Editing Albemarle, North Carolina (section)

==History==

===Etymology===
This place-name is derived from the English surname [[Albemarle (disambiguation)|Albemarle]]. According to a 1905 publication by the United States Geologic Survey, based on research by University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill history professor [[Kemp P. Battle]], it was named specifically for [[George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle|General George Monck]], the first Duke of Albemarle and one of the original [[Lord proprietor|proprietors]] of the colony of Carolina, which included the town.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/0258/report.pdf|title=The Origin of Certain Places|last=Gannett|publisher=United States Geological Survey|year=1905|location=Washington DC|pages=19}}</ref>

===Ancient and colonial===
The site of modern-day Albemarle was originally peopled by small tribes of [[hunter-gatherers]] and [[Mound builder (people)|mound builders]] whose artifacts and settlements have been dated back nearly 10,000 years. Large-scale European settlement of the region came in the mid-18th century via two primary waves: immigrants of Dutch, Scots-Irish and German descent moved from [[Pennsylvania]] and [[New Jersey]] seeking enhanced religious and political tolerance, while immigrants of English backgrounds came to the region from [[Virginia]] and the [[Cape Fear River]] Basin in Eastern [[North Carolina]].

In early English colonial times, the Albemarle area was politically part of the [[New Hanover County, North Carolina|New Hanover Precinct]], out of which the [[Bladen County, North Carolina|Bladen Precinct]] was created in 1734. The renamed [[Bladen County, North Carolina|Bladen County]] was subdivided to create [[Anson County, North Carolina|Anson County]] in 1750, which in turn spawned [[Montgomery County, North Carolina|Montgomery County]] in 1779.

===Establishment of Stanly County and Albemarle===
[[File:Albemarle, North Carolina (c. 1915).jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Albemarle, circa 1915]]
[[File:Stanly County Courthouse, North Carolina.jpg|thumb|right|Stanly County Courthouse]]
[[File:Albemarle City Hall, North Carolina.jpg|thumb|right|Albemarle City Hall]]
The Albemarle region's first post office was established in 1826; it was then known as Smith's Store. The nearby crossroads of the Old Turnpike Road from [[Fayetteville, North Carolina|Fayetteville]] to [[Salisbury, North Carolina|Salisbury]] and the Old Stage Road connecting [[Charlotte, North Carolina|Charlotte]] and [[Raleigh, North Carolina|Raleigh]] emerged as an important hub for regional commerce and trade. The region remained part of [[Montgomery County, North Carolina|Montgomery County]] until 1841, when after years of attempted separation, prominent residents of the increasingly populous areas west of the [[Yadkin River|Yadkin]]/[[Pee Dee River]] system successfully petitioned the North Carolina General Assembly for the establishment of [[Stanly County, North Carolina|Stanly County]] as an independent entity.  	 
			
Soon after the new county was formed, its Board of Commissioners was tasked with establishing a permanent county seat within {{convert|8|mi|km|spell=in}} of the home of Eben Hearne (the county's first sheriff), and with laying out a new town, in which a courthouse would be erected.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stanlysheriff.org/history02.htm |title=Stanly Sheriff |access-date=April 8, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050205232426/http://stanlysheriff.org/history02.htm |archive-date=February 5, 2005 }}</ref> Nehemiah Hearne's heirs donated {{convert|51|acre|m2}} from his plantation near the intersection of the Old Turnpike and Old Stage Roads for the construction of the new County Seat. The County Commissioners established the town's boundaries, laid out streets and surveyed and marked parcels of property within Hearne's donated land. The first land lot sale financed the new town's public buildings and paid some part of the elected officials' salaries. The courthouse was erected in 1842 and used for 50 years. The City of Albemarle was formally incorporated in 1857. The town was named for Albemarle County, the first county established in North Carolina, which was in turn named for the Duke of Albemarle, [[George Monck]], one of the [[Lords Proprietors]] granted the province of Carolina in 1663 by [[Charles II of England|King Charles II]].

===Economic history===
The Albemarle region's early economic growth was fueled by agriculture (with cotton as the primary crop), regional mercantile trade and a short-lived gold rush in the nearby [[Uwharrie Mountains]], all later supplanted by textile manufacturing. The Efird Manufacturing Co. (later American and Efird Mills) opened its first mill in Albemarle in 1896, and was followed soon thereafter by the Wiscasset Mill Company, the Cannon Mill Company, the Lillian Knitting Mill and others. In 1899, Wiscassett Mills Company established Cabarrus Bank and Trust, the first bank in Albemarle. By 1910, an electrical distribution plan for the city was underway.

The Yadkin Railroad began rail service to Albemarle from [[Salisbury, North Carolina|Salisbury]] in 1891. In 1911, the Winston-Salem Southbound Railway (WSS) constructed its own line through Albemarle to support the booming textile and market, eventually driving the Yadkin Railroad into obsolescence.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ncrailways.net/companies/WSS.htm |title=Winston-Salem Southbound Railway |access-date=March 20, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060713073231/http://www.ncrailways.net/companies/WSS.htm |archive-date=July 13, 2006 }}</ref> The WSS still provides freight service through Albemarle, but since 1933 there has been no passenger service to the city. The Old Market Street Station on the WSS line has been restored, and is now the site of a popular farmer's market. The railbed of the Yadkin Railroad has been ripped up and paved over, though a one-mile (1.6&nbsp;km) segment of its route south of Albemarle now serves as a hiking trail in Rock Creek Park.

In 1923, a state contract was let to construct [[North Carolina State Highway 24|NC-24/27]] to [[Charlotte, North Carolina|Charlotte]], the first paved highway out of Albemarle. In 1950, Stanly County Memorial Hospital opened on land donated by Wiscassett Mills.

Albemarle got its first indoor shopping center in 1966, known as [[Quenby Mall]], and would later be converted to house governmental services in 1993.

In 2024, a new cryptocurrency was developed in Albemarle as part of a fundraiser to save the local restaurant "Jay's Seafood", which had been damaged in a fire.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Erage |first=Lev |date=7 March 2024 |title=New cryptocurrency developed in Albemarle, NC |url=https://x.com/levlevleverage/status/1765528673531146429 }}</ref>

===Historic preservation===
[[File:Snuggs_house.jpg|thumb|right|Historic Snuggs House]]
[[File:Albemarle, North Carolina Downtown Historic District.jpg|thumb|right|Looking down West Main Street, Albemarle Downtown Historic District]]
Albemarle was recognized by the [[National Trust for Historic Preservation]] as a National Main Street City in 1993. There are a number of historic preservation and [[adaptive reuse]] projects in its downtown that have been recently completed or are underway, including an initiative to create a greenway linking many of the city's parks and historic sites. The Freeman-Marks House, probably built during the 1820s, is the oldest known surviving house in Albemarle. It is listed in the [[National Register of Historic Places]], along with the [[Romanesque Revival]] Opera House/Starnes Jewelers Building (1908)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.albemarleoperahouse.com|title=Albemarle Opera House|website=www.albemarleoperahouse.com|access-date=April 5, 2018}}</ref> and three small historic districts in the city's downtown area. Another important historic property is the Isaiah W. "Buck" Snuggs House, an antebellum home on Third Street then owned and now named for a Stanly County sheriff who lost his leg in the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] [[Battle of Spotsylvania Court House]]. The Stanly County Museum<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stanlycountymuseum.com/|title=Stanly County Museum|website=www.stanlycountymuseum.com|access-date=April 5, 2018}}</ref> in Albemarle provides a focal point for regional historic research and preservation.

The Albemarle Graded School-Central Elementary School, [[Thomas Marcellus Denning House]], [[Downtown Albemarle Historic District]], [[Five Points Historic District (Albemarle, North Carolina)|Five Points Historic District]], [[Opera House-Starnes Jewelers Building]], [[Pee Dee Avenue Historic District]], [[Second Street Historic District (Albemarle, North Carolina)|Second Street Historic District]], and [[Isaiah Wilson Snugs House]] are listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref><ref name="nps">{{cite web|url=http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/listings/20110204.htm|title=National Register of Historic Places Listings|date=February 4, 2011|work=Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 1/24/11 through 1/28/11|publisher=National Park Service}}</ref>