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Alamance County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It coincides with the Burlington, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. Formed in 1849 from Orange County to the east, Alamance County has been the site of significant historical events, textiles, manufacturing, and agriculture in North Carolina. As of 2005, the estimated population of the county and MSA was 140,533. Its county seat is Graham.
History
Before being formed as a county, the region had at least one known small Southeastern tribe of Native American in the 1700s - the Sissipahaw who lived in the area bound by modern Saxapahaw, Hawfields and Haw River locations in the county . European Americans entered the region largely following Native American trading paths that became the basis of the railroad and interstate highway routes. The county was formed January 29, 1849 from Orange County. It was named after Great Alamance Creek, site of the Battle of Alamance (May 16, 1771), in which militia under the command of Governor William Tryon crushed the Regulator movement. The Great Alamance Creek, and in turn the Little Alamance Creek, according to legend, were named after a local Native American word to describe the blue mud that was found at the bottom of the creeks. Several other small battles occurred during the American Revolution in the Alamance County area during the lead-up to the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, including Pyle's Massacre and the Battle of Lindley's Mill, and the Battle of Clapp's Mill. Civil War and aftermathIn 1861, the United States began to fragment due to growing questions of states' rights concerning issues of money, agriculture, representation, and slavery. In February of that year, a peace conference was held in Washington, DC. North Carolina sent five delegates to this conference, including Chief Justice Thomas Ruffin of Haw River, an Alamance County community. Justice Ruffin was opposed to secession, but was voted down. Later on, President Buchanan said that if Ruffin had persisted, the war might have been averted. In March, 1861, Alamance County residents voted against North Carolina's secession from the Union, 1,114 to 254. Hostilities would later prove that vote moot. Alamance County joined the rest of North Carolina as the state split off from the Union and joined the Confederate States. Although no battles took place in the county itself, Alamance County did send its share of sons and brothers to the front lines. Only in the last months of the war did the residents of the county see a significant number of troops. Most important of these events was when President Jefferson Davis dictated a note to General Johnston for Union General Sherman. General Johnston delivered that note, stopping in Company Shops to drop off some of the last of his men.
Some of the most significant effects of the Civil War were seen after the war. Alamance County briefly became a center of natioanl attention when, in 1870, a confrontation between local residents and an apparently corrupt Army colonel led to several people being wrongfully accused and arrested for various crimes. Only after involvement by a U. S. District Judge were these men and women freed and cleared of crimes. This event came to be known as the Kirk-Holden War, and it lead to the impeachment and removal of Governor William Holden by the North Carolina Legislature in 1871. TextilesThe Holt family began the textile industry in the county in the 1800s. Textiles became the county's largest source of industry and nearly every community in the county contained a textile mill by the early 1900s. Most of the mills were located along the Haw River which provided a cheap easy source of energy. Glencoe, Saxapahaw, Swepsonville, Bellemont, Alamance, Haw River and Burlington all contained textile mills and all these communities were located on the Haw River or tributaries of the river. The Holt's became famous for producing "Alamance Plaids" used mainly in tablecloths. Most of the plants have now gone out of business. Burlington was, also, home to Burlington Industries. Dairy industryThe county was once the state leader in dairy production. Several dairies including Melville Dairy in Burlington were headquartered in the county. With increasing real estate prices and a slump in milk prices, most dairy farms have been sold and many of them developed for real estate purposes. Airplanes and radarsDuring World War II Fairchild built airplanes at a plant on the eastern side of Burlington. Among the planes built at the plant were the AT-21 gunner used to train bomber pilots. Near the Fairchild plant was the Western Electric Burlington works. The plant built radar equipment and guidance systems for missiles on top of many other electronics for the government. The guidance system for the Titan missile was built there. The plant was closed in 1992 and has been sitting abandoned until 2005, when it was purchased by a local businessman for manufacturing. PoliticsAlamance County has provided North Carolina with three of its governors and two U. S. Senators: Governor Thomas Holt, Governor and U. S. Senator Kerr Scott, Governor Robert W. (Bob) Scott (Kerr Scott's son), and U. S. Senator B. Everett Jordan. Timeline
Population History
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