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Richmond County, North Carolina
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==History== === Early history === The earliest inhabitants of the land eventually comprising Richmond County were [[Cheraw]] Native Americans.<ref name= Mazzocchi/> The first European settlers in the area were Scottish Highlanders, who traveled up the [[Cape Fear River]] valley to find farmland. English settlers initially arrived in the northwestern section of the eventual county after traveling down the [[Pee Dee River]] and gradually became the dominant European-descent group in the area.{{sfn|Sharpe|1953|pp=4β5}} Many early settlers reared cattle.{{sfn|Sharpe|1953|p=5}} Politically, the area was first organized as a portion of [[Bladen County, North Carolina|Bladen County]] and then eventually [[Anson County, North Carolina|Anson County]].<ref name= whitlock/> === Creation and Antebellum period === Richmond County was formed in 1779 from a portion of Anson in order to reduce the amount of travel needed by residents to reach a county courthouse.{{sfn|Sykes|2010|p=8}} It was named for [[Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond and Lennox]] who was an Englishman and a member of the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom]] who sided with the colonists in America during the [[American Revolution]].<ref name= mcknightprofile>{{cite news| last = McKnight| first = Bonnie| title = 100 County Countdown: Richmond County| newspaper = The Herald-Sun| page = A10| date = March 22, 2005| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114985944/richmond-county-profile/}}</ref> The county seat was established at Richmond Court House, which was renamed [[Rockingham, North Carolina|Rockingham]] in 1785 in homage to [[Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham]], a British politician who had friendly relations with the Americans.<ref name= Mazzocchi>{{cite web| url = https://www.ncpedia.org/geography/richmond| title = Richmond County| last = Mazzocchi| first = Jay| date = 2006| website = NCPedia| publisher = North Carolina Government & Heritage Library| access-date = December 22, 2022}}</ref> During the [[American Revolutionary War]], Richmond was afflicted by numerous [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Loyalist]] raids. By 1790, the county had 5,885 residents, with 583 of them being slaves.{{sfn|Sharpe|1953|p=5}} Following the war, area farmers moved away from cattle switched to growing corn, oats, indigo, and cotton.{{sfn|Sharpe|1953|p=5}}{{sfn|Sykes|2010|p=8}} In 1837, the county's first textile mill, Richmond Manufacturing Company, was built. A growth in cotton production, concentrated in the western portion of the county, led the enslaved population to increase to the point where they made up half of local residents.{{sfn|Sharpe|1953|p=5}} Around 1850 the largely unused Sandhills region in the eastern section of the county began to be exploited by the [[naval stores]] industry, particularly for the harvest of [[turpentine]] from [[longleaf pines]].{{sfn|Sharpe|1953|p=22}} Railway service was introduced in Richmond in 1861.{{sfn|Sykes|2010|p=8}} === Civil War and Reconstruction era === [[File:Old Greatfall Mill, built in 1869, Rockingham, N. C. (5812053580).jpg|thumb|left|The Great Falls Cotton Mill was built in 1869.]] During the [[American Civil War]], Richmond County had troops serve in various units of the [[Confederate States Army]], including the Pee Dee Guards, Scotch Boys, and the Harrington Light Artillery.{{sfn|Sharpe|1953|pp=5, 22}} Federal troops under General [[William Tecumseh Sherman]] entered Richmond County in March 1865. Confederate troops fled, and the federal forces sabotaged local industry before moving north.<ref name= Ruffin>{{cite news| last = Ruffin| first = Jane| title = Tragedy in Hamlet : End of the Line: Dreams of Better Days| newspaper = The News & Observer| pages = 1A, 6Aβ8A| edition = final| date = December 9, 1991| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/115037681/end-of-the-line-tragedy-in-hamlet/}}</ref><ref name= whitlock>{{cite news| last = Whitlock| first = P. C.| title = Historical Sketch of the County of Richmond| newspaper = The Charlotte Observer| page = 21| date = September 7, 1924| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/115311771/historical-sketch-of-the-county-of/}}</ref> The Richmond Manufacturing Company mill, having been burned, was rebuilt as the Great Falls Mill in 1869. That year rail service was extended to Rockingham. A second cotton mill was built in 1876 and rapidly followed by more textile plants.{{sfn|Sharpe|1953|pp=5, 22}} Cotton production increased after the war and remained a significant crop in the county until the mid-1900s.{{sfn|Sykes|2010|p=8}} Farmers also began diversifying their crops, with tobacco and peach trees growing in popularity, with peach orchards being concentrated in the [[Sandhills (Carolina)|Sandhills]].{{sfn|Sharpe|1953|p=22}} By the late 1800s, Richmond County had a majority black population and tended to support the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] in elections, while the state of North Carolina was dominated by the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]]. In response to this, white Democrats built up a political base in [[Laurinburg, North Carolina|Laurinburg]].<ref name="elder">{{cite news| last = Elder| first = Renee| title = Black residents in a small NC town say their community is neglected. What happens now?| newspaper = Border Belt Independent| date = August 13, 2021| url = https://borderbelt.org/black-residents-in-a-small-nc-town-say-their-community-is-neglected-what-happens-now/| access-date = July 21, 2022}}</ref> During the state legislative elections of 1898, Democrats organized intensely in the area to unseat the [[Fusionism in North Carolina|Fusionist coalition]] of [[North Carolina Republican Party|state Republicans]] and [[People's Party (United States)|Populists]], including the deployment of paramilitary [[Red Shirts (United States)|Red Shirts]] in Laurinburg to intimidate blacks and other opponents at the polls.{{sfn|Covington|Ellis|1999|p=3}} Democrats regained a majority in the General Assembly. In tribute to the efforts of Democrats in Laurinburg, on February 20, 1899, the assembly split off the town and the surrounding area from Richmond County and created the new [[Scotland County, North Carolina|Scotland County]],{{sfn|Covington|Ellis|1999|p=4}}{{sfn|Stewart|Stewart|2001|p=8}} which began operating as an effective unit of government in December the following year.{{sfn|Marks|2021|p=57}} === Development === [[File:Hamlet, North Carolina in February 1912.jpg|thumb|[[Hamlet, North Carolina|Hamlet]] (pictured in 1912) developed as a railway town in the early 1900s.]] At the turn of the century, Richmond County's economy revolved around agriculture and textile mills in Rockingham. In the early 1900s, [[Hamlet, North Carolina|Hamlet]] grew as a center for the [[Seaboard Air Line Railroad]], which had five lines cross through the town. The railway created numerous jobs and, in conjunction with the establishment of [[Blewett Falls Lake|Blewett Falls Dam]] and its hydroelectric power, facilitated the expansion of the textile industry.{{sfn|Massengill|Vallance|2005|p=7}} By the end of [[World War II]], Richmond County hosted ten textile mills which employed as many as 15,000 people.{{sfn|Simon|2020|p=32}} Through the 1940s, most of the independent mills were acquired by larger outside corporations and many began producing non-cotton fabrics, facilitating a local decline in cotton production.{{sfn|Sharpe|1953|p=23}} Seaboard established an $11 million [[classification yard]], the first one in the [[Southeastern United States]], about one mile north of Hamlet in 1954.{{sfn|Simon|2020|p=18}}<ref>{{cite news| title = Classification Freight Yard of Seaboard Opens| newspaper = The Pilot| page = 24| date = December 3, 1954| url = https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92073968/1954-12-03/ed-1/seq-24/}}</ref> In 1968 the county, Rockingham, and Hamlet school systems merged.<ref name= Ruffin/> === Economic decline === Hamlet's economic situation came under strain beginning in the 1960s, as the railroad faced increasing competition from growing road networks, [[trucking]], and air travel. Seaboard acquired smaller competitors and consolidated its operations, moving workers out of the area. It also froze wages, terminated some positions, and reduced passenger services, diminishing the number of outside visitors. Seaboard became [[CSX Transportation]] in 1986.{{sfn|Simon|2020|pp=26β27}} Foreign competition and increasing automation led the county textile industry to cut jobs, and by the 1970s mills in Richmond only retained about 5,000 workers. Declines in textile employment continued through the 1980s and 1990s.{{sfn|Simon|2020|pp=32β33}} In 1986, the county's single largest manufacturing employer, [[Clark Equipment Company]], closed its plant in Rockingham. Many of the remaining available manufacturing jobs required [[skilled labor]] which the county lacked.<ref name= Ruffin/> The traditional railroad and manufacturing jobs were supplanted by menial service positions and work in [[food processing]] plants,{{sfn|Simon|2020|p=33}} while local small businesses were displaced by national retail chains.{{sfn|Simon|2020|p=28}} [[File:Imperial foods - plant front and side.jpg|thumb|left|[[Hamlet chicken processing plant fire|A 1991 fire]] at the Imperial Food Products plant (pictured) in Hamlet led to 25 deaths and a record fine from state regulators.]] In 1986, the [[Southeast Interstate Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Compact]] voted to build a [[low-level radioactive waste]] disposal site in North Carolina.<ref name= pilcher>{{cite news| last = Pilcher| first = James| title = N.C. fined by nuclear waste group| newspaper = The Charlotte Observer| agency = Associated Press| page = 10C| date = December 10, 1999| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/115244643/the-charlotte-observer/}}</ref> In November 1989, Chem-Nuclear Systems, the contractor in charge of constructing the disposal facility, announced a prospective Richmond County site for the nuclear waste. Local residents promptly formed For Richmond County Environment (FORRCE) to lobby against the site.{{sfn|Sherman|2012|p=87}} The group attracted wide grassroots support across Richmond, including significant backing from both white and black communities and both of the county's major municipalities, Hamlet and Rockingham.{{sfn|Sherman|2012|pp=88β89}} FORRCE conducted an opposition [[petition]] drive and obtained 26,756 signatures, over 60 percent of the county's total population.{{sfn|Sherman|2012|p=87}} Under significant political pressure, local officials denounced the site,{{sfn|Sherman|2012|pp=92β93}} and 1,200 residents traveled to [[Raleigh, North Carolina|Raleigh]] to deliver the FORRCE petition to the governor.{{sfn|Sherman|2012|p=94}} In 1993, a state panel voted to move the site to [[Wake County, North Carolina|Wake County]], but listed the Richmond location as its second choice.<ref>{{cite news| last = Patterson| first = Dennis| title = Wake Site Picked As Regional Waste Bin| newspaper = News & Record| agency = Associated Press| date = December 8, 1993| url = https://greensboro.com/wake-site-picked-as-regional-waste-bin/article_936f0ddc-f335-5609-ac76-fea1773d6f3f.html| access-date = December 27, 2022}}</ref> The project was later abandoned under scrutiny from state regulators.<ref name= pilcher/> On September 3, 1991, [[Hamlet chicken processing plant fire|a fire]] broke at the Imperial Food Products plant in Hamlet. Many exits at the plant were locked in violation of fire codes, and 24 workers and one visiting delivery driver died in the conflagration. Emmett J. Roe, the plant owner, was sentenced to 19 years in prison for the [[involuntary manslaughter]].<ref>{{cite web| last = Mims| first = Bryan| title = '30 years in anguish.' Survivor reflects on horrors of Hamlet industrial plant fire| website = WRAL-TV|publisher=Capitol Broadcasting Company| date = September 3, 2021| url = https://www.wral.com/30-years-in-anguish-survivor-reflects-on-horrors-of-hamlet-industrial-plant-fire/19857356/| access-date = May 6, 2022}}</ref> State authorities imposed a record fine upon the company for the violations and the incident brought negative national attention to the town.<ref name= quillen>{{cite news| last = Quillen| first = Martha| title = Hamlet fire defines and divides a town| newspaper = The News & Observer| date = September 4, 2011|url=https://www.newsobserver.com/2011/09/04/1459661/hamlet-fire-defines-and-divides.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130715154824/http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/09/04/1459661/hamlet-fire-defines-and-divides.html|archive-date=July 15, 2013|access-date=March 26, 2022}}</ref> National declines in textiles through the 1990s and into the early 2000s further strained the county's economy;<ref name= mims1>{{cite news| last = Mims| first = Bryan| title = Town square: Rocky road| newspaper = Business North Carolina| date = February 21, 2017| url = https://businessnc.com/town-square-rocky-road/| access-date = December 24, 2022}}</ref> from 1993 to 2005, the county suffered nine textile mill closures and the loss of 1,730 mill jobs.<ref>{{cite news| last = Nesbitt| first = Jim| title = Workers cool to trade pact| newspaper = The News & Observer| pages = 1A, 20A| date = July 15, 2005| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/115240826/cafta-richmond-county-part-2/}}</ref> Unemployment rates worsened after the [[Great Recession]] commenced in December 2007.<ref name= dunn>{{cite news| last = Dunn| first = Andrew| title = Economy rules in rural N.C.| newspaper = The Charlotte Observer| pages = 1A, 8A| date = October 27, 2012| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/115696509/the-charlotte-observer/}}</ref>
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