Topics Related to Historical Markers

Presbyterian. Organized ca. 1759. James McCready first regular minister, 1793. Present building erected about 1844.

20,000-acre estate of William Byrd, Virginia planter, author, surveyor of Va.-N.C. line, 1728. S.W. corner here.

Hostess and social leader. Wife of President James Madison. Saved artifacts from White House fire, 1814. Born 1 1/2 miles N.E.

First Superintendent of N.C. Common Schools, 1853-1865. Author, editor. Born 1 1/2 miles northeast.

Governor, 1841-45. An advocate for railroads & industrial development. Lived at Blandwood.

Armies of Greene and Cornwallis engaged in pivotal battle here on March 15, 1781. Site now U.S. military park.

Educator, minister, & orator for Patriot cause. His "Log College," a classical academy, stood 2 1/2 miles northwest.

William Sydney Porter, 1862-1910, short story writer, lived in a house which stood near here.

Location: SR 1801 (Ross West Road) north of GodwinCounty: CumberlandOriginal Date Cast: 1961(Large rectangular marker with map; full text follows)You are standing near the center of the first phase of fighting in the Battle of Averasboro, March 15-16, 1865.

Location: I-95 (northbound) at rest area near FayettevilleCounty: CumberlandOriginal Date Cast: 1962(Large rectangular marker, full text follows)At Bentonville, General William T. Sherman’s Union army, advancing from Fayetteville toward Goldsboro, met and battled the Confederate army of General Joseph E. Johnston. General Robert E. Lee had directed the Confederates to make a stand in North Carolina to prevent Sherman from joining General U. S. Grant in front of Lee’s army at Petersburg, Virginia.