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
Tips for Searching the Gazetteer

"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
New River

is formed on the Ashe-Alleghany county line by the junction of North Fork and South Fork New River. It flows NE and NW into Virginia and West Virginia and enters Kanawha River at Charleston, W.Va. In its meanderings, it crosses the North Carolina-Virginia line into Alleghany County several times. Named because of the discovery of the river in 1749, when the boundary between North Carolina and Virginia was extended 90 mi. The surveyors crossed what they thought was "a large branch of the Mississippi which runs between the ledges of the mountains," and which, in the words of Governor Gabriel Johnston, "Nobody ever drempt of before." Designated a National Scenic River in 1976; now a state park.
New River Inlet

S Onslow County between Stump Sound and Onslow Beach. Appears on the Moseley map, 1733.
New River Marine Base

See Camp Lejeune.
New River Township

central Watauga County.
New Salem

community in N Randolph County served by post office, 1879-1906.
New Salem Township

NE Union County.
New Stirling

community in W central Iredell County.
New Topsail Beach

See Topsail Beach.
New Topsail Inlet

S Pender County between Old Topsail Inlet and the Onslow-Pender county line, through which waters of Topsail Sound flow into the Atlantic Ocean. Appears on the Moseley map, 1733.
New Town

See Charles Town.