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
Greens Point

a projection of N Hatteras Island into Pamlico Sound, E Dare County beside the community of Rodanthe.

Greens Store

community in SE Rutherford County.

Greens Thorofare

channel of water separated from the main body of Neuse River and bypassing a curve in the river in N Craven County. Name appears in local records as early as 1819. Land in the area was included in a 1707 grant to Furnifold Green, killed by the Tuscarora Indians in 1714.

Greensboro

city and county seat, central Guilford County. Alt. 838. Est. 1808 and inc. 1810. Named for Gen. Nathanael Greene (1742-86), American leader at Battle of Guilford Courthouse, 1781. Produces textiles, fabricated metals, food products, tobacco products, chemicals, drugs, aircraft parts, and electronics. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Bennett College, Greensboro College, Guilford College, and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University are located there.

Greenstreet Mountain

N Wilkes County parallel to East Prong Roaring River. Named for a local family.

Greenville

city and county seat, central Pitt County on Tar River. Est. 1771 as Martins-borough, named for Josiah Martin (1737-86), last royal governor of North Carolina, serving from 1771 to 1775. Name changed in 1786 to Greensville in honor of Nathanael Greene (1742-86), Revolutionary War general. With the passage of time, the name came to be spelled as it is today. East Carolina University, est. 1908, is located there. Produces tobacco, lumber, textiles, batteries, bakery products, and boats. Alt. 64.

Greenville Sound

E New Hanover County between Middle Sound on the N and Masonboro Sound on the s.

Greenville Township

central Pitt County.

Greenwood Township

former township in S Lee County, now township no. 1.

Greer Branch

rises in NW Swain County in Great Smoky Mountains National Park and flows SW into Twentymile Creek.