Editing Burlington, North Carolina (section)

==History==
[[File:Main between Davis and Maple, Burlington.jpg|thumb|Buildings along Main Street]]
[[File:Burlington Post Office.jpg|thumb|Burlington Post Office]]
[[File:May Hosiery Mills Knitting Mill.jpg|thumb|May Hosiery Mills Knitting Mill]]
[[File:2008-08-22 Abandoned City Auto Sales in Burlington.jpg|thumb|Abandoned City Auto Sales]]
Alamance County was created when [[Orange County, North Carolina|Orange County]] was partitioned in 1849. Early settlers included several groups of [[Quakers]], many of which remain active in the [[Snow Camp, North Carolina|Snow Camp]] area, German farmers, and [[Scotch-Irish Americans|Scots-Irish]] immigrants.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mazzocchi |first=Jay |year=2006 |editor-last=Powell |editor-first=William S. |title=Alamance County |url=https://www.ncpedia.org/geography/alamance |access-date=August 11, 2023 |website=NCpedia |publisher=University of North Carolina Press}}</ref>

The need of the [[North Carolina Railroad]] in the 1850s to locate land where they could build, repair and do maintenance on its track was the genesis of Burlington, North Carolina. The company selected a piece of land slightly west of present-day [[Graham, North Carolina|Graham]]. On January 29, 1856, the last spikes were driven into the final tie of the North Carolina Railroad project, uniting the cities of [[Goldsboro, North Carolina|Goldsboro]] and [[Charlotte, North Carolina|Charlotte]] by rail. The next day, the first locomotive passed along the new route. When the iron horse arrived in Alamance County, locals referred to it as "the eighth wonder of the world".<ref>{{Cite web |date=1978 |title=National Register Of Historic Places Inventory -- Nomination Form |url=https://files.nc.gov/ncdcr/nr/AM0009.pdf |access-date=August 10, 2023 |website=files.nc.gov}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

Not long after this historic opening, the railroad realized a pressing need for repair shops. With Alamance County's position along the new line, it became the logical choice for the shops' location. After several debates concerning where the shops would be located, Gen. Benjamin Trollinger, a progressive Alamance County manufacturer, made an offer that settled the matter. Gen. Trollinger owned land just northwest of Graham, and he convinced several other prominent citizens owning adjacent lots to join him and sell their property to the railroad.<ref name=":0" /> 57 buildings were constructed between 1855 and 1859, including structures for engine and machine shops, carpentry, blacksmithing, houses for workers and railway officials, and company headquarters. For a brief period, railroad directors changed the name of official name of "'''Company Shops'''" to "'''Vance'''" (1863&ndash;1864), the village returned to the "Company Shops" moniker in July 1864. During the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], Company Shops remained a small village without many public utilities/services like churches or schools. It was only until 1863 that company stockholders approved city street layouts and the sale of private property in the village. Though, properties used for commercial purposes still had to be leased by the company and couldn't be bought. In 1866, the village was officially incorporated as "Company Shops."<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Troxler |first=George W. |year=2006 |editor-last=Powell |editor-first=William S. |title=Company Shops |url=https://www.ncpedia.org/company-shops |access-date=August 10, 2023 |website=NCPedia |publisher=University of North Carolina Press}}</ref>

Through a series of leases and mergers, the railroad was leased to [[Richmond and Danville Railroad|Richmond & Danville Railroad]] (1871), working as part of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and in 1893, the North Carolina Railroad was folded into the Southern Railway system. Following the leasing of the railroad to Richmond & Danville, many of the railroad jobs transferred to Richmond and Manchester. With the railroad shops no longer operated there, the citizens of Company Shops decided a new name was needed.  In February 1887,<ref name=":0" /> a contest was held to decide a name, and one person submitted the name "Burlington" after seeing it on a passing train.<ref name="Namesake">{{cite news|url=https://myfox8.com/roys-folks/couple-put-their-heart-into-downtown-burlington/|title=Couple put their heart into downtown Burlington|last=Tucker|first=Chad|work=[[WGHP]]|date=February 17, 2022|access-date=February 28, 2022}}</ref> An appointed committee for the town selected the name, and the name was officially changed through North Carolina State Legislature.<ref name=":0" />

Around the turn of the century, Edwin M. Holt established small textile operations along the [[Haw River]] and Great Alamance Creek. In 1908, Edwin M. Holt built the first [[cotton mill]] in the South. From the establishment of this single factory, Alamance County grew to eventually operate 30 cotton mills and 10 to 15 yarn manufacturing plants employing 15,000 people.<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 3, 2019 |title=The Alamance Cotton Mill |url=https://www.ncpedia.org/anchor/alamance-cotton-mill |access-date=August 11, 2023 |website=NCpedia}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Glass |first1=Brent D. |last2=McGrath |first2=Eileen |year=2006 |editor-last=Powell |editor-first=William S. |title=Alamance Mills |url=https://www.ncpedia.org/alamance-mills |access-date=August 11, 2023 |website=NCpedia |publisher=University of North Carolina Press}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1965 |title=Marker: G-82 |url=http://www.ncmarkers.com/Markers.aspx?MarkerId=G-82 |access-date=August 11, 2023 |website=www.ncmarkers.com}}</ref> Eventually, the early textile venture of Edwin M. Holt became known all over the world as [[Burlington Industries]], and is now headquartered in nearby [[Greensboro, North Carolina|Greensboro]]. Throughout this period, Burlington became a prosperous and vibrant little city filled with schools, churches, newspapers, telegraph and telephone lines, roads and a streetcar line{{emdash}}all in keeping with the latest "modern progress" of the times.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Troxler |first=George W. |year=2006 |editor-last=Powell |editor-first=William S. |title=Burlington Industries |url=https://www.ncpedia.org/burlington-industries |access-date=August 11, 2023 |website=NCpedia |publisher=University of North Carolina Press}}</ref>

Though textiles continued to dominate the local economy well into the 1970s, the people of Burlington knew they could not survive with only one industry. The country's involvement in World War II brought important local economic changes. In 1942, the federal government purchased and leased a {{convert|22|acre|adj=on}} site to [[Fairchild Aircraft|Fairchild Aircraft Corporation]] for the construction of test aircraft. After two years of production, the site was leased to [[Firestone Tire Company]] for the Army's tank rebuilding program. At the close of the war, the federal government chose not to leave, but to utilize the property for government contract business. This decision would bring [[Western Electric]] to town along with new employees from around the country. Their contracts ensured Burlington's participation during the [[Cold War]] manufacturing and testing of emerging defense technologies. Four decades later (1991), however, [[Western Electric]] (then AT&T Federal Systems Division) permanently closed.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Pletcher |first=Kenneth |last2=Young |first2=Grace |date=July 20, 1998 |title=Burlington |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Burlington-North-Carolina |access-date=August 11, 2023 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=City History |url=https://www.burlingtonnc.gov/62/City-History |access-date=August 11, 2023 |website=www.burlingtonnc.gov}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Downtown Burlington |url=https://www.burlingtonnc.gov/655/Downtown-Burlington |access-date=August 11, 2023 |website=www.burlingtonnc.gov}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |date=June 16, 2022 |title=Burlington Local Historic Overlay Design Standards |url=https://www.burlingtonnc.gov/DocumentCenter/View/23098/Att-1---Local-Historic-District-Standards-Update-draft |access-date=August 11, 2023 |website=www.burlingtonnc.gov}}</ref>

During this century-and-a-half of economic change, Burlington grew, adapted and prospered. Originally the center of commerce for Company Shops, the downtown area still serves as the heart of today's community with financial services, government services, an expanded library, small shops, eateries and a restored theater. Downtown has also returned to its status as a major employment center, becoming the home to [[Labcorp|Laboratory Corporation of America]], one of the world's largest biomedical testing firms and Burlington/Alamance County's largest employer.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" />

The [[Alamance Hotel]], [[Allen House (Burlington, North Carolina)|Allen House]], [[Atlantic Bank and Trust Company Building]], [[Beverly Hills Historic District]], [[Downtown Burlington Historic District]], [[East Davis Street Historic District]], [[Efird Building]], [[First Baptist Church (Burlington, North Carolina)|First Baptist Church]], [[First Christian Church of Burlington]], [[Polly Fogleman House]], [[Holt-Frost House]], [[Horner Houses]], [[Lakeside Mills Historic District]], [[McCray School]], [[Menagerie Carousel]], [[Moore-Holt-White House]], [[South Broad-East Fifth Streets Historic District]], [[Southern Railway Passenger Station (Burlington, North Carolina)|Southern Railway Passenger Station]], [[St. Athanasius Episcopal Church and Parish House and the Church of the Holy Comforter]], [[Stagg House]], [[Sunny Side (Burlington, North Carolina)|Sunny Side]], [[United States Post Office (Burlington, North Carolina)|US Post Office]], [[West Davis Street-Fountain Place Historic District]], and [[Windsor Cotton Mills Office]] are listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>