THE RAILROADS AND NEW TOWNS.
A. D. 1879.
1879.
The Raleigh & Gaston Railroad originally connected the two places
that gave name to the route. It was necessary in reaching
Raleigh from the Albemarle region to go to Weldon, and then, by
the Petersburg Railroad, the junction in Greenville county,
Virginia, gave access by a short line to Gaston. It was not
until about 1853 that the Raleigh & Gaston route was extended
directly down the Roanoke River to Weldon. This was a great
facility to both trade and travel on this important line, yet
twenty years elapsed in the progress of internal communication
before this short link could be added.
2. A great trunk line, extending east and west through the whole
length of the State, has long been a favorite scheme of many
statesmen in the effort to build up a seaport at Beaufort. But
in the progress of the late war it became all-important to the
Confederate government to tap the North Carolina Road at
Greensboro, in order that troops and military freights might be
speedily conveyed to Petersburg and Richmond by way of Danville.
3. The completion of the lines leading from Charlotte to
Wilmington, from Charlotte to Statesville, from Raleigh to
Hamlet, the Cape Fear & Yadkin Valley from Fayetteville to
Greensboro; and the Western North Carolina Road from Salisbury to
Asheville, and the Paint Rock branch, have enormously increased
the facilities for travel in the State. In addition to these
lines, new routes from Jamesville to Washington, from Rocky Mount
to Tarboro, from Norfolk to Elizabeth City and Edenton, from
Durham to Chapel Hill, from Henderson to Oxford, from Goldsboro
to Smithfield, have also been recently added to the railway
system.
4. The road from Winston to Greensboro has resulted in the
creation of a city alongside of ancient Salem which is, in every
respect the compeer of Durham in the swiftness of its growth and
the amount of its trade and manufactures. Winston, Durham and
Reidsville have arisen almost like magic, and are expanding into
such importance that Charlotte, Salisbury and Greensboro have all
felt the consequences of their growth in trade and population.
5. The city of Charlotte has greatly prospered and has become
important for its large trade and railway interests. Perhaps,
nowhere else in the State have the citizens of a city shown
greater enterprise. Its merchants, lawyers and editors have all
won the respect and admiration of other communities, and have
raised their city to such prosperity that it is now rapidly
becoming a rival of Wilmington and Raleigh, and taking place in
the front rank among North Carolina's emporiums.
6. One of the most remarkable scenes ever witnessed in North
Carolina was the famous centennial anniversary of the signing of
the Mecklenburg Declaration. It filled Charlotte with thousands
of visitors, among whom were the Governors of several States and
many other distinguished American citizens. Ex-Governor W. A.
Graham, Judge John Kerr, Governor Brogden and others delivered
orations, and the citizen-soldiers of the State were gathered to
do honor to an event "that had made Charlotte forever sacred to
history and song." This occurrence was, of course, on May 20th,
1875, and just one hundred years later than the concourse ordered
by Colonel Thomas Polk.
7. Fayetteville, Asheville and Statesville have also afforded
remarkable instances of thrift and expansion in the busy latter
years of our State's history. Now, besides being a favorite
resort as a watering place, supplements its summer festivities
with large numbers of visitors avoiding the rigors of winter
months elsewhere. It is becoming a railway centre and is fast
developing a large and lucrative trade.
8. The tendency toward the erection of manufactories and the
recent influx of foreign immigrants are happy auguries for the
continued prosperity and growth of towns in the State. The
wondrous diversity of products of the soil, the extent of the
forests and the richness of the mines, all combine to demonstrate
the ease with which the success of other American states can be
rivalled in our own.
9. Already the mountains have been pierced by the railway from
Salisbury. Other lines from Virginia, South Carolina and
Tennessee are being constructed, so that every portion even of
the mountainous region will soon be within easy reach of the
markets of the world. The Cranberry iron ores, the matchless
Mica quarries and the Corundum deposits are all being made
available to commerce, and will realize valuable returns for the
capital employed upon them.
10. Not the least remarkable among the new industries of the
western counties is the collection and shipment of Ginseng and
other valuable medicinal roots and herbs. A firm in Statesville
have been, for years past, employing large capital in this business,
which seems capable of indefinite extension. The preparation of dried
fruits is another lucrative addition to the resources of the same
region.
11. Years ago, attention was called to the fact that at certain
elevations in the mountains there was no frost to be seen at any
period of the year; and this immunity has been turned to valuable
account by the fruit growers, and now great orchards are found in
many parts of the westerns counties, and shipments of very fine
apples show the cultivation given to them.
12. North Carolina is not only the original habitation of the
Scuppernong grape, but also of the luscious Catawba. This
latter fine fruit, which has proven so valuable to the nurseries
of Cincinnati, is at home in this latitude.
13. Yadkin county was, before 1860, famous for the production of
a stronger beverage, derived from rye and corn. Since the war
many distilleries have been carried on in the State, in spite of
the government regulations that carry so many men as culprits to
the Federal prisons. The offenders, known as "Moonshiners," are
those who make and sell whisky without paying the United States
for a license in the trade. These transgressors of the law have
for years been hunted like Italian bandits or ferocious wild
beasts, and not unfrequently blood has been shed in defence of
the hidden distilleries and quite as often in attacking them and
their owners.
14. In February of this year the Secretary of State, Joseph A.
Engelhard, died, after a brief illness. In the death of Major
Engelhard, the State sustained a great loss. As a soldier he was
faithful, capable and brave. At once made a conspicuous leader
in the fierce struggles that followed the war by his control of a
prominent journal, he proved ever courageous, far-seeing and of
rare judgment. And to him, for the happy termination of those
terrible struggles, the State owes a deep debt of gratitude that
now, unhappily, she can repay only in honorable remembrance.
QUESTIONS.
1. What is the subject of this lesson? What is said of the
extension of the Raleigh & Gaston Railroad? Go to the map and
point out this road.
2. What favorite trunk-line has long been desired? What road was
specially important to the Confederate government? Point out
this road on the map.
3. What roads are mentioned as having been recently completed?
Point out these on the map.
4. What towns are now mentioned, and what is said of their
growth? Locate them on the map.
5. What is said of the prosperity of the city of Charlotte?
6. What is said of the centennial celebration at Charlotte? When
did it occur?
7. What mention is made of Fayetteville, Asheville and
Statesville? Find these towns on the map.
8. What have been the causes of the rapid growth of the towns in
the state?
9. What further prosperity is noticed?
10. What other industry is described? Can you tell anything of
this valuable production? (Teacher will explain).
11. What is said of the western fruit growers?
12. What excellent varieties of grape are natives of North
Carolina? What is said of the Catawba grape?
13. What mention is made of the manufacture of stronger liquors?
14. What State officer died at this period? What is said of Major Engelhard?