Some place names included in The North Carolina Gazetteer contain terms that are considered offensive.
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.
"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
| Place | Description |
|---|---|
| Portia |
was inc. as a town in McDowell County, 1891; charter repealed 1893. It apparently was never laid out, and the proposed site is unknown. |
| Portis Gold Mine |
now abandoned, NE Franklin County. Shown on a map as recently as 1931. |
| Portohonk Creek |
rises in SW Camden County and flows S into Pasquotank County. See also Jones Mill. |
| Portsmouth |
formerly a thriving town in NE Carteret County at the tip of Core Banks. Settled in the early 1700s; est. 1753 and probably named for the city in England. Long inactive in municipal affairs. Alt. 8. See also Portsmouth Island. |
| Portsmouth Island |
NE Carteret County, is the name applied to the NE end of Core Banks. Appears as Wococon, which see, on the White map, 1585. May have been a part of Croatoan Island. See also Portsmouth; Core Banks; Cape Lookout National Seashore Recreational Area. |
| Portsmouth Township |
E Carteret County, is made up of Core Banks extending from Cape Lookout to Ocracoke Inlet. See also Portsmouth Island. |
| Possum Branch |
rises in S Macon County and flows N into Tessentee Creek. Approx. 1 mi. long. |
| Possum Creek |
See Possumquarter Creek. |
| Possum Hollow |
S Haywood County on the E side of Bearpen Gap. An unnamed stream rises there and flows E into Haywood Gap Stream. |
| Possum Neck Swamp |
rises in S Craven County and flows NW into Brice Creek. |
