Biographical/historical information

The town of Norlina was called Ridgeway Junction in 1837 and locomotives would stop there to refuel. In 1900 the Seaboard Air Line Railway was established and quickly grew from 1,110 miles to 4,680 miles and the Junction exploded with growth. Because of the growth and expansion of the previously small Junction, in 1913 a group of people petitioned for a charter and the town Norlina was incorporated.

Mansel Plumley, A.M. Collins, and A.L. Bailey were hired to escort a car load of cattle to a North Carolina plantation owned by N.A. Connell near Raleigh, N.C. Connell raised bulls, fodder, corn, and cotton on his 4,000 acre farm. The trip took two weeks to complete. Today, it would have taken a little over 7 hours by car.

Scope and arrangement

Photograph album chronologically documenting a 1917 railroad trip from Ohio to Warren County, North Carolina.

Administrative information

Custodial History

June 5, 2018, 0.004 cubic feet; Collection includes a photograph album kept by three men as they travelled from Ohio to Warren County, North Carolina, (November 16-30, 1917) as they accompanied a train car load of cattle. Included are images of trains, train bridges, the farm ("plantation") belonging to N. A. Connell at Norlina and Warren Plains, North Carolina, Connell family members, farm equipment, and the process of cotton production (being picked, cotton gin, spinning cotton). Purchased with state funds from Buckingham Books, Greencastle, Pennsylvania.

Source of acquisition

Purchase from Buckingham Books

Copyright notice

Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.

Key terms

Personal Names

Connell, N. A.
Connell, N. A.--Family

Topical

Cotton--North Carolina--Warren County--Pictorial works
Plantations--North Carolina--Warren County--Pictorial works
Railroad trains--North Carolina--Warren County--Pictorial works

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