Lee
County History
Established in 1907 from
portions of Moore and Chatham Counties, Lee County, named for
CSA hero, Robert E. Lee, is North Carolina's 98 th county.
Situated in the geographic center of the Tar Heel State, it teeters
on the fall line dividing the Piedmont and the Coastal Plain.
The city of Sanford, named in honor of railroad engineer Col.
Charles Ogburn Sanford, is the county seat. Traces of Native American
settlement of the area need yet to be fully studied and researched,
but the European (predominantly Highland Scots) and African presence
began in the 1740's and 1750's. The Presbyterian faithful
were the largest religious group with Quaker, Baptist and Methodist
churches developing later.
The early economy centered
on agriculture, naval stores, and an iron works. Transporting,
in the early days, was accomplished over unpaved roads and waterways,
the Cape Fear and Deep Rivers. The Revolutionary and Civil Wars,
and the Antebellum and Reconstruction periods properly belong
to the histories of Moore and Chatham counties. Extensive
materials on these subjects can be found in the Lee County Library.
Just prior to the Civil
War in about 1853, the first commercial exploration of the area's
coal veins was begun in the community of Egypt (now Cumnock).
During the war, the coal was transported to Fayetteville on the
Western Railroad, which had been built by slaves and immigrant
Irish laborers. Once in Fayetteville, the coal was taken
by boat on the Cape Fear River to the port of Wilmington.
The Western Railroad extended to the town of Jonesboro, names
after Col. Leonidas Campbell Jones.
After the war, the Raleigh
and Augusta Air Line Railroad built southward and crossed the
Western Railroad tracks. At this junction and passenger
point, the rail-born village of Sanford grew. The city was
incorporated in Moore County in 1874, and its population in 1880
was 236 persons. The County of Lee was formed through a bill passed
by the General Assembly in 1907 for the usual reason. Wagon
and buggy travel through the sands from Sanford to Carthage, the
county seat of Moore, was too laborious and time consuming for
the busy people of the railway junction. A new county with a convenient
governmental seat needed to be formed. This was given overwhelming
approval by a vote of area residents. Sanford's population
in 1910 totaled 2,262 persons.
After 1907, with an excellent
railroad and a new county government, Lee County began a period
of much more rapid growth. The economy flourished with new
industries including tobacco harvesting, brownstone quarrying,
furniture making, brick works and later textiles. By 1930 the
county population numbered 13,400 people. After World War II,
in 1947, the cities of Sanford and Jonesboro merged. The
1950 census of the city counted 10,013 residents while the population
of Lee County was 23,522 persons. The economic development of
Lee County has taken great strides in recent years. From
an agriculture base the county has expanded into a multi-product
economy giving it stability while avoiding seasonal fluctuations
characteristic of North Carolina's rural counties. These
products include: water pumps, hosiery, food products, automotive
components and cosmetics.
Population has increased
as Lee County has grown and developed. This increase in
county residents has been due both to natural increase and the
addition of out of state citizens relocating due to employment
opportunities and retirement living. Schools, a first rate Community
College, a modern public library system, civic and literary clubs,
theatres, golf courses and other amusements support a lively cultural
and civic life among county residents. Not only does Lee County
produce a variety of products, its population, with the influx
of residents, has taken a cosmopolitan due. Significant
numbers of Hispanic people have recently settled in the area,
reflecting its economic opportunities as well as its favorable
living conditions. County population figures for 1998 suggest
more than 48,000 citizens. 2000 U.S. Census figures indicate
a population of 50,000.
The history of Lee County
has been one of steady growth on a reasonable scale amenable to
good development. Lee County government continues to address
the present needs of its citizens, but also, in the light of its
history, Lee County looks ahead to future prosperity and growth.
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