Location: I-95 (southbound) at rest area near Selma
County: Johnston
Original 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.
Women mathematicians, many from N.C., executed complex calculations for U.S. military and NASA, 1941-1975, during WWII and the Space Race.
Enslaved. Bought freedom in 1835. An abolitionist, nationally known orator, and entrepreneur. Wrote his Narrative in 1842. Was born nearby.
Operated 1879-1930 by N.C. Industrial Assoc. to accommodate the state's black citizens. Was held, 1891-1925, fifty yds. N.
State’s worst mining accident occurred on May 27, 1925, when explosions killed 53 men. Shaft 1 1/2 mi. SW.
An actress in 67 films, from 1941 to 1986. An Academy Award nominee; Johnston County native. Gravesite 100 yards W.
Hospital. First nursing school in N.C. for African Americans, 1896-1961. Founded by Sarah Hunter. Building four blocks N.
After 1928 popularized Indy-style car racing. Site hosted the last NASCAR race on dirt track, 1970. Half-mile oval was 250 yds. SW.
Educator, orator, & early black feminist. Graduate, St. Augustine's. Author, A Voice from the South (1892). Grave 2 1/2 blks. S.
“Pentecostal Apostle of the South.” Inspired by Azusa Street Mission in Los Angeles in 1906, he led revival ¼ mi. S.W.
