Before being formed as a county, the region had at least one known smallSoutheastern tribe ofNative Americans in the 18th century, theSissipahaw, who lived in the area bounded by modernSaxapahaw, the area known as the Hawfields, and theHaw River.[5][6] European settlers entered the region in the late 17th century chiefly following Native American trading paths, and set up their farms in what they called the "Haw Old Fields," fertile ground previously tilled by the Sissipahaw. The paths later became the basis of the railroad and interstate highway routes.[7]
Alamance County was named afterGreat Alamance Creek, site of theBattle of Alamance (May 16, 1771), apre-Revolutionary War battle in which militia under the command of GovernorWilliam Tryon crushed theRegulator movement. Great Alamance Creek, and in turn Little Alamance Creek, according to legend, were named after a local Native American word to describe the blue mud found at the bottom of the creeks. Other legends say the name came from another local Native American word meaning "noisy river," or for theAlamanni region ofRhineland,Germany, where many of the early settlers came from.[8]
In the 1780s, theOccaneechi Native Americans returned to North Carolina fromVirginia, this time settling in what is now Alamance County rather than their first location nearHillsborough.[11] In 2002, the modern Occaneechi tribe bought 25 acres (100,000 m2) of their ancestral land in Alamance County and began a Homeland Preservation Project that includes a village reconstructed as it would have been in 1701 and a 1930s farming village.[11]
During the early 19th century, thetextile industry grew heavily in the area, so the need for better transportation grew. By the 1840s, several mills were set up along theHaw River and nearGreat Alamance Creek and other major tributaries of the Haw. Between 1832 and 1880, at least 14 major mills were powered by these rivers and streams. Mills were built by the Trollinger, Holt, Newlin, Swepson, and Rosenthal families, among others. One of them, built in 1832 by Ben Trollinger, is still in operation. It is owned by Copland Industries, sits in the unincorporated community ofCarolina and is the oldest continuously operating mill in North Carolina.[12]
One notable textile produced in the area was the "Alamance plaids" or "Glencoe plaids" used in everything from clothing totablecloths.[12] The Alamance Plaids manufactured by textile pioneer Edwin M. Holt were the first colored cotton goods produced on power looms in the South, and paved the way for the region's textile boom.[13] (Holt's home is now the Alamance County Historical Society.[14]) But by the late 20th century, most of the plants and mills had gone out of business, including the mills operated byBurlington Industries, a company based inBurlington.
Alamance Cotton Factory, built byEdwin M. Holt. It was the first manufacturer of colored cotton fabrics in the South on power looms. Photograph taken in 1837A bill establishing an Alamance County as presented and published to the North Carolina House of Commons, January 1, 1849.
By the 1840s, the textile industry was booming, and the railroad was being built through the area as a convenient link betweenRaleigh andGreensboro. Efforts to split a new county off fromOrange County began in 1842. A bill to form the county fromOrange County. was filed byGiles Mebane on January 1, 1849, which passed the legislature later that month. An election was held on April 19, 1849 and the split was approved by the voters, with the new county being established officially on April 24 by GovernorCharles Manly.[15][16]
In March 1861, Alamance County residents voted overwhelmingly against North Carolina's secession from the Union, 1,114 to 254. Two delegates were sent to theState Secession Convention, Thomas Ruffin andGiles Mebane, who both opposed secession, as did most of the delegates sent to the convention.[17] At the time of the convention, around 30% of Alamance County's population were slaves (total population around 12,000, including roughly 3,500 slaves and 500 free Black people).
North Carolina was reluctant to join other Southern states in secession until theBattle of Fort Sumter in April 1861. When Lincoln called up troops,Governor John Ellis replied, "I can be no party to this wicked violation of the laws of the country and to this war upon the liberties of a free people. You can get no troops from North Carolina." After a special legislative session, North Carolina's legislature unanimously voted for secession on May 20, 1861.
No battles took place in Alamance County, but it sent its share of soldiers to the front lines. In July 1861, for the first time in American history, soldiers were sent in to combat by rail. The 6th North Carolina was loaded onto railroad cars at Company Shops and transferred to the battlefront atManassas, Virginia (First Battle of Manassas).
Although the citizens of Alamance County were not directly affected throughout much of the war, in April 1865, they witnessed firsthand their sons and fathers marching through the county just days before the war ended with the surrender atBennett Place nearDurham. At Company Shops, GeneralJoseph E. Johnston stopped to say farewell to his soldiers for the last time. By the end of the war, 236 people from Alamance County had been killed in the course of the war, more than any other war since the county's founding.[18]
Some of the Civil War's most significant effects were seen after it ended. Alamance County briefly became a center of national attention when in 1870Wyatt Outlaw, anAfrican-American town commissioner inGraham, was lynched by theKu Klux Klan. He was president of the Alamance County Union League of America (a progressive reform branch of the Federal Government), helped to establish the Republican party in North Carolina, and advocated establishing a school for African Americans. His offense was thatGovernor William Holden had appointed him ajustice of the peace, and he had accepted the appointment. Outlaw's body was found hanging 30 yards from the courthouse, with a note pinned to his chest reading, "Beware! You guilty parties – both white and black." Outlaw was the central figure in political cooperation between blacks and whites in the county.
On July 8, 1870, Governor Holden declaredCaswell County to be in a state ofinsurrection and sent North Carolina militiamen to Caswell and Alamance Counties, under the command of Union veteran George W. Kirk, beginning the so-called Kirk–Holden war. Kirk's troops ultimately arrested 82 men.
The Grand Jury of Alamance County indicted 63 klansmen for felonies and 18 for the murder of Wyatt Outlaw. Soon after the indictments were brought, Democrats in the legislature passed a bill to repeal the law under which the indictments had been secured. The 63 felony charges were dropped. The Democratic Party then used a national program of "Amnesty and Pardon" to proclaim amnesty for all who committed crimes on behalf of a secret society. This was extended to the klansmen of Alamance County. There would be no justice in the case of Wyatt Outlaw.
Holden's support forReconstruction led to hisimpeachment and removal by the North Carolina Legislature in 1871.
The county was once the state leader indairy production. Several dairies including Melville Dairy in Burlington were headquartered in the county. With increasing real estate prices and a slump in milk prices, most dairy farms have been sold and many of them developed for real estate purposes.
DuringWorld War II,Fairchild Aircraft built airplanes at a plant on the eastern side of Burlington. Among the planes built there was the AT-21 gunner, used to train bomber pilots. Near the Fairchild plant was theWestern Electric Burlington works. During theCold War, the plant built radar equipment and guidance systems for missiles and many other electronics for the government, including the guidance system for theTitan missile. The plant closed in 1992 and sat abandoned until 2005, when it was purchased by a local businessman for manufacturing.
Alamance County's population has grown significantly, with the city ofMebane tripling in size between 1990 and 2020. The county has seen significant business and industry growth, including the additions of the North Carolina Commerce Park and the North Carolina Industrial Center, as well as new retail opportunities nearInterstates 85 and40 on the eastern (Tanger Outlets) and western (University Commons and Alamance Crossing) sides of the county.[19]
Some growth has been attributed to illegal immigration, which has led to ongoing legal issues. In 2012, the Department of Justice found the Alamance County Sheriff's Office to use discriminatory policing,[20] however the case was dismissed by U.S. District Court JudgeThomas D. Schroeder, finding that the government failed to demonstrate that the ACSO had engaged in discriminatory policing.[21]
Beginning in 2014, the county has been home to a number of political demonstrations.[22] In October 2020, during a demonstration prior to the2020 United States presidential election, Alamance County sheriff's deputies and Graham police used pepper spray against crowd members.[23] Law enforcement reported that pepper spray had been deployed to disperse the crowd following an assault on an officer who was trying to shut down a generator the march organizers had brought, in violation of a signed agreement.[24]
According to theU.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 434.24 square miles (1,124.7 km2), of which 423.45 square miles (1,096.7 km2) is land and 10.79 square miles (27.9 km2) (2.48%) is water.[25]
The county is in thePiedmont physiographical region. It has a general rolling terrain with theCane Creek Mountains rising to over 970 ft (300 m)[26] in the south-central part of the county just north ofSnow Camp.Bass Mountain, one of the prominent hills in the range, is home to a world-renownedbluegrass music festival every year. Also, isolatedmonadnocks are in the northern part of the county that rise to near or over 900 ft (270 m) above sea level.
The largest river that flows through Alamance County is theHaw, which feeds intoJordan Lake inChatham County, eventually leading to theCape Fear River. The county is also home to numerous creeks, streams, and ponds, includingGreat Alamance Creek, where a portion of theBattle of Alamance was fought. The three large municipal reservoirs are: Lake Cammack, Lake Mackintosh, and Graham-Mebane Lake (formerly Quaker Lake). The southwest end of the county is drained byNorth Rocky River Prong andGreenbrier Creek, two tributaries of theRocky River in theDeep River system.
Interstates 85 and40 run concurrently as seen from Exit 141 inBurlington, facing east. The Interstates run east to west through the central part of the county.
I-40 /I-85 (concurrent) also known as the Sam Hunt Freeway, named after a former North Carolina Secretary of Transportation. Interstates 85/40 run east-to-west through the central part of the county, extending toHillsborough andGreensboro, respectively.
US 70 nearly parallels 85/40 a few miles north of the interstates as it passes through the downtown sections of Burlington, Haw River, and Mebane.
NC 49 runs southwest to northeast from theLiberty area (Randolph County), through Burlington, Graham, and Haw River, to the Pleasant Grove Community area, before turning northeast and continuing intoOrange County.
NC 54 runs from its northwestern end at its intersection with U.S. Highway 70 in Burlington southeast to the Orange County line in the southeast part of the county.
NC 62 runs southwest to northeast entering fromGuilford County into Kimesville, then through Burlington, to Pleasant Grove. It then turns north and heads toCaswell County.
NC 87 serves as the main north–south route through the county. It enters from the south at the Chatham County line into Eli Whitney, then through the major cities of Graham and Burlington, and a small part of Elon, before continuing north and heading through the Altamahaw-Ossipee area, finally moving into Caswell and Rockingham Counties.
NC 100 forms a loop through downtown Burlington, starting at the intersection of Maple Avenue and Chapel Hill Road before moving north, then northwest, then going through Elon and moving on toGibsonville andGuilford County.
NC 119 runs roughly north from its southern terminus at an intersection with N.C. Highway 54, moving through Mebane and heading north into Caswell County.
Alamance County, North Carolina – Racial and ethnic composition Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
As of the2020 census, there were 171,415 people, 67,925 households, and 41,793 families residing in the county. The median age was 39.3 years.[36]
21.8% of residents were under the age of 18 and 17.4% were 65 years of age or older; for every 100 females there were 90.1 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 86.5 males.[36]
73.6% of residents lived in urban areas, while 26.4% lived in rural areas.[38]
There were 67,925 households in the county, of which 30.2% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 44.1% were married-couple households, 17.9% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 31.6% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 29.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.[36]
There were 73,385 housing units, of which 7.4% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 64.9% were owner-occupied and 35.1% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.6% and the rental vacancy rate was 6.9%.[36]
At the2010 census,[39] there were 151,131 people, 59,960 households, and 39,848 families residing in the county. Thepopulation density was 347.4 people per square mile (134.1 people/km2). There were 66,055 housing units at an average density of 151.9 units per square mile (58.6 units/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 71.1%White, 18.8%Black orAfrican American, 0.7%Native American, 1.2%Asian, 0.02%Pacific Islander, 6.1% fromother races, and 2.1% from two or more races. 11% of the population wereHispanic orLatino of any race.
There were 59,960 households, out of which 29.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.2% weremarried couples living together, 14.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.5% were non-families. 27.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 26.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 2.98.
In the county, the population was spread out, with 26.7% under the age of 19, 7.2% from 20 to 24, 25.1% from 25 to 44, 26.3% from 45 to 64, and 14.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.7 years. For every 100 females there were 92.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.00 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $44,430, and the median income for a family was $54,605. Males had a median income of $31,906 versus $23,367 for females. Theper capita income for the county was $23,477. About 13.7% of families and 16.1% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 25% of those under age 18 and 8.7% of those age 65 or over.
Alamance County Board of Commissioners meeting in 2022
Lying between overwhelmingly liberal and DemocraticOrange County andDurham County to the east, equally DemocraticGuilford County to the west, and heavily conservative and RepublicanRandolph County to the southwest, Alamance leans Republican, though not as overwhelmingly as many other suburban counties in the Piedmont Triad. The last Democratic nominee for president to carry Alamance County was Jimmy Carter in 1976.
Alamance County is a member of the regionalPiedmont Triad Council of Governments. The county is led by the Alamance County Board of Commissioners and the County Manager, who is appointed by the Board of Commissioners. County residents also elect two other county government offices: theSheriff andRegister of Deeds.
Alamance County adopted thecouncil-manager form of government in the 1970s, where the day-to-day management of county business is done by an individual hired by the commissioners' board. Since the establishment of the office, the following persons have served as county managers:
The Paramount Theater serves as a center of dramatic presentations in the community. To the south there is theSnow Camp Outdoor Drama which has plays from late spring to early fall in the evenings. Alamance County is also home to the Haw River Ballroom, a large music and arts venue inSaxapahaw.
Alamance County, Burlington, Graham, Elon, Haw River, Swepsonville, and Mebane all have small parks that are not listed here. Major parks include:
Cedarock Park, located 6 miles (10 km) south of the intersection of Interstate 85/40 and NC Highway 49. The park is home to theCedarock Historic Farm, an old milldam, and threedisc golf courses.
Great Bend Park at Glencoe, located 4 miles (6 km) north of the intersection of US Highway 70, and NC Highways 87, 62, and 100 in downtown Burlington. Great Bend Park contains parts of theHaw River Land and Paddle Trails and theMountains-to-Sea Trail, the Textile Heritage Museum, along with picnicking, fishing, and other opportunities. The park was built around the site of theGlencoe Mills, an area that is currently under renovation with an old mill that has been listed on theNational Register of Historic Places.
TheBurlington Sock Puppets, members of theAppalachian League, a wood-bat collegiate summer league, play their home games atBurlington Athletic Stadium in Fairchild Park. They were previously known as theBurlington Royals from 2007 to 2020. The Royals were rebranded as the Sock Puppets following the contraction and reorganization of minor league baseball prior to the 2021 season. 2021 was the inaugural season for the revamped Appalachian League and the Sock Puppets. Prior to being known as the Royals, the team was also known as theBurlington Indians from 1986 to 2006. This version of the team has been active since 1985, but Burlington hosted a minor league baseball team for many years under the Burlington Indians and Burlington Bees.
Today, Alamance County is often described as a "bedroom" community, with many residents living in the county and working elsewhere due to low tax rates, although the county is still a major player in the textile and manufacturing industries. The current county-wide tax rate for Alamance County residents is 58.0cents per $100 valuation. This does not include tax rates imposed by municipalities or fire districts.
According to a 1975 study of the history of post offices in North Carolina by Treasure Index, Alamance County has 27ghost towns that existed in the 18th and 19th centuries. Additionally, five other post offices no longer exist. These towns and their post offices were either abandoned as organized settlements or absorbed into the larger communities that now make up Alamance County.[42]
Albright, site located approximately 1-mile (1.6 km) south of exit 153 onInterstate 40
^""Sissipahaw Indian Tribe History"". July 9, 2011., John R. Swanton,Indian Tribes of North America, 1953, at Access Genealogy, accessed March 25, 2009
^Whitaker, Walter E.; Cook, Staley A. (Staley Albright); White, A. Howard; Alamance County Historical Association (1974).Centennial history of Alamance County, 1849-1949. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Library. Burlington, N.C. : Alamance County Historical Association.
Beatty, Bess.Alamance: The Holt Family and Industrialization in a North Carolina County, 1837–1900 (LSU Press, 1999).
Bissett, Jim, “The Dilemma over Moderates: School Desegregation in Alamance County, North Carolina,”Journal of Southern History, 81 (Nov. 2015), 887–930.
Gant, Margaret Elizabeth. "The Episcopal Church in Burlington, 1879-1979: one hundred years of history." (2014).online
Pierpont, Andrew Warren.Development of the textile industry in Alamance County, North Carolina (1953).
Troxler, Carole Watterson.Shuttle and Plow: A History of Alamance County, North Carolina (1999).
Whitaker, Walter E.Centennial History of Alamance County 1849–1949 (Burlington Chamber of Commerce, 1949).
