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 |
|---|---|
| Jamestown |
town in SW Guilford County. Settled 1752 and named for James Mendenhall, an early settler whose first name was chosen in Quaker fashion to avoid ostentation. Inc. 1816; rechartered 1947. Produces baked goods, corrugated boxes, and textiles. Home to Oakdale Cotton Mills, continuously operating since 1865. Alt. 779. |
| Jamestown Township |
SW Guilford County. |
| Jamesville |
town in E Martin County on Roanoke River. Est. 1785 as James Town; inc. 1832 as Jameston; name changed to Jamesville, 1855. Alt. 47. |
| Jamesville Township |
NE Martin County. |
| Jane Cantrell Creek |
rises in S Transylvania County and flows NW into South Prong [Glady Fork]. |
| Jane Knob |
E Macon County between Brown Creek and Corbin Creek. |
| Jane Otter Branch |
rises in NW Macon County and flows NW into Otter Creek. |
| Jane's Bald |
on the Mitchell County, N.C.-Carter County, Tenn., line. Said to have been named for a woman who lost her life there in a snowstorm but who saved her young child by covering it with her own body. |
| Janeiro |
community in S Pamlico County on Dawson Creek, which see. Known as Dawson Creek until a post office was est. (since discontinued). Named by seafaring men of the community for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. |
| Japan |
former community in NE Graham County on forks of Tobacco and Panther Creeks. Est. about 1908 as a supply center for surrounding lumbering camps. Named for "Japan clover" (Lespedeza striata) growing in the area. During World War II, local residents began calling it MacArthur for Gen. Douglas MacArthur, but the post office name was never changed. Inundated by waters of Fontana Lake, 1944. |
