Edgecombe County
28 places on the trail: 28 highway markers.
People of Edgecombe County in Carolina Quotes
Colonial North Carolina, 1585-1774
The young state, 1790-1860
- E-123STATE v. WILLLandmark N.C. Supreme Court case, 1834, gave protection to slaves who killed in self-defense. Will was a slave on the Ba...
- E-41W. D. PENDERConfederate major general; graduate of U.S. Military Academy, 1854. Mortally wounded at Gettysburg, age 29. Grave is 4 b...
- E-24WASHINGTON'S SOUTHERN TOURPresident Washington spent the night, April 18, 1791, in the town of Tarboro.
Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861-1877
- E-97FREEDOM HILLCommunity established here by freed blacks in 1865. Incorporated as Princeville in 1885.
- E-65HENRY T. CLARKGovernor of North Carolina, 1861-1862. Speaker of the State Senate. Helped organize the State for war. Grave is 3 blocks...
- E-70WILLIAM R. COXConfederate general. His brigade fought in last infantry action at Appomattox. Later Congressman; Secretary U.S. Senate....
The New South, 1878-1929
- E-117ANNA EASTER BROWN 1879-1957A founder in 1908 of Alpha Kappa Alpha, nation’s oldest sorority for African Americans; history teacher. Her grave is ¼ ...
- E-90BRICK SCHOOLEst. for blacks in 1895 through philanthropy of Mrs. Joseph K. Brick; became junior college in 1926. Closed, 1933. Build...
- E-74DRED WIMBERLYFormer slave. Voted for better roads, schools, and colleges as State representative, 1879, 1887; and State senator, 1889...
- E-20ELIAS CARRGovernor, 1893-1897. First president of the North Carolina Farmers' Alliance. Bracebridge Hall, his home, 1 mi. N.
- E-116GEORGE H. WHITE 1852-1918Represented the state's "Black Second" district, U.S. House, 1897-1901. Last black Southerner in Congress for 72 years. ...
- E-59JIM THORPE 1886-1953Indian athlete, star of the 1912 Olympics, made his professional baseball debut with Rocky Mount Railroaders, 1909. Ball...
- E-85JOHN C. DANCY 1857-1920Editor of A.M.E. Zion Church papers; orator; a delegate to Methodist world conference; customs collector of Wilmington. ...
- E-95JOHN SPENCER BASSETTHistorian. Professor at Trinity College, 1894-1906. Secretary, Amer. Historical Association, 1919-1928. Born here.
- E-122KNIGHTS OF LABORBlack farmworkers in region affiliated with labor union, 1886-1890. Precursor to the Fusion movement. State convention h...
- E-40W. L. SAUNDERSEditor "Colonial Records of North Carolina," Confederate colonel, N.C. Secretary of State, 1879-91. His grave is four bl...
Modern North Carolina, 1930 on
- E-96JOSEPH BLOUNT CHESHIRE, JR.Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of N.C., 1893-1932; lawyer & writer. Birthplace is one block W.; grave 100 yards S.
- E-112MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. 1929-1968In his speech, Nov. 27, 1962, in gym 200 yards S.E., civil rights leader delivered refrain "I have a dream," used in Lin...
- E-111RURAL ELECTRIFICATIONNew Deal program set up cooperatives to bring power to farms. In N.C., first switch thrown on Apr. 17, 1937, one mi. N.
- E-125SANITATION WORKERS' STRIKELed by African American workers and civil rights coalition, 1978, against sanitation dept., here. It reshaped the labor ...
- E-119THELONIOUS MONK 1917-1982Jazz pianist, composer, and architect of bebop. Wrote “’Round Midnight” (1944). Born 1 mile S.
- E-107WESTRAY BATTLE BOYCE LONGDirector of the Women's Army Corps, 1945-1947. Legion of Merit for N. Africa service, 1943- 1944. Grave 175 yds. S.