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 |
|---|---|
| Spencer Mountain |
E central Gaston County. Broadcast towers are there. Named for Zachariah Spencer, local Loyalist (Tory) who was captured during Revolutionary War, tried, and condemned to be shot. He turned "Whig," promising allegiance to the new republic; having no Bible, he took an oath on an almanac and was released. Alt. 1,304. |
| Spencers Fork |
rises in NE Caldwell County and flows SW into Brumleys Creek. |
| Spencerville |
community in NW Moore County served by post office, 1888-1907. Known as Spencer until 1897. |
| Spences Corner |
community in W Camden County; named for a pioneer family in the area and dates from about 1700. |
| Spero |
See Balfours. |
| Spewmarrow Creek |
rises in N Granville County and flows NW into Grassy Creek. |
| Spice Bottom Creek |
rises in SW Watauga County and flows NE into Watauga River. |
| Spice Cove |
the valley through which Spice Cove Branch flows in N Buncombe County. |
| Spice Cove Branch |
rises near Louis Ray Knob in NE Buncombe County and flows NW through Spice Cove into North Fork Ivy Creek. |
| Spice Creek |
rises in W Watauga County and flows NE into Laurel Creek. |
