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Whiteville's beginnings date back to 1733 land grants. James B
White, for
whom Whiteville is named, owned over 2000 acres of land which
included a plantation, Marsh Castle. It was originally part of
an 640 acre tract of land inherited by John Burgin and his wife,
Margaret. John Burgin, an attorney, served as secretary to Governor
Arthur Dobbs in 1754 and was treasurer of the colony in 1766.
In the years
following the Revolutionary War, the area became more
populous. For the convenience of these settlers, a new county,
Columbus, was established from Bladen and Brunswick Counties.
The site of Columbus County Courthouse was chosen and given to
Columbus County by James B. White, who became the county's
first state senator. Today's Courthouse Square can be seen on
the original plan of Whiteville.
Later, the
railroad depot was located south of Whiteville at Vineland,
which existed as a separate town until 1926 when it became
part of Whiteville. The Vineland section is still referred to
as "downtown" and old Whiteville as
"uptown".
Soldiers from
Whiteville and Columbus County participated in the major
battles of the Civil War from Manasses to Appomatox. Residents
of Whiteville reported hearing the guns fired at Fort Fisher.
Tales of looting and destruction, by marauders from Sherman's
army, have been handed down for years.
As the South
slowly rebuilt after the Civil War, so did Columbus
County and Whiteville. Better roads and communications in the
early decades of the 20th century changed Whiteville from an
agricultural community to a growing town. Population increased
over 30% from 1920 to 1930.
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