Businesses

by Mcarver, Charles H., Jr. A. C. Monk and Company was founded in Farmville in 1907 by Albert Coy Monk. Initially, Monk and one assistant bought tobacco and shipped it in hogsheads from the Farmville railroad station. After [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Lewis, Edward A. The Aberdeen & Rockfish Railroad Company (A&R), chartered on 22 June 1892, became one of North Carolina's most colorful and successful "short-line" railroads. It was founded by Aberdeen [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Parramore, Thomas C. Albemarle Steam Navigation Company by Thomas C. Parramore, 2006 The Albemarle Steam Navigation Company [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Kennedy, George A. Alexander Railroad Company was organized by Alexander County business interests on 30 Nov. 1945 to operate an 18-mile Southern Railway branch line from Statesville to Taylorsville that was being [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Bales, Susan, Hunt, James L. Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa) established an aluminum smelting plant in east Tennessee in 1914. Alcoa purchased sites on the Little Tennessee River in North Carolina between 1910 and 1925 in [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Carter, Robert W., Jr. American Tobacco Company by Robert W. Carter Jr., 2006 See also: W. Duke, Sons and Company; Tobacco, Brown and Williamson Tobacco Company; Bull Durham Tobacco; R. J. Reynolds Tobacco [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Stevenson, George, Jr., Canipe, Jeremy T. Apprenticeship, the system of binding a child to a master to learn a craft, trade, or occupation, has taken two forms in North Carolina. Compulsory apprenticeship was used from the last quarter of [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by McKinney, Gordon B. Three Asheville businessmen-Robert Pulliam, Ephraim Clayton, and George Whitson-established the Asheville Armory in 1862. By November of that year, they were employing 107 workers and had produced [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Kennedy, George A. The Atlantic & Western Railway Company was chartered on 7 Mar. 1899 under sponsorship of the Edwards family of Sanford. It took over the operation of a line extending 12 miles west from Hope [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Kennedy, George A. The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACL), one of three major railroads that served North Carolina during the twentieth century, traced its roots to a holding company called the American Improvement and [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Steelman, Bennett L. The Bank of Cape Fear was the first private state bank chartered in North Carolina and one of the state's largest banks until the Civil War. Created by an act of the General Assembly in 1804, the [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Powell, William S. By the time North Carolina was colonized, the French custom of having barbers do surgery was never practiced in the colonies. Striped barber poles were abandoned, only to be revived by the appearance [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Furr, J. Elizabeth. Charlotte-based Belk, Inc., the nation's largest privately owned department store organization, began in Monroe in 1888 as one small store named the New York Racket. The 25-year-old founder, William [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Anderson, Jean B. By Elizabeth A. Fenn, Peter H. Wood, Harry L. Watson, Thomas H. Clayton, Sydney Nathans, Thomas C. Parramore, and Jean B. Anderson; Maps by Mark Anderson Moore. Edited by Joe A. Mobley. [...] (from The Way We Lived in North Carolina, NC Office of Archives and History and UNC Press.)

by Agan, Kelly, Davis, Sarajanee. Black Wall Street Business is Booming By Sarajanee Davis and Kelly Agan, N.C. Government & Heritage Library, 2020 Where do you and your family shop for food and supplies? Can you imagine [...] (from NCpedia K-8 Collection.)

by Hill, Michael. In the early twentieth century, Parrish Street in Durham constituted what today would be called an enterprise zone, propelled by the Bull City’s African American businessmen. Nationally recognized, [...] (from Research Branch, NC Office of Archives and History.)

by Williams, Wiley J. In 1927 Wilburt C. Davison, dean of the newly created Duke Medical School, began to tackle the problem of inadequate medical care in North Carolina. With the assistance of Watson S. Rankin, director [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Agan, Kelly. Unfortunately, the Sunny's did not do very well. Then Fulk and Thomas met and decided to invest and join together in a new restaurant venture in Charlotte. On July 6,1977, Fulk and Thomas opened [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Orvedahl, Ginny, McGee, Barry. The Branch Banking and Trust Company was established in Wilson in 1872, when Alpheus Branch and Thomas Jefferson Hadley formed Branch and Hadley, a private banking firm. In 1887 Branch bought [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Bair, Anna Withers. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Company by Anna Withers Bair, 2006 See also: Tobacco, American Tobacco Company; Bull Durham Tobacco; R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company; W. Duke Sons and [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Bell, John L., Jr. Modern-day Broyhill Furniture Industries, Inc., grew out of the Lenoir Chair Company, founded in 1926 by James Edgar Broyhill in Lenoir. Broyhill upholstered chairs on consignment, but he believed [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Troxler, George W. In 1923 J. Spencer Love founded a textile company located on the outskirts of Burlington. Love and his father contributed $50,000 worth of machinery from a previously owned mill and $200,000 from the [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Williams, Wiley J., Kenzer, Robert C. Business directories have been published in North Carolina since the beginning of the nineteenth century. Many extant directories provide a valuable contemporary portrait of the business community of [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Glass, Brent D. James William Cannon, textile manufacturer, was born near Sugaw Creek Church in Mecklenburg County. His father was Joseph Allison Cannon and his mother, Eliza Long. As a boy he worked on his father's [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Watson, Alan D. Cape Fear and Deep River Navigation Company by Alan D. Watson, 2006 The Cape Fear and Deep River Navigation Company aimed to provide improved water access to the naval stores of the [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by McCrea, William J. The Carolina Power & Light Company (CP&L) was chartered by the state on 13 July 1908. The creation of CP&L represented the merger of three existing companies, the Raleigh Electric [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Steelman, Bennett L. Cassidey's Shipyard was the smaller of two Confederate shipyards in Wilmington during the Civil War and the construction site of the ironclad CSS Raleigh. The yard was founded when James Cassidey [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Williams, Wiley J. Central Carolina Bank & Trust Company by Wiley J. Williams, 2006 The Central Carolina Bank & Trust Company traces its roots to a 1903 charter for the Durham Loan and Trust Company, [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Bell, John L., Jr. The Champion Paper and Fibre Company was formed in 1935 by the merger of Champion Coated Paper of Hamilton, Ohio, and the Champion Fibre Company of Canton, N.C. The paper company had been organized [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Hunt, James L. Chatham Manufacturing Company by James L. Hunt, 2006 Chatham Manufacturing Company, one of North Carolina's oldest textile firms, was established in the late 1860s, [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by McGrath, Eileen. In 1913 L. D. Peeler and several other investors in Salisbury purchased stock in the Kentucky-based Mint-Cola Bottling Company, and Peeler started the local bottling franchise of the company. When [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Reimer, Kirstin, Willard, George-Anne. North Carolina children have worked, often alongside their parents, on family farms or elsewhere since colonial times. As the South industrialized, children began to leave home to find work in [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Anderson, Jean B. The Clarendon Bridge Company of Cumberland County was established in 1818 by legislative act for the purpose of building and maintaining a bridge across the Cape Fear River near Fayetteville (the [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Bair, Anna Withers. In 1859 Julius Mickey advertised his tin shop in Old Salem (part of modern Winston-Salem) by placing a large tin coffee pot on a pole in front of his business at the corner of Belews and South Main [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Helms, J. Douglas. Cole Manufacturing Company was founded by brothers E. M. and E. A. Cole in Charlotte in January 1900 to manufacture seed planters invented and patented by E. M. Cole. Brightly painted farm implements [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Baker, Bruce E. Coleman Manufacturing Company by Bruce E. Baker, 2006 The Coleman Manufacturing Company in Concord was the first black-owned cotton mill in the United States. Warren C. [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Troxler, George W. Company Shops by George W. Troxler, 2006 See also: Spencer; Southern Railway System; Transportation: Air and Rail (from NC Atlas Revisited) Company Shops was the name given to the [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by . Corporate Headquarters for Red Hat, inc. Corporate Headquarters for Red Hat, Inc. in Raleigh, North [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Fick, Virginia Gunn. Country stores emerged in great numbers in North Carolina's rural, agricultural society following the Civil War, although some had appeared in the early 1800s. Person County, for example, had more [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Seaman, Jean H. The Cranberry Iron Mine is located on an immense subterranean stretch of titaniferous magnetite (titanium, iron oxide) centered around Cranberry in Avery County. Said to have been used by Indians [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Butler, Lindley S. The Dan River Steam Navigation Company was incorporated by the state legislature in 1855 for the purpose of operating steamboats on the Dan River from Clarksville, Va., to the head of navigation in [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Watson, Alan D. In 1796, as part of a growing effort to improve the navigability of rivers and streams, the General Assembly incorporated the Deep and Haw River Navigation Company. Capitalized at $8,000, it was [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Williams, Wiley J. The Drexel Furniture Company was incorporated on 10 Nov. 1903 and began making fine furniture in a small factory near Morganton in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. In time, the company [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Norris, David A. Drugstores, or apothecary shops, were scarce in eighteenth-century North Carolina. Solomon Halling and Henry Tooley advertised their New Bern shops in the North-Carolina Gazette in 1784 and 1793, [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Durden, Robert F., Lawson, Dennis R. The Duke Power Company, since 1997 a subsidiary of Duke Energy Corporation, is an electric utility company with headquarters in Charlotte and a service area in the Piedmont region of North Carolina [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Williams, Wiley J. The Durham Life Insurance Company was founded in Durham in December 1906 as Durham Mutual Protective Association with A. M. Moise as president. The name became Durham Mutual Life Insurance Company in [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Anderson, Jean B. By Elizabeth A. Fenn, Peter H. Wood, Harry L. Watson, Thomas H. Clayton, Sydney Nathans, Thomas C. Parramore, and Jean B. Anderson; Maps by Mark Anderson Moore. Edited by Joe A. Mobley. [...] (from The Way We Lived in North Carolina, NC Office of Archives and History and UNC Press.)

by Williams, Wiley J. In 1902 Hugh Martin Efird, with the cooperation of Charles A. Williams of the Williams & Shelton Company, opened a small dry goods store on East Trade Street in Charlotte, operating as the [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Hill, Michael. Endor Furnace, a large smelting furnace near Cumnock in Lee County, provided iron to the Confederacy from 1862 to 1865 and thereafter operated periodically through the end of the nineteenth century. [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Norris, David A. Factors, also known as "commission merchants," were commercial agents who handled the exchange of goods on behalf of planters. A factor sold cotton or other crops and made the arrangements for [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Williams, Wiley J. Family Dollar Stores, a discount general merchandise firm, was founded in Charlotte in 1959 by Leon Levine and his cousin Bernie Levine. Leon's father had founded the Hub, a general department store, [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Stephens, George M. Ferebee, Percy Bell by George Myers Stephens, 1986 29 May 1891–30 Dec. 1970 Percy Bell Ferebee, banker and developer, was born in [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Johnson, K. Todd. The First Citizens Bank & Trust Company began as the Bank of Smithfield, organized in 1898 as Johnston County's first bank and a precursor to the establishment of the Smithfield tobacco market. [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Pleasants, Julian M. The First Union Bank Corporation was founded in 1908 by H. M. Victor as the Union National Bank, which developed a strong economic base through innovation. Union National was the first Charlotte bank [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Parker, Mattie E. E. Diana Harris Foster, innkeeper, was one of the first businesswomen in North Carolina. She came to the colony, then called Albemarle, with her first husband, Thomas Harris, about 1665. In a deposition [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Tetterton, Beverly. Freedman's Savings and Trust Company by Beverly Tetterton, 2006; Revised October 2022. The Freedman's Savings and Trust Company, universally known as the Freedman's Bank, was chartered on 3 [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Norris, David A. Although steamboats operated mainly in coastal North Carolina, they were used for a short time on the French Broad River, high in the mountains. On 3 Feb. 1881 the General Assembly granted a charter [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Kirkman, Roger N. Fries Manufacturing and Power Company by Roger N. Kirkman, 2006 The Fries Manufacturing and Power Company was established [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Bumgarner, Sheila. Glencoe, named for a Scottish battle, in central Alamance County is the site of Glencoe Mill and Village, one of the best preserved mill communities in the state. Built between 1879 and 1880 by [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Wrinn, James. Graham County Railroad Company by James Wrinn, 2006 See also: Transportation: Air and Rail (from NC Atlas Revisited) The Graham County Railroad Company was one of dozens of logging railways [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Smith, Claiborne T., Jr. Mary Lloyd Gregory, innkeeper, was born in Edgecombe County, the daughter of Nicholas and Mary Lloyd. Nothing is known of her early life. On 30 June 1796 she gave birth to a son, Joseph, fathered by [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Powell, Joey, Popovic, Natalie. Gristmills used to grind corn, wheat, and other grains into flour and meal were a common sight in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century North Carolina. The first recorded North American gristmill was [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Williams, Wiley J., Coclanis, Peter A., Elam, Sonya, Joyner, Gail B. Grocery Stores by Peter A. Coclanis, 2006 Additional research provided by Sonya Elam, Gail B. Joyner, and Wiley J. Williams. North Carolina is home to one of the nation's largest [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Farnham, Thomas J. Hardee's restaurants began in Greenville in September 1960, when Wilber Hardee opened a restaurant featuring a limited menu, fast service, and low prices. Hardee had recently visited the McDonald's [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Williams, Wiley J. Brothers-in-law William A. Heilig and J. Max Meyers, both Lithuanian immigrants, opened the first Heilig-Meyers retail home furnishing store in Goldsboro in 1913. This partnership ended in 1946 with [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Cohn, Scotti. In 1890 the North Carolina Piedmont town of Winston had become as modern as anyone would want it to be. Its residents enjoyed electric streetlights, paved streets, railroad service, telephones, and [...] (from Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History.)

by Diem, Gordon Neal. Insurance by Gordon Neal Diem, 2006; Revised October 2022. See also: Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina; Durham Life Insurance Company; Jefferson-Pilot Corporation; North [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Williams, Wiley J. J. B. Ivey & Company was established on 18 Feb. 1900 as a partnership involving Joseph Benjamin Ivey, the principal owner and active head of the firm; his brother George Franks Ivey; and Rev. J. [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Stoesen, Alexander R. Although defunct as of 2006, the Jefferson-Pilot Corporation was one of the largest shareholder-owned life insurance companies in the United States. During the first decade of the twentieth [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Bell-Kite, Diana, Agan, Kelly. KAY, WILLIE VIRGINIA OTEY 17 Mar. 1894 – 25 Sept. 1992 By Diana Bell-Kite, NC Museum of History and Kelly Agan, NC Government & Heritage Library, 2016 “You have to like what you do, [...] (from North Carolina Museum of History.)

by Stoesen, Alexander R. The Keeley Institute was incorporated in September 1891 and opened the next month in the Central Hotel Building at Elm and Market Streets in the center of Greensboro. It was reincorporated on 20 Mar. [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Mazzocchi, Jay. Krispy Kreme Doughnut Corporation was founded in Winston-Salem in 1937 by Vernon Rudolph. A few years earlier Rudolph’s uncle, a Paducah, Ky., storeowner, had purchased a secret yeast-raised doughnut [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Williams, Wiley J. Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LabCorp), with headquarters in Burlington and facilities in Charlotte and Research Triangle Park, is one of the world's largest clinical laboratory [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Coffin, Alex. Lance, Inc., a major producer of packaged crackers, potato chips, cookies, nuts, and other snacks, started in 1913 when Philip L. Lance, a Charlotte coffee salesman, purchased 500 pounds of Virginia [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Fowlkes, Jim. Liberty Ships by Jim Fowlkes, 2006 See also: Zebulon B. Vance, USS; North Carolina Shipbuilding Company (from Tar Heel Junior Historian); Shipbuilding Liberty ships, a number of [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Kobrin, Lisa Brantley. Lowe's Companies, Inc., headquartered in Mooresville, is a North Carolina-based building supply and home improvement firm that has grown into one of the nation's largest retailers. Lowe's was founded [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Hall, Lisa Coston, Detreville, John R. Manufacturing by John R. deTreville, 2006 Additional research provided by Lisa Coston Hall. See also: Manufacturing (From NC Atlas Revisited); Manufacturing Table of Contents; [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Hall, Lisa Coston, Detreville, John R. Manufacturing by John R. deTreville, 2006; Revised November 2022. Additional research provided by Lisa Coston Hall. See also: Manufacturing (From NC Atlas Revisited); Manufacturing Table [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Hall, Lisa Coston, Detreville, John R. Manufacturing by John R. deTreville, 2006 Additional research provided by Lisa Coston Hall. See also: Manufacturing (From NC Atlas Revisited); Manufacturing Table of Contents; [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Hall, Lisa Coston, Detreville, John R. Manufacturing by John R. deTreville, 2006 Additional research provided by Lisa Coston Hall. See also: Manufacturing (From NC Atlas Revisited); Manufacturing Table of Contents; [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Hall, Lisa Coston, Detreville, John R. Manufacturing by John R. deTreville, 2006 Additional research provided by Lisa Coston Hall. See also: Manufacturing (From NC Atlas Revisited); Manufacturing Table of Contents; [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Hall, Lisa Coston, Detreville, John R. Manufacturing by John R. deTreville, 2006 Additional research provided by Lisa Coston Hall. See also: Manufacturing (From NC Atlas Revisited); Manufacturing Table of Contents; [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Powell, William S. Market Houses by William S. Powell, 2006 Markets in colonial North Carolina were [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Ireland, Robert E. McLean Trucking Company by Robert E. Ireland, 2006 In 1931, when Malcolm P. McLean began working at a service station, North Carolina was rapidly becoming a major east-west transport route. [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Butler, Lindley S. Enoch William Moore, businessman and inventor, was born in Rockingham County, the son of James Wright and his second wife, Emily Branson Moore. James W. Moore's first wife was Marinda Branson, who in [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Kenzer, Robert C. National Negro Business League by Robert C. Kenzer, 2006 See also: Colored Merchants Association The National Negro Business League was created by Booker T. [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Johnson, Lloyd. North Carolina's production of naval stores-tar, pitch, and turpentine, all products of the pine tree-began in the 1720s and declined as a major industry by the Civil War. The abundance of pine trees [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Watson, Alan D. The Neuse River Navigation Company, incorporated by statute in 1812 and capitalized at $50,000, superseded several previous organizations and had the right to clear the Neuse River from the head of [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Watson, Alan D. The New River Navigation Company, incorporated by the General Assembly in 1855, superseded several companies whose efforts had been directed mainly at removing an oyster shoal, or obstruction, at the [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by . Part i: North Carolina's First Newspapers, Part ii: Political Affiliations of Nineteenth-Century Newspapers, Part iii: An Expanding Press Champions Economic and Social Progress, Part iv: Changing [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by McKaughan, Joshua. The Nissen Wagon Works, located in Forsyth County, was one of the largest wagon makers in the South during the nineteenth century. In 1834 John Philip Nissen opened a wheelwright shop on Waughtown [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Watson, Alan D. The Catawba River rises in McDowell County and flows through several western counties for approximately 150 miles before entering South Carolina west of Charlotte. Along with the Wateree River, it [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by McKown, Harry W., Jr. On the first of April 1899 the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company opened for business in Durham, North Carolina. The first month’s collections, after the payment of commissions, amounted [...] (from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries.)

by Barfield, Rodney D., Ansley, John F. North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company by Rodney D. Barfield and John F. Ansley, 2006; Revised by SLNC Government and Heritage Library, June 2023 The North Carolina Mutual Life [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Williams, Wiley J. The Nucor Corporation, headquartered in Charlotte, is the second-largest U.S. steel producer after United States Steel LLC (formerly the USX-U.S. Steel Group). Nucor grew out of the Nuclear [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Powell, William S. David Pender, grocer and businessman, was born in Tarboro, the son of Robert W. and Martha Wallace Pender and the nephew of General W. D. Pender. His father was a cotton commission merchant. Educated [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Dough, Wynne. Pepsi-Cola, advertised as the "Taste Born in the Carolinas," is one of many carbonated soft drinks invented in the South between the Civil War and World War I, when the temperance movement, poverty, [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Williams, Wiley J. The Piedmont Wagon Company was founded in 1878 outside of Hickory by George G. Bonniwell, a mechanical engineer, architect, and builder, and A. L. (Andy) Ramseur, operator of a gristmill, an iron [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Brabham, Robin. The Protestant Episcopal Church Publishing Association was founded in Charlotte in 1864 by John Wilkes, a businessman and prominent Episcopal layman. The likely catalyst for the establishment of the [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by McGee, Barry. R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company began as Reynolds Industries, a small tobacco company in what is now Winston-Salem. Twenty-four-year-old Richard Joshua Reynolds moved from Virginia to [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Powell, William S. Racket stores were individually owned and operated retail businesses carrying a large assortment of merchandise not unlike that of a country store or, later, a five-and-dime store. Racket stores [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Williams, Wiley J. In 1915 Paul Howard Rose purchased a stock of merchandise from a failing firm (United Stores) in Henderson and opened a five-and-dime store. With the success of that first store, Rose subsequently [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Williams, Wiley J. The Royal Cake Company, one of the oldest and largest bakeries in the United States, was established in Winston-Salem in 1925 as Easley Cookie Company, with David W. Easley as owner. Gray G. Welch [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Whittenburg, James P. Often intended as an insult, the term "Scotch merchant" referred to men, by no means all of them Scots, who functioned as factors and agents for large mercantile companies headquartered along the [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Walker, Philip A. John Francis Shaffner, Civil War surgeon and leader in civic, business, and medical affairs, was born in Salem, the son of Henry and Lavinia Hauser Shaffner. Baptized and confirmed in the Moravian [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Norris, David A. Shell Castle by David A. Norris, 2006 For about two decades in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the oceangoing trade of most of North Carolina was funneled through one [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Stick, David, Fontenoy, Paul E. Shipbuilding by David Stick and Paul E. Fontenoy, 2006; Revised November 2022. See also: Harkers Island Boats; Ironclads; Liberty Ships; North Carolina Shipbuilding Company (from Tar Heel [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Lewis, Michael H. Silversmithing by Michael H. Lewis, 2006 Silversmithing is usually considered one of the luxury trades, involving the manufacture of silver utensils of a wide variety. These include [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Williams, Wiley J. Benjamin N. and James B. Duke (sons of Washington Duke, the tobacco magnate and prominent philanthropist), along with partners Walker Gill Wylie and William States Lee, incorporated the Southern [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by McGee, David. The Spirit of the Age was a temperance newspaper established in 1849 in Raleigh by Alexander M. Gorman, who earlier had served as the foreman of the Raleigh Register's office. It began as the organ [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Butler, Lindley S. The Spray Water Power and Land Company, established in 1889 by James Turner Morehead, was a hydroelectric power, textile, and land development company that created the Spray industrial complex on the [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Murray, Elizabeth D. R. William Stronach, state capitol stonemason, marble carver, Raleigh businessman, and founder of the family in North Carolina, was born at Stroneveagh (meaning "the place of the Stronachs") in Moray [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Watson, Alan D. The Tar River—rising in Person County and flowing southeast to Beaufort, where it becomes the Pamlico River—first drew legislative attention in 1784, when the General Assembly directed the Pitt, [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Williams, Wiley J. The task system, in which workers were paid not by the hours they worked but by the number and quality of specific tasks they performed, was common in the industrial economy of late [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Powell, William S. Louise Marcellus McPhetridge Thaden, businesswoman and aviatrix, was born in Bentonville, Ark., the daughter of Roy Fry and Edna Hobbs McPhetridge. She attended the University of Arkansas (1921–25), [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Agan, Kelly, Scott, Jordan. The Green Book, also known as The Negro Motorist Green Book, later known as The Negro Traveler’s Green Book in 1952, and finally the Travelers’ Green Book in 1960, was a guide for black travelers [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Agan, Kelly, Scott, Jordan. The early 1930s was the time of the Great Depression, segregation, big bands, and swing. During that decade, Raleigh's East Hargett Street was the economic and social hub for the area's African [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Brown, Joe Exum. Thomas Built Buses, Inc., headquartered in High Point, is one of the largest manufacturers of school and commercial transit buses in North America. Perley A. Thomas, known in the industry as "Mr. [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Williams, Wiley J. Transylvania Company by Wiley J. Williams, 2006 The Transylvania Company was organized as Louisa Company in 1774 to invest in vacant, nonpatented wild lands within the chartered limits of [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Butler, Lindley S. Troublesome Creek Ironworks was originally established as Speedwell Furnace in 1770 in what is now southern Rockingham County by Joseph Buffington, a Quaker ironmaster from Chester County, Pa. Using [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Craton, Lillian E. The University of North Carolina Press is a separately incorporated, not-for-profit publishing company affiliated with the University of North Carolina and located in Chapel Hill. It was founded on [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Yanchisin, D. A. Van Noppen, Charles Leonard by D. A. Yanchisin, 1996 7 Jan. 1869–15 June 1938 Charles Leonard Van Noppen, businessman, publisher, and political reformer, was born at Wemeldinge, Zeeland, [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Anderson, Jean B. By Elizabeth A. Fenn, Peter H. Wood, Harry L. Watson, Thomas H. Clayton, Sydney Nathans, Thomas C. Parramore, and Jean B. Anderson; Maps by Mark Anderson Moore. Edited by Joe A. Mobley. [...] (from The Way We Lived in North Carolina, NC Office of Archives and History and UNC Press.)

by Preyer, Norris W. The Vick Chemical Company began as a small cold remedy company in Greensboro and grew into a diversified Fortune 500 corporation with sales in more than 160 countries around the world. In 1905 [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Hunt, James L. The Virginia Electric & Power Company was organized in 1909 and initially owned and operated electric street railways and streetlights in Richmond, Va. In the 1920s the company expanded its [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Smith, Rosamond C. John Vogler, gunsmith, silversmith, and watchmaker, was the son of George Michael and Anna Maria Kunzel Vogler of Friedland. At age eleven John was left an orphan and lived with his maternal [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Durden, Robert F. Washington Duke returned to his small farm in what was then Orange County as a penniless Confederate veteran in the early summer of 1865. Aided by his three children still at home-Mary E., Benjamin [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Coffin, Alex. Wachovia Corporation by Alex Coffin, 2006; Revised December 2021 The Wachovia Corporation traces its origins to 1866, when the First National Bank of Salem opened, with Israel Lash as [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Bell, Kristina. The Walter J. Klein Company Ltd. was an award-winning advertising agency in Charlotte, N.C. They created over 1000 sponsored films and advertisements over 50 years for various branches of federal and [...] (from NCpedia.)

by Powell, William S. Henry Bulls Watson, professional military officer, was born in Johnston County, the son of Willis and Elizabeth (Betsy) Bulls Watson. Nothing is known of his early education, but on 5 Oct. 1836, more [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Houghton, Jonathan. Robert Henry Winborne Welch, Jr., businessman and founder of the John Birch Society, was born in Chowan County, the son of Robert H. W. and Lina V. James Welch. The first of his paternal ancestors [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Bumgarner, Sheila. The White Furniture Company was organized in Mebane in 1881 by brothers William E. and David A. White, sons of Mebane cofounder Stephen A. White. The factory was incorporated as the White-Rickel [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Bair, Anna Withers. Robert Lynn Williamson, tobacco manufacturer and agriculturist, was born at Sunnyside, the family plantation in the Locust Hill section of Caswell County. He was the oldest son of Thomas Farish, a [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Bair, Anna Withers. Thomas Farish Williamson, early tobacco manufacturer, planter, and church leader, was born at the family plantation, Poplar Grove, in the Stoney Creek Township of Caswell County, the second son of [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Wall, James W. The Yadkin River Navigation Company was chartered in 1818 as part of the internal improvements program of progressive state senator Archibald D. Murphey, who, between 1816 and 1819, proposed [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)