Editing Greensboro, North Carolina (section)

===Early history===
Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the inhabitants of the area that became Greensboro were the Saura, a [[Siouan languages|Siouan]]-speaking people.<ref name="Arnett1955">{{cite book| first1=Ethel Stephens| last1=Arnett| title=Greensboro, North Carolina: The County Seat of Guilford |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qEATAAAAYAAJ |access-date=January 9, 2017| year=1955| publisher=University of North Carolina Press}}</ref>{{rp|7}} Other indigenous cultures had occupied this area for thousands of years, typically settling along the waterways, as did the early settlers.

[[Quaker]] migrants from Pennsylvania, by way of [[Maryland]], arrived at Capefair (now Greensboro) in about 1750. The new settlers began organized religious services affiliated with the [[Cane Creek Friends Meeting]] in [[Snow Camp, North Carolina|Snow Camp]] in 1751.<ref name=Hinshaw>{{cite book| last1=Hinshaw| first1=William Wade| last2=(Marshall| first2=Thomas Worth, compiler)| title=Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy, vol. 1| year=1991| publisher=Genealogical Publishing Co.| location=[[Baltimore]]| isbn=0806301783| pages=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofam00gene/page/487 487–488]| chapter=New Garden Monthly Meeting, Guilford County, NC| chapter-url-access=registration| chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofam00gene/page/487}}</ref> Three years later, 40 Quaker families were granted approval to establish New Garden Monthly Meeting.<ref name=Hinshaw /> The action is recorded in the minutes of the [[Perquimans County|Perquimans]] and Little River Quarterly Meeting on May 25, 1754: "To Friends at New Garden in Capefair", signed by Joseph Ratliff.<ref name=NCG>{{cite web| title=Quaker Meetings: Meetings in and Near Guilford County – Center Monthly Meeting| url=http://ncgenweb.us/nc/guilford/quaker-meetings/| work=Guilford County, NCGenWeb| publisher=NCGenWeb| access-date=January 9, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816233251/http://ncgenweb.us/nc/guilford/quaker-meetings/| archive-date=August 16, 2016| url-status=dead}}</ref> The settlement grew rapidly over the next three years, adding members from as far away as [[Nantucket]], Massachusetts.<ref name=Hinshaw /> It soon became North Carolina's most important Quaker community and the mother of several other Quaker meetings established in the state and west of the [[Appalachian Mountains|Appalachians]].<ref name=Hinshaw />

After the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]], the city of Greensboro was named for Major General [[Nathanael Greene]], commander of the rebel American forces at the [[Battle of Guilford Court House]] on March 15, 1781.<ref name="Arnett1955"/>{{rp|20}} Although the Americans lost the battle, Greene's forces inflicted heavy casualties on the British Army of General [[Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis|Cornwallis]]. After the battle, Cornwallis withdrew his troops to a British coastal base in [[Wilmington, North Carolina|Wilmington]].<ref>{{cite web| url=https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/david-mccullough_glorious-cause-america/ |title=The Glorious Cause of America |first=David |last=McCullough |publisher=Speeches.byu.edu |date=September 27, 2005 |access-date=January 9, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-revolution/4235 |title=The Battle of Guilford Courthouse |work=North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, Office of Archives and History |publisher=Learnnc.org |access-date=January 9, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170126070832/http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-revolution/4235 |archive-date=January 26, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
[[File:Battle of Guilford Courthouse 15 March 1781.jpg|thumb|The [[Battle of Guilford Court House|Battle of Guilford Courthouse]]]]

Greensboro was established near the geographic center of Guilford County, on land that was "an unbroken forest with thick undergrowth of [[huckleberry]] bushes, that bore a finely flavored fruit."<ref>Stockard, Sallie W. ''The History of Guilford County, North Carolina''. Knoxville, Tennessee, 1902. p. 37</ref> Property for the future village was purchased from the Saura for $98. Three north–south streets (Greene, Elm, Davie) were laid out intersecting with three east–west streets, Gaston, Market, and Sycamore.<ref name="Arnett1955"/>{{rp|171–174, 21}} The courthouse was built at the center of the intersection of Elm and Market streets. By 1821, the town was home to 369 residents.

[[File:BlandwoodMansion.jpg|thumb|[[Blandwood Mansion and Gardens|Blandwood Mansion]], by Alexander Jackson Davis]]
In the early 1840s, the state government designated Greensboro as one of the stops on a new railroad line, at the request of Governor [[John Motley Morehead]], whose house, [[Blandwood]], was in Greensboro. Stimulated by rail traffic and improved access to markets, the city grew substantially, soon becoming known as the "Gate City" due to its role as a transportation hub for the Piedmont.<ref name=Fripp>{{Cite book| last1=Fripp| first1=Gayle Hicks| title=Greensboro, a Chosen Center| location=[[Sun Valley, California]]| publisher=American Historical Press| year=2001}}</ref>{{rp|66}} The railroads transported goods to and from the cotton [[textile]] mills. Many of the manufacturers developed workers' housing in mill villages near their facilities.

Though the city developed slowly, early wealth generated in the 18th and 19th centuries from cotton trade and merchandising resulted in owners' constructing several notable buildings. The earliest, later named [[Blandwood Mansion and Gardens]], was built by a farmer in 1795. Additions to this residence in 1846, designed by [[Alexander Jackson Davis]], made the house influential as America's earliest [[Tuscany|Tuscan]]-style villa. It has been designated a [[National Historic Landmark]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://preservationgreensboro.org/blandwood-mansion| title=Governor Morehead's Blandwood Mansion| date=28 April 2015| publisher=Preservation Greensboro| access-date=January 7, 2017}}</ref> Other significant houses and estates were developed, including Dunleith, designed by [[Samuel Sloan (architect)|Samuel Sloan]]; Bellemeade; and the [[Bumpas-Troy House|Bumpass-Troy House]]. Since the late 20th century, the latter has been adapted and operates as a private inn.