Editing St. Pauls, North Carolina (section)

==History==
The town of St. Pauls was built up around St. Pauls [[Presbyterian Church]], which was built on land donated in 1799 by William Davis. St. Pauls grew slowly from a town of just the church, Davis' home, a post office and a [[livery stable]]. The livery was built at the 16-mile post on the [[Fayetteville, North Carolina|Fayetteville]] to [[Lumberton, North Carolina|Lumberton]] [[stage coach]] road. Growth began in earnest following the construction of the Robeson Institute, a co-educational school that served the children of northern Robeson County.<ref name="stpaulshistory">{{cite web | url = http://www.stpauls.gov/history.htm | title = History | accessdate = December 16, 2007 | publisher = Town of St. Pauls}}</ref>

The construction of the [[Virginia and Carolina Southern Railroad|Virginia and Carolina Southern Railway]] through St. Pauls helped establish the community as a leading producer of [[textile industry|textiles]]. Three [[cotton mill]]s were constructed in the early part of the 20th century. The mills experienced periods of success and failure before coming under the control of the [[Burlington Industries|Burlington Mills Corporation]] in 1943.<ref name="stpaulshistory"/> The mills provided significant tax revenue to the town, at one point enabling it to supply free water, sewer, and trash services to residents.{{sfn|Quinterno|2006|p=7}} Nearly all the mills closed in the 1990s as the textile industry moved from the American South to Latin America and Southeast Asia.<ref name="stpaulshistory"/> The closure of two yarn plants in 2001 led to the loss of over 500 jobs.{{sfn|Quinterno|2006|p=7}} In the 2000s the job market in the town stagnated, experiencing only minimal growth from the commercial sector developed near [[Interstate 95]]. In the 2010s the town secured multiple large corporate investments and relocations.<ref>{{cite news| title = St. Pauls finds itself in right spot| newspaper = The Robesonian | date = October 28, 2017| url = https://www.robesonian.com/news/104211/st-pauls-finds-itself-in-right-spot| access-date = July 21, 2022}}</ref>

The [[Gilmore-Patterson Farm]] and [[Kenneth McKinnon House]] are listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>