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
Southerne Virginia Sea

appears on the Comberford map, 1657, as the area of the Atlantic Ocean off the Outer Banks of modern North Carolina, roughly between the coast and the Gulf Stream.
Southmont

community in S Davidson County on High Rock Lake and the Winston-Salem Southbound Railway. Post office there, 1883-1906, was known as Fairmont. Reestablished as Southmont in 1910; probably named for the new Winston-Salem Southbound Railway. Alt. 669.
Southport

town, SE Brunswick County on Cape Fear River. Fort Johnston, which see, built there, 1748-64. The town began to develop by 1792 and was named Smithville for Gen. Benjamin Smith (1751-1826). Inc. in 1805 and made county seat in 1808; remained so until a new government center opened near Bolivia in 1978. Name changed to Southport in 1889 because it was the southernmost seaport in the state. Alt. 26.
Southside

community in central Lincoln County. Named for a mill built on the S side of Lincolnton in 1891. Alt. 753.
Southwest Creek

rises in N Carteret County and flows NE into South River.
Southwest Fork [Alligator River]

rises in S Tyrrell County near Alligator Lake and flows NE into Northwest Fork [Alligator River].
Southwest Prong Branch

rises in W central Carteret County and flows N into Moon Creek.
Southwest Stony Fork Creek

rises in E Watauga County and flows SE into W Wilkes County to enter Stony Fork Creek.
Southwood

community in S Bladen County in Carvers Creek Township.
Sowell Run

rises in S Greene County and flows NE into Rainbow Creek. Named for the Sowell family, which settled in the vicinity before the Revolution.