Lee County, located in North Carolina's Piedmont [5] region, was formed from Moore [10] and Chatham [8] Counties in 1907 and took its name from Confederate general Robert E. Lee. Sanford [12] (incorporated in 1874) became the county seat; other Lee County communities include Broadway [13], Northview, Cumnock, Tramway, Lemon Springs, Swann, and Colon.

Although it was one of the last of North Carolina's counties to be established, the area that became Lee County had long since demonstrated its importance to the state's economy and well-being. During the American Revolution, the Wilcox Iron Works [14] supplied iron goods for North Carolina's war effort. In 1855 the first commercial coal mine in the state, Egypt Mine [15], was opened in the county; it too served the state's needs in time of conflict, supplying coal to blockade-runners [16] during the Civil War. Lee County's most important manufactured products, today as well as historically, are bricks [11]. Sanford has traditionally been regarded as the nation's "brick making capital," having produced more bricks than any other city in the United States. In 2002 the city also hosted the first Sanford Pottery Festival [17] to celebrate the state's pottery-making heritage. While the Seagrove Pottery Festival in neighboring Randolph County [18] is older, the Sanford festival quickly established itself as the largest pottery festival in the state. In 2004 Lee County's estimated population was slightly more than 50,000.