This content is from the North Carolina Gazetteer, edited by William S. Powell and Michael Hill. Copyright © 2010 by the University of North Carolina Press. Used by permission of the publisher. For personal use and not for further distribution. Please submit permission requests for other use directly to the publisher.

Some place names included in The North Carolina Gazetteer contain terms that are considered offensive.

"The North Carolina Gazetteer is a geographical dictionary in which an attempt has been made to list all of the geographic features of the state in one alphabet. It is current, and it is historical as well. Many features and places that no longer exist are included; many towns and counties for which plans were made but which never materialized are also included. Some names appearing on old maps may have been imaginary, but many of them also appear in this gazetteer.

Each entry is located according to the county in which it is found. I have not felt obliged to keep entries uniform. The altitude of a place, the date of incorporation of a city or town, may appear in the beginning of one entry and at the end of another. Some entries may appear more complete than others. I have included whatever information I could find. If there is no comment on the origin or meaning of a name, it is because the information was not available. In some cases, however, resort to an unabridged dictionary may suggest the meaning of many names."

--From The North Carolina Gazetteer, 1st edition, preface by William S. Powell

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Place Description
Aldridge Creek

rises in SW Person County and flows SE into South Flat River.

Ale

community in SW Stokes County served by post office, 1898-1903.

Alert

community in N Franklin County. Alt. 300. Settled about 1900. Name chosen by first postmaster, Thomas D. Farrow.

Alex's Creek

See Grants Creek.

Alex's Cross Roads

See Alexis.

Alexander

town in N Buncombe County on French Broad River. Settled about 1828; inc. 1905, but long inactive in municipal affairs. Named for James Mitchell Alexander, who built and operated a stagecoach tavern there. Alt. 1,791.

Alexander Branch

rises in N Buncombe County near Lovelace Gap and flows NW into Paint Fork.

Alexander County

was formed in 1847 from Iredell, Caldwell, and Wilkes Counties. Located in the W central section of the state, it is bounded by Iredell, Catawba, Caldwell, and Wilkes Counties. It was named for William Julius Alexander (1797-1857), member of the General Assembly from Mecklenburg County and Speaker of the House of Commons. Area: 259 sq. mi. County seat: Taylorsville, with an elevation of 1,247 ft. Townships are Ellendale, Gwaltneys, Little River, Millers, Sharpes, Sugar Loaf, Taylorsville, and Wittenburg. Produces cattle, poultry, barley, apples, corn, bearings, textiles, furniture, and paper boxes.

Alexander Knob

See Jess Knob.

Alexander Mills

town in S Rutherford County. Inc. 1925. Named for textile mill est. by J. F. Alexander.