Page 19 - Robeson Living Fall 2021

The earliest settlers were drawn to the dark waters of the river Other physicians who attended include Dr. David McBryde,
– calling it at various times Drowning Creek, Lumbee River Dr. William G. Ray, Dr. F.O. Hawley, served as the first city
or Lumber River. Whatever name it has carried, it has always physician of Charlotte from 1896 until his death in 1915; Al-
been important to the development of the county. exander Leach; Ben MacNeill; John Person; Angus R. Currie;
John Charles McNeill in writing about the river said “writing James MacNeill; Alexander Galbreath and Archie Galbreath.
about the Lumber River, to a man who has spent his summers
in dalliance with her, is like writing about his sweetheart. She Two other first for Robeson County were the creation of the
is subject to change and as teasing as any girl that goes; and no first rural health department in the country in 1911 and in 1929
human angel ever possessed more variable hues and tints and the creation of the first county manager-commissioner govern-
shadows in her misty eyes than this unconscious flirt.” ment in country with Hadden Mclean.

In the late 18th and the 19th centuries, the lumber and naval In the 1896 Branson directory there were sixty-one towns list-
stores industries were very important to the region, and the ed in the county. They ranged from Lumberton with a popula-
river was a vital route for transporting products of these indus- tion of 1200 to communities like Nye and Charm each with 20
tries. One-hundred-foot logs were rafted downriver to George- residents. Many of the communities are now only a memory
town, South Carolina. The Lumber River was designated as a while others still retain the small-town flavor that makes them
National Wild and Scenic River and is part of the North Caro- so pleasant to live in. Robeson County has been predominant-
lina Natural and Scenic River System. ly a rural and agrarian county, with just enough urban develop-
ment to make it a pleasant and convenient home to so many
The Lumber River was replaced as a main source of transporta- who love it.
tion by the railroads. The first crossing the county east to west
before the Civil War. In the mid 20th century, with the intro- Lumberton
duction of automobiles roads became more important. High- The year after the General Assembly formed Robeson County
way 301 and then Interstate 95 and Highway 74 came to serve from Bladen, John Willis proposed a plan to divide part of his
the county residents and visitors. They offer vital arteries to- plantation along the Lumber River. His proposition included
day for commerce and pleasure and are key to the economic a donation of land for the town square with 130 half-acre lots
health of the region. being sold by lottery. That same town square has been the site
of all four of the county’s courthouses. Lumberton was the site
Education has always been important to Robesonians, and we of the oldest school in the County; the Lumberton Academy
are home to two first during the 1800s. was organized in 1791.

In 1841, John Gilchrist, Jr. and others felt that the educational An 1884 publication notes the town, “one of the prettiest in
needs of the young ladies of the Robeson County area were not the state,” with a population of 1200, 20 stores, five churches,
being filled. Their answer was the founding of Floral College, sawmills, turpentine distilleries, and four hotels. Land could
the first female college in the state to confer degrees. John be purchased for as little as $5 per acre.
was the first UNC graduate from Robeson County and after
college began a law practice. He soon found lawyers and their As the calendar turned to the 1900s Lumberton saw rapid
practices distasteful and declared that if this were their manner, growth of the railroad, tobacco and textile industries. Always
he would spend his few days as an obscure farmer. The college proud of the downtown business district, residents have begun
was located on the property of Gilchrist near Floral College a revitalization effort to restore it to the glory days.
thrived until the beginning of the Civil War when it closed. It
opened after the war and thrived a few years but was closed Fairmont
and auctioned in 1872.
The town of Fairmont was first known as Ashpole and incor-
porated in 1899 as Union City. The first town lots were sold in
Edenborough Medical College was chartered February 26,
1867, by the North Carolina General Assembly as the first 1899 and the name was changed to Fairmont in 1907.
medical college in the state. The Act of Incorporation allowed
Dr. Hector McLean to confer degrees and grant diplomas to Known as the tobacco capital of the county, the first tobacco
its graduates to practice medicine in any of the counties of the warehouse opened in 1899. The year 1978 marked seventy-
State. He attended the University of Louisville about 1840. It nine years of Fairmont’s tobacco markets. At that time, they
is believed that Dr. McLean was training students before the boasted 24 modern warehouses and eight pack houses that
Civil War since it is known that Dr. G.C. McGregor learned were shipping a million pounds of tobacco a day. They held
under Dr. McLean before he moved from North Carolina to the world’s largest flue-cured tobacco market by population.
Texas in 1852. Once in Texas Dr. McGregor helped establish In 1919 they sold 6,998,393 lbs of tobacco at an average price
the first society of physicians in that state. of $26.34 and by 1978 they sold 33,950,792 lbs at an average
price of $137.60.
Robeson Living ~ Fall 2021 Page 19