Copyright Notice: 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.

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.

Preface to the 2nd edition
Preface to the 1st edition
Acknowledgments

"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
Sanderson Fish Pond

on a tributary of Cabin Creek in E central Duplin County.
Sanderson's Channel

See Roanoke Sound.
Sandhill

community in N Pamlico County.
Sandhills

a series of rolling hills between the Cape Fear and Pee Dee Rivers covering portions of Richmond, Scotland, Moore, Cumberland, and Harnett Counties. Includes approx. 1,110 sq. mi. The surrounding area is approx. 600 ft. above sea level, but, within the Sandhills, there are ridges rising 300 to 400 ft. higher. Little River, Drowning Creek, and Rockfish Creek are the principal streams. Coarse sandy soil is characteristic of the area. The Basset map, 1676, marks the area "Deserta Arenosa." It has also been called Deserta Montana, Sandy Barrens, Pine Barrens, and the Sahara of North Carolina. William Hooper, in a letter of June 15, 1779, to James Iredell, used the term sandhills. The climate of the region has been classed as "Humid Subtropical," and it has an average annual temperature of approx. 61.5°. The area was settled by Scottish Highlanders beginning about 1740. They found the region covered by a stand of longleaf pines ranging in height from 100 to 120 ft. and with diameters up to 36 inches. Beneath the pines, wire grass covered the ground. Most of the pines were cut between 1875 and 1895 (for an exception, see Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve), and the region is now covered with smaller longleaf pines, scrub oak (chiefly Turkey and Black Jack), and wire grass. Extensive peach orchards have flourished in the Sandhills since 1892. The resort towns of Pinehurst and Southern Pines, which see, have developed there.
Sandhills Township

S Moore County.
Sandifer

community in central Mecklenburg County served by post office, 1885-1909.
Sands

community in E central Watauga County between Howard Creek and Meat Camp Creek.
Sandy Barrens

See Sandhills.
Sandy Bay

in the waters of Pamlico Sound off the SE mainland of Dare County between Sandy Point on the N and Parched Corn Point on the s.
Sandy Bottom

a sandy strip approx. ½ mi. long along the W bank of French Broad River in S Buncombe County between Bent Creek and Orton Branch.