Editing Knightdale, North Carolina (section)

===Early history===
In 1700, the [[Lords Proprietor]] of the [[Province of Carolina|Carolina Colony]] hired John Lawson to explore the area.  He began his {{convert|1000|mi|km|adj=on}} trek near present-day [[Charleston, South Carolina]], and according to his diary, passed through the area sometime in February 1701. He wrote about a meeting with the [[Tuscarora people|Tuscarora]] [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] tribe on the banks of the [[Neuse River]], and with the help of an interpreter, Lawson made peace with the Tuscarora.

After receiving the report from Lawson, the [[King of England]] began to apportion these lands to willing settlers. In 1730, John Hinton settled in what would one day be called Knightdale in an area near the Neuse River, not far from where Hodge Road and Old Faison Road now intersect.

As more settlers arrived, the colonial government appointed Hinton to be the [[Justice of the Peace]] for [[Craven County, North Carolina|Craven County]]. Eventually, [[Johnston County, North Carolina|Johnston County]] was carved out of Craven County in the 1750s and Wake County carved out of Johnston County in 1771.

When the [[American Revolution]] began, Hinton switched his allegiance to the colonials. He became a military leader and played a key role in the first battle of the American Revolution fought on North Carolina soil, the [[Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge]]. Hinton owned seven [[plantations in the American South|plantation]]s in the Knightdale area, of which three are still intact: The Oaks, [[Midway Plantation House and Outbuildings|Midway]], and [[Beaver Dam (Knightdale, North Carolina)|Beaver Dam]].