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
Paint Rock

community in W Madison County on French Broad River. Inc. 1891; charter repealed 1895. Early landmark, site of a blockhouse to protect settlers from Indians, 1793. Figures on a rock cliff there appeared to early settlers to be paintings. Appears as Painted Rock on the Price map, 1808. Alt. 1,265.
Painted Rock

See Paint Rock.
Painter

See Cullowhee.
Painter Branch

rises in E Cherokee County and flows NW into Peachtree Creek.
Painter Knob

N Cleveland County. Alt. 2,323.
Painter Swamp

rises in W Hertford County and flows SE into Potecasi Creek.
Painters Gap

N Rutherford County on the NE side of Chalk Mountain. Perhaps originally Panthers Gap.
Palestine

community in N Stanly County. Alt. 582.
Palm

community in NE Haywood County served by post office, 1886-1905.
Palmer Branch

rises in E Cherokee County and flows SW into Valley River.