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.

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.

Preface to the 2nd edition
Preface to the 1st edition
Acknowledgments
Tips for Searching the Gazetteer

"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
Madge

community in SE Mecklenburg County served by post office, 1892-1903.
Madison

town in W Rockingham County at the junction of Mayo and Dan Rivers. Alt. 577. Chartered in 1815, first sale of lots 1818; inc. 1851. Named for President James Madison (1751-1836).
Madison County

was formed in 1851 from Buncombe and Yancey Counties. Located in the W section of the state, it is bounded by Yancey, Buncombe, and Haywood Counties and the state of Tennessee. It was named for James Madison (1751-1836), fourth president of the United States. Area: 456 sq. mi. County seat: Marshall, with an elevation of 1,650 ft. Townships, now numbered 1 to 16, were formerly Marshall, Shelton Laurel, Bull Creek, Middle Fork of Ivy, West Fork of Ivy, Sandy Mush, Little Pine Creek, Spring Creek, Hot Springs, Big Laurel, Upper Laurel, Big Pine Creek, Meadow Fork of Spring Creek, Grapevine, Mars Hill, and Foster Creek. Produces tobacco, corn, dairy products, livestock, hay, nursery products, pumpkins, tomatoes, textiles, and electronics.
Madison Township

NE Guilford County. Named for President James Madison and his wife Dolley Payne, who was born at the Quaker settlement of New Garden, present site of Guilford College.
Magazine Branch

rises in central Cherokee County and flows SW and SE into Valley River.
Maggie Valley

resort center in W Haywood County. Named when the first post office was est. in 1909 for Maggie Mae Setzer (later Mrs. Ira Pylant of Hendersonville), daughter of the postmaster. Alt. 3,019.
Maggot Ridge

W Haywood County in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, extends N from Buck Knob on Cataloochee Divide, center near lat. 35°33'45" N., long. 83°08'32" W. For origin of the name, see Maggot Spring Gap.
Maggot Spring Gap

W Haywood County in Great Smoky Mountains National Park near lat. 35°33'08" N., long. 83°07'55" W. Named for a nearby spring used by cattle rangers that had in it the larvae of an insect that resembled a maggot.
Magness Creek

rises in E Cleveland County and flows s, nw, and S into First Broad River.
Magnetic City

See Buladean.