formerly located at the intersection of First and Greene streets in Greenville, this church has had a very important history. Begun in the winter of 1865, with 22 members, it was first known as the "African Baptist Church" until the early 1880s. Then known as “Sycamore Hill Baptist Church,” Sam Perry was its first minister followed by Austin Flood. A stately brick church building was built in 1916 and dedicated in July 1917. The Rev. Dr. J. A. Nimmo served as pastor from 1928 to 1961. In Oct. 1965 the church celebrated its 100th year anniversary with two weeks of special services. The Church was forced to be sold to the Redevelopment Commission and in 1968 they bought and moved to the former Eighth Street Christian Church. Tragically, in February 1969 some evil-minded person fire bombed the old brick church building and Greenville lost forever another gem of its architectural history.
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