• Columbus County became a part of North Carolina’s government in December 1808 and was created from Bladen and Brunswick counties.

By BOB HIGH
Staff Writer

Happy birthday, Columbus! Not Christopher Columbus – Columbus County!

This is 2008 and the 200th year since the county’s formation in December 1808. In other words, this is our bicentennial.

Today, The News Reporter announces its intent for the balance of this year. The bicentennial logo accompanying this story is the work of staff member Fuller Royal. Civic, church and community groups can share the logo across the county.

Today also marks the first of 104 questions about the county’s history that will be featured on the front page above the masthead. Answers to today’s and subsequent questions will usually be found on Page 3.

Just one ‘Columbus’

A curious fact is that this county is the only county in the United States known as “Columbus.” There are many “Columbia” counties in scattered states, plus there are several cities and towns named for the 1492 discoverer of the New World, but this is the only county with Christopher’s last name.

The News Reporter will present articles throughout the year detailing the history of this county, including the unusual politics in the state’s General Assembly that led to our birth.

All of these stories and photographs, maps and drawings, plus many more will be presented in early December in a special volume that will give exhaustive views of the events that have shaped the present conditions of this county – from advances and declines in economy, education and healthcare, to construction of the infrastructure of the many towns and communities embraced in our 939 square miles.

Vocations and trades maintained by our ancestors have disappeared, not by neglect in most cases, but by necessity brought on by general advances in the way we live and the everyday demands we have for products and services.

One-room schoolhouses

Our economy is no longer based largely on what we can gather from vast tracts of timber, even though this industry is still our backbone. There are still those who remember the basics drilled and driven by dedicated teachers in countless one-room schoolhouses. Today, our young have camera and Internet capable cell phones, and most of us are slaves to computers to produce our work.

Children dance down streets to tunes ingested by gadgets equipped with cords that dangle from their ears. Adults get in daily exercise by running or walking with ears covered by “muffs” drilling music and words into their brains.
Our legacies include struggling to make ends meet on thousands of small farms as our forbears carved a bare existence by their bootstraps, to working at home on electronic products that reach to the far corners of the world.

We celebrated the birth of the rail era in 1852, and within 110 years many miles of the iron rails that marched across the county from east to west were removed. Today, trucks deliver what we need and – for the most part – ship our products.

Collapse of textiles

Textiles were an exciting industry in our nation, and examples of American inventions of machinery and processes were scattered across the county in the early 1900s. But, then came increased international trade, and the realization that foreign workers don’t need to be paid very much. Our textile industry, for the most part, has disappeared.

The examples of what The News Reporter will feature include unknown and rumored incidents being developed into genuine facts – from blacksmithing and working mules and oxen to driving air-conditioned tractors across fields to seed and harvest. From riding a horse and driving a buggy to wheeling at break-neck speed across the county on a four-lane highway.

We live in a high-speed society, geared to acts of speed instead of thorough study. The News Reporter will present a comprehensive look at our 200 years – a product created with input from hundreds who have shared their families’ accomplishments. And, the stories are intended to highlight the trends and those who started and/or embraced them to move us to where we are today.

Input from readers is sought, not just for family history, but memories of what went on in your community. Who was the village blacksmith? Who drove the first horseless carriage your grandfather ever saw? Who went to work in the “deep woods” on Monday and came home Saturday? How did the tobacco industry impact your family’s life?

Hog killing days

Who was the storekeeper in the community? Who killed hogs on a frigid January day? Who were the preachers and teachers? Did your grandfather takes up arms to defend this country – either as the United States or the Confederacy?
Did your ancestors exist as slaves, and only began to live when freed? Did your family contribute to the advancement of this county’s life in any way?

Do you have photographs, drawings or maps that would help develop “hearsay” and “hand-me-down” stories into fact? Do you have a question about county history that would be suitable to be included as one of the 104 to be posed in each of our editions for 2008?

There are countless facts, questions and comments concerning our 200 years of history. If a reader wants to furnish information, make a comment or ask a question, contact Bob High at 642-4104, Extension 247, or by mail at P.O. Box 707, Whiteville, N.C. 28472.

The first installment of detailed county history will be presented in the Jan. 10 edition.