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 |
|---|---|
| Aughburn |
See Ogburn. |
| Augusta |
community in SE Davie County served by post office, 1890-1902. |
| Aulander |
town in NW Bertie County. In existence before the Civil War as Harmon's Crossroads. Inc. as Aulander in 1885. Alt. 73. The intended name was Orlando, but a phonetic spelling was used to distinguish it from Orlando, Fla. Another story is that a local sawmill operator, Andrew J. Dunning, had the town named for himself, i.e. "Ole Ander." |
| Auman's Hill |
See Asbury. |
| Aumans Crossroads |
community in S Randolph County. |
| Auntery Branch |
also known as Anthony Branch, rises in SE Graham County and flows SW into Tulula Creek. Named for Jack Anthony. |
| Aurelian Springs |
community in W Halifax County. Named aurelian (golden) because the water from the seven springs there was believed to be a cure-all. A popular recreation area of the late nineteenth century. |
| Aurora |
town in SE Beaufort County. Alt. 25. Inc. 1880. Named for a former county newspaper, Aurora Borealis Originally a settlement of free African Americans called Betty Town existed there. |
| Ausbon |
community in W Washington County. Alt. 41. Named for C. V. M. Ausbon, clerk of Superior Court, 1906-42. |
| Austin |
community in NE Wilkes County near the headwaters of Little Elkin River. |
