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
Ayr

former community in W Rutherford County near Lake Lure. Site of a pre-Civil War tannery that made saddles for the Confederate army during the war. A Scotsman, Francis Reynolds, operated the tannery and named the community for his native town. Post office est. there 1880, closed 1911.

Azalea

community in central Buncombe County, E of Asheville. Known as Gudger's Ford until renamed for the flowering shrub. Alt. 2,052.

Babbit's Pond

See Parrish's Pond.

Bacchus

community in E Yancey County.

Bachelor

community in SE Craven County on Clubfoot Creek.

Bachelor Creek

rises in Great Dover Swamp in NE Jones County, flows NE into central Craven County, and then turns to flow SE for approx. 3 mi. along the W border of Hog Island before entering Neuse River approx. 3½ mi. NW of town of New Bern. Approx. 14 mi. long. Appears as Batchellors Creek on the Moseley map, 1733. Formerly called Batchelder Creek. Named for Edward Batchelor.

Bachelor Creek

rises in S Randolph County and flows E into Richland Creek. Named for a wild stallion that is reported to have roamed through the section. People called him "Bachelor."

Bachelor's Delight Swamp

rises in N Onslow County and flows SW into New River. Mentioned in local records as early as 1744.

Back Bay

a bay formed by the encircling islands of Hog Island in NE Carteret County.

Back Creek

rises in W Orange County and flows SW into Alamance County, where it enters Haw River. Appears on the Moseley map, 1733, as Buffalo Creek.