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
Carmen

community in N Madison County on Shelton Laurel Creek.
Carolana

a province proposed to be est. in America and named in the charter of King Charles I to Sir Robert Heath, October 30, 1629. The province was to extend from 31° to 36° N. lat. along the Atlantic Ocean and presumably W to the Pacific Ocean. No settlements were made, and the charter was considered vacated in 1663 when Carolina was granted to eight Lords Proprietors by King Charles II. See also County of Norfolk.
Carolarns Islands

presumably the Outer Banks, which see, named in the charter of King Charles I to Sir Robert Heath, October 30, 1629.
Caroleen

community in SE Rutherford County on Second Broad River. Alt. 805. Named in honor of Caroline, wife of Simpson B. Tanner Sr., industrialist. The Post Office Department ruled that Caroline was too similar to Carolina to be acceptable, so Caroleen was selected instead. The communities of Avondale and Henrietta lie directly s.
Carolina

community in central Alamance County on Haw River. A textile mill est. there prior to 1901.
Carolina Bays

oval-shaped lakes, swamps, pocosins, savannahs, and peat beds in SE North Carolina, E South Carolina, and NE Georgia. Several explanations have been advanced as to the origin of the Carolina Bays, but the most generally accepted one is that they were formed thousands of years ago by a shower of meteorites. White Lake, Jones Lake, Singletary Lake, and Lake Waccamaw are Carolina Bays. There also are numerous others, many of which no longer contain water.
Carolina Beach

town in SE New Hanover County on the Atlantic Ocean. Alt. 5. Settled about 1885; inc. 1925. Sugar Loaf, a former community at or near the site, was the scene of an engagement between Confederate and Union forces after the capitulation of Fort Fisher, January 15, 1865.
Carolina Beach Inlet

SE New Hanover County, an artificially created inlet from the Atlantic Ocean through the barrier bar about 2½ mi. N of the town of Carolina Beach. A dredged channel extends from the inlet to the Intra-coastal Waterway.
Carolina City

was laid out in 1855 in S central Carteret County by Carolina City Land Company to be terminal point of Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad. Opening of Morehead City on adjacent land to the E and the coming of the Civil War brought about its demise. Union army camped at the site for 3 years and afterward the State Guard trained there. See Camp Glenn.
Carolina Island

See Conine Island.