The name was changed back to Shoe Hill in 1881 and finally to Maxton in 1887. Incorporated in 1874 as Shoe Hill (from the Gaelic "S", the shape of the nearby creek), Maxton also held the names of Tilden (after an 1876 Democratic candidate for US President) and Quhele (Gaelic for "narrow part of a stream"). Please visit our town website at: The first settlers in this area settled along the Shoe Hill Creek and Lumber River in the late 1700s. Visit the Pembroke Chamber of Commerce website at Pembroke University houses the Indian Cultural Center that has engaged in research and preservation of the Native American culture of this area. University status was granted in 1969 and the University of North Carolina at Pembroke became part of the 16 campus state university system, in 1972.Ĭontributions to Pembroke have long been associated with the cultural and political history of the Lumbees. In 1941 the name of the school was changed to Pembroke State College for Indians and shortened to Pembroke State College, in 1949. In 1887 a state-funded school, the Croatan Normal School, was begun with minimal funding to train teachers for the newly established schools.īy 1928 the school offered high school and normal school courses and in 1940 awarded its first four-year degrees. Under an 1885 law, twelve school districts were established providing elementary education for Lumbees. The town's corporate limits as surveyed and mapped, were based on the intersection of two railway lines. Earlier known as Scuffletown, the town's name derives from a principle stockholder in the Atlantic Coastline Railroad, Pembroke Jones. The town developed around businesses that served the Lumbee Indian population that resided in this area prior to the American Revolution. Please visit our town website at: Settled in 1789 and incorporated in in 1895, the town site of Pembroke was first called Campbell's Mills. Home today to a diversified array of internationally owned companies, Lumberton takes pride in its contributions to the cultural and economic history of this area. Lumberton was among the finalists for designation as an All-American City in 1995. In recent years, its residents have been active in refurbishing the historic area and guiding its new industrial growth. In 1945 the city of Lumberton was chartered by the North Carolina General Assembly. The public library was organized in 1924. Electric lights replaced kerosene street lamps in 1904. The turn of the century saw continued railroad expansion and growth in the tobacco and textile industries. Land could be purchased for as little as $5 per acre. The Wilmington to Lumberton line was completed in 1860.Īn 1884 publication notes the town, "one of the prettiest in the state," with a population of 1200, twenty stores, five churches, saw mills, turpentine distilleries, and four hotels. In the latter half of the 19th century, railroads replaced waterways and wagon roads as the main source of transporting local agriculture and timber products. Thus, Lumberton has been a center of economic development for over 210 years. The river's high bluff was the launching point for thousands of logs floated down the river to Georgetown. This academy was first chartered in 1793 and re-chartered at three other times.Īccording to local historians, the main stage coaches from Elizabethtown and Fayetteville met at Lumberton to use the toll bridge across Drowning Creek (Lumber River). Unobligated tax money was designed to support Lumberton Academy which also served as a church. Willis went on to represent Robeson County in both the State Senate and state convention that approved the Federal Constitution in 1789.Ī 1794 law called for the governance of the town by five directors with power of taxation. The town's original lots were sold in 1787 and a building owned by Willis was deeded to the county to be used as a courthouse. Known as the founder of Lumberton, Willis in 1787 petitioned the state legislature for a charter granting the town status as the county seat of the newly formed Robeson County. The original town of Lumberton began prior to the Revolutionary War as a settlement on the 250-acre plantation owned by General John Willis.
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