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
Pate Creek

rises in NW Mitchell County and flows S into Pigeonroost Creek.

Pate Store

community in E Wayne County S of the community of Cherry and N of The Slough.

Pates

community in W Robeson County. Inc. 1883, but long inactive in municipal affairs. Named for Ed Pate, a railroad employee.

Patetown

town in E Wayne County near The Slough. Inc. 1907, but no longer active in municipal affairs. Named for the Pate family living in the area.

Patrick

community in W Cherokee County near Camp Creek.

Patsy Creek

rises in NW Yancey County and flows SE into Roaring Fork.

Patterson

town in central Caldwell County. Founded in 1851 as the site of a textile mill. Inc. 1905, but long inactive in municipal affairs. Named for Samuel Finley Patterson (1799-1874), local resident and state official. Alt. 1,253. Patterson School operated there since 1909.

Patterson Branch

rises in central Franklin County and flows SE into Fox Creek.

Patterson Creek

rises in NW Iredell County and flows E into Rocky Creek. Formerly known as Big Rocky Creek.

Patterson Springs

community in S Cleveland County. Alt. 904. Settled in the 1880s. Named for Arthur Patterson Sr., who lived near Kings Mountain at the time of the 1780 battle.