In 1808, Greensboro was planned around a central courthouse square to succeedGuilford Court House as the county seat. The county courts were thus placed closer to the county's geographical center, a location more easily reached at the time by the majority of the county's citizens, who traveled by horse or on foot.[8][9][10] Three major Interstate Highways (Interstate 40,Interstate 85, andInterstate 73) in thePiedmont region of central North Carolina were built to intersect at this city.
Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the inhabitants of the area that became Greensboro were the Saura, aSiouan-speaking people.[28]: 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 ofMaryland, arrived at Capefair (now Greensboro) in about 1750. The new settlers began organized religious services affiliated with theCane Creek Friends Meeting inSnow Camp in 1751.[29] Three years later, 40 Quaker families were granted approval to establish New Garden Monthly Meeting.[29] The action is recorded in the minutes of thePerquimans and Little River Quarterly Meeting on May 25, 1754: "To Friends at New Garden in Capefair", signed by Joseph Ratliff.[30] The settlement grew rapidly over the next three years, adding members from as far away asNantucket, Massachusetts.[29] 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 theAppalachians.[29]
After theRevolutionary War, the city of Greensboro was named for Major GeneralNathanael Greene, commander of the rebel American forces at theBattle of Guilford Court House on March 15, 1781.[28]: 20 Although the Americans lost the battle, Greene's forces inflicted heavy casualties on the British Army of GeneralCornwallis. After the battle, Cornwallis withdrew his troops to a British coastal base inWilmington.[31][32]
Greensboro was established near the geographic center of Guilford County, on land that was "an unbroken forest with thick undergrowth ofhuckleberry bushes, that bore a finely flavored fruit."[33] 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.[28]: 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.
In the early 1840s, the state government designated Greensboro as one of the stops on a new railroad line, at the request of GovernorJohn 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.[34]: 66 The railroads transported goods to and from the cottontextile 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 namedBlandwood Mansion and Gardens, was built by a farmer in 1795. Additions to this residence in 1846, designed byAlexander Jackson Davis, made the house influential as America's earliestTuscan-style villa. It has been designated aNational Historic Landmark.[35] Other significant houses and estates were developed, including Dunleith, designed bySamuel Sloan; Bellemeade; and theBumpass-Troy House. Since the late 20th century, the latter has been adapted and operates as a private inn.
In the mid-19th century, many of the residents of the Piedmont and western areas of the state wereUnionist, and Guilford County did not vote forsecession. But once North Carolina joined theConfederacy, some citizens joined the Confederate cause, forming infantry units such as the Guilford Grays to fight in theAmerican Civil War. From 1861 to March 1865 the city was relatively untouched by the war, although residents had to deal with regional shortages of clothing, medicine, and other items caused by the US naval blockade of the South.
In the war's final weeks, Greensboro played a unique role in the last days of the Confederate government. In April 1865, the commanding officer of the Army of Tennessee, GeneralJoseph E. Johnston, instructed GeneralP. G. T. Beauregard to prepare to defend the city. During this time,Confederate PresidentJefferson Davis and the remaining members of the Confederate cabinet had evacuated the Confederate Capital inRichmond, Virginia, and moved south toDanville, Virginia.
When Union cavalry threatened Danville, Davis and his cabinet managed to escape by train, and reassembled in Greensboro on April 11, 1865. While in the city, Davis and his cabinet decided to try to split up and make their waywest of the Mississippi River to continue the war effort and avoid capture. Shortly thereafter, the cabinet left Greensboro and separated. Greensboro is notable as the last place where the entire Confederate government met as a group; some consider it the Confederacy's final capital city.[36]: 101
At nearly the same time, GovernorZebulon B. Vance fledRaleigh, the capital of North Carolina, before the forces of Union GeneralWilliam Tecumseh Sherman swept the city.[37] For a brief period beginning April 16, 1865, he and other officials maintained the state capital in Greensboro.[28]: 395 [38]: 177 Vance proclaimed the North Carolina Surrender Declaration on April 28, 1865.[38]: 182 Later, he surrendered to Union officials in the parlor of Blandwood Mansion. Historian Blackwell Robinson wrote, "Greensboro witnessed not only the demise of the Confederacy but also that of the old civil government of the state."[36]: 101
Once surrender negotiations were completed atBennett Place (in present-dayDurham) between General Johnston and General Sherman on April 26, 1865, Confederate soldiers in Greensboro stacked their arms, received their paroles, and headed home.
After the war, investors worked to restore the textile mills and related industry. In the 1890s, the city continued to attract attention from northern industrialists, including Moses and Caesar Cone ofBaltimore.[28]: 171–174 The Cone brothers established large-scale textile plants, changing Greensboro from a village to a city within a decade. By 1900, Greensboro was considered a center of the Southern textile industry, with large-scale factories producingdenim,flannel, andoveralls.[34]: 59 The resulting prosperity was expressed in the construction of notable 20th-century civic architecture, including theGuilford County Courthouse,West Market Street United Methodist Church by S. W. Faulk, several buildings designed by Frank A. Weston, and theJulius I. Foust Building of theUniversity of North Carolina at Greensboro, designed byOrlo Epps.
During the 20th century, Greensboro continued to increase in population and wealth. Grand commercial and civic buildings, many of which still stand today, were designed by local architects Charles Hartmann and Harry Barton. Other notable industries became established in the city, includingVicks Chemical Co. (known for over-the-counter cold remedies such asVapoRub andNyQuil), Carolina Steel Corporation, and Pomona Terra Cotta Works.[36]: 220 During the first three decades, Greensboro grew so rapidly that there was an acute worker housing shortage. Builders set a construction goal of 80 to 100 affordable housing units per year to provide homes for workers.[36]: 209 Greensboro's real estate was considered "the wonder of the state" in the 1920s. Growth continued even through theGreat Depression, as Greensboro attracted an estimated 200 new families per year.[36]: 210 The city earned a reputation as a well-planned community with a strong emphasis on education, parks, and a profitable employment base.
Greensboro has two major public research universities,North Carolina A&T State University, ahistorically black college established in the late 19th century, and theUniversity of North Carolina at Greensboro. During the height of thecivil rights movement in the early 1960s, students from A&T were the major force in protests to achieve racial justice, desegregation of public facilities, and fair employment, beginning with theGreensboro Four, who sat in at the segregated lunch counter atWoolworth's in 1960 to gain service. The largest civil rights protests in North Carolina history took place in Greensboro in May and June 1963. In the 21st century, the universities are leaders in new areas of research in high tech and science, on which the city hopes to build a new economy.
Wartime and postwar prosperity brought development, and designs commissioned from nationally and internationally known architects.Walter Gropius, a leader of the GermanBauhaus movement in the United States, designed a factory building in the city in 1944.[39] Greensboro-based Ed Loewenstein designed projects throughout the region.Eduardo Catalano andGeorge Matsumoto were hired for projects whose designs have challenged North Carolinians with modernist architectural concepts and forms.
In 1960, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Greensboro's population as 74.0% white and 25.8% black.[40] As in the rest of the state, most blacks were stilldisenfranchised under state laws,Jim Crow laws and customs were in effect, and public facilities, including schools, were racially segregated by law. This was after the U.S. Supreme Court's 1954 ruling inBrown v. Board of Education that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. Facilities reserved for blacks were generally underfunded by the state and city governments, which were dominated by conservative white Democrats.
In the postwar period, blacks in North Carolina and across the South pushed to regain their constitutional rights. College students fromNorth Carolina Agricultural and Technical College (A&T), ahistorically black college, made Greensboro a center of protests and change. On February 1, 1960,four black college students sat down at an "all-white"Woolworth'slunch counter, and refused to leave after they were denied service. They had already purchased items in other parts of the store and kept their receipts. After being denied lunch service, they brought out the receipts, asking why their money was good everywhere else in the store but not at the lunch counter.[41] Hundreds of supporters soon joined in this sit-in, which lasted several months. Such protests quickly spread across the South, ultimately leading to thedesegregation of lunch counters and other facilities at Woolworth's and other chains.
Woolworth's went out of business due to changes in 20th-century retail practices, but the original Woolworth's lunch counter and stools are still in their original location. The former Woolworth's building has been adapted as theInternational Civil Rights Center and Museum, which opened on February 1, 2010, the 50th anniversary of the sit-ins.[42] A section of the counter is on display at theSmithsonian in Washington, D.C. to mark the protesters' courage.[43]
The white business community acceded to the desegregation of Woolworth's and made other minor concessions, but the civil rights movement had additional goals, holding protests in 1962 and 1963. In May and June 1963, the largest civil rights protest in North Carolina history took place in Greensboro. Protesters sought desegregation of public accommodations, and economic and social justice, such as hiring policies based on merit rather than race. They also worked for the overdue integration of public schools.
Each night more than 2,000 protesters marched through Greensboro's segregated central business district. William Thomas and A. Knighton Stanley, coordinators of Greensboro's localCORE chapter, invitedJesse Jackson, then an activist student at A&T, to join the protests. Jackson quickly rose to prominence as a student leader, becoming the public spokesman of the non-violent protest movement. Seeking to overwhelm city jails, as was done in protests led byMartin Luther King Jr. inBirmingham, Alabama, the protesters invited arrest by violating segregation rules of local businesses; they were charged withtrespassing and other nonviolent actions. College and high school students constituted most of the protesters, and at one point approximately 1,400 blacks were jailed in Greensboro. The scale of protests disrupted the business community and challenged the leadership of the mayor and GovernorTerry Sanford.
Finally, the city and business community responded with further desegregation of public facilities, reformed hiring policies in city government, and commitments to progress by both Sanford and Greensboro's mayor. Sanford declared, "Anyone who hasn't received this message doesn't understand human nature." Significant changes in race relations still came at a painfully slow pace, and the verbal commitments from white leadership in 1963 were not implemented in substantial ways.[44]
In May 1969, students ofJames B. Dudley High School were outraged when the administration refused to let a popular candidate, Claude Barnes, run forstudent union class president, allegedly due to his membership in Youth for the Unity of Black Society.[45] After their appeals to the school were rejected, the students asked activists at North Carolina A&T State University for support in a protest.[46][47][48] Protests escalated and after students at A&T had thrown rocks at police, they returned on May 21 armed withtear gas canisters, using them against the crowds. Theuprising grew larger, and the governor ordered the National Guard to back up local police.
After there were exchanges of gunfire, the governor ordered theNorth Carolina National Guard into the A&T campus, in what was described at the time as "the most massive armed assault ever made against an American university".[49] The North Carolina National Guard swept the college dormitories, taking hundreds of students into "protective custody". The demonstrations were suppressed. The North Carolina State Advisory Committee to theUnited States Commission on Civil Rights investigated the disturbances; its 1970 report concluded that the National Guard invasion was a reckless action disproportionate to the danger posed by student protests. It criticized local community leaders for failing to respond adequately to the Dudley High School students when the issues first arose. They declared it "a sad commentary that the only group in the community who would take the Dudley students seriously were the students at A&T State University".[48]
On November 3, 1979, members of what would become theCommunist Workers Party (CWP) held an anti-Ku Klux Klan rally at the Morningside Homes public housing project.[50] Four local TV news stations covered it. During the protest, two cars containing Klansmen and neo-Nazis arrived.[51] After a confrontation, the KKK and CWP groups exchanged gunfire. Five CWP members were killed. Eleven CWP members and one Klansman were injured.[52] Television footage of the actions was shown worldwide, and the event became known as theGreensboro massacre. In November 1980, six KKK defendants were acquitted in a state criminal trial by an all-white jury after a week of deliberation. Families of those killed and injured in the attack filed a civil suit against the city and police department for failure to protect citizens. In 1985, a jury in this case found five police officers and two other individuals liable for $350,000 in damages; the monies were to be paid to the Greensboro Justice Fund, established to advance civil rights.
Textile companies and related businesses continue into the 21st century, when most went bankrupt, reorganized, and/or merged with other companies as textile manufacturing jobs moved offshore. Greensboro is still a major center of the textile industry, with the main offices of Elevate Textiles (Cone, Burlington Industries),Galey & Lord, Unifi, andVF Corporation (Wrangler, Lee, Helly Hansen, Musto, and Rock & Republic),ITG Brands, maker of Kool, Winston and Salem brand cigarettes and the nation's third-largest tobacco company is headquartered in Greensboro.
Rail traffic continues to be important for the city's economy, as Greensboro is a major regional freight hub. TwelveAmtrak passenger trains also stop in Greensboro daily. The Crescent has its platform on the mainNorfolk Southern line betweenWashington andNew Orleans by way ofAtlanta. TheCarolinian andPiedmont trains have their platform at the start of Norfolk SouthernNC-Line that runs from Greensboro to Goldsboro, NC. The Norfolk Southern K-Line starts at the Pomona freight yard just west of downtown and runs towards Winston-Salem. The Norfolk Southern CF-Line originally started in Mt. Airy, NC but rail has been removed north of downtown and now starts at the wye with the mainline downtown and heads south to Gulf, NC
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, Greensboro has an area of 136.65 square miles (353.9 km2), of which 131.41 square miles (340.4 km2) is land and 5.24 square miles (13.6 km2) (3.83%) is water.[3]
The city of Greensboro lies among the rolling hills of North Carolina'sPiedmont, midway between the state'sBlue Ridge andGreat Smoky Mountains to the west and the Atlantic beaches andOuter Banks to the east. The view of Greensboro from its highest building—the Lincoln Financial tower, commonly known as the Jefferson-Pilot Building after its previous owner,—shows an expanse of shade trees in the city.
Greensboro skylineElm Street in downtown Greensboro, 2019
Downtown Greensboro has attracted development investment in recent years with such new construction asFirst National Bank Field, residential construction, and offices.[58][59][60][61][62] TheSouthside neighborhood downtown exemplifies central-city reinvestment. The formerly economically depressed neighborhood has been redeveloped as an award-winning neotraditional-style neighborhood featuringwalkability, compact blocks and local amenities and services.[63][64][65][66]
The redevelopment of the downtown was stimulated by the 2006 opening of theElon University School of Law. The law school is credited with attracting student dollars to the downtown.[67]
TheFour Seasons Town Centre, at 410 Four Seasons Town Centre, is a three-story shopping mall with 1,141,000 square feet (106,000 m2) of shopping space developed by theKoury Corporation. It is adjacent to the Joseph S. Koury Convention Center and Sheraton Hotel. With over 250,000 square feet (23,000 m2) of flexible meeting space, the Koury Convention Center is the largest convention center in the Southeast between Atlanta and Washington, D.C. The hotel has more than 1,000 rooms.[68][69]
TheGreensboro Coliseum is at 1921 W. Gate City Boulevard. This multipurpose complex consists of the 22,000-seat Greensboro Coliseum, the 300-seat Odeon Theatre, and the 167,000-square-foot (15,500 m2) Special Events Center, which includes three exhibition halls, a 4,500-seat mini-arena, and eight meeting rooms. The 30,000-square-foot (2,800 m2) Pavilion is adjacent. The complex hosts "a broad range of activities, including athletic events, cultural arts, concerts, theater, educational activities, fairs, exhibits, and public and private events of all kinds including conventions, convocations and trade and consumer shows".[70] The Greensboro Aquatic Center, which hosts national swimming and diving events, is also in this complex.[71]
In 1998,FedEx built a $300 million mid-Atlantic air-cargo and sorting hub atPiedmont Triad International Airport, after an intensive competition for the hub among other regions of the state, as well as locations inSouth Carolina. The project was challenged in court based on the quality of planned noise and pollution abatements from neighborhoods near the site. The hub opened in 2009. Originally projected by FedEx to employ 750 people in its first two years of operation and eventually 1,500, local FedEx employment has been nearly the same as before the facility was constructed.[72][73]
In March 2015,HondaJet, with a manufacturing facility in Greensboro, announced that it had received provisional type certification (PTC) from the United StatesFederal Aviation Administration (FAA). This achievement indicates the FAA's approval of the HondaJet design based on certification testing, design reviews, and analyses completed to date.[74]
In 2022, construction began on theBoom Supersonic factory at the airport and it was completed in June 2024.[75] The site will be used as a final assembly line and test site for its supersonic passenger aircraft,Overture.[76][77]
Like much of thesoutheastern United States, Greensboro has ahumid subtropical climate (KöppenCfa), with four distinct seasons. Winters are short and generally cool, with a January daily average of 38.9 °F (3.8 °C). On average, there are 75 nights per year that drop to or below freezing,[a] and 4.3 days that fail to rise above freezing.[78][b] Measurable snowfall occurs nearly every winter, and accumulates to 7.5 inches (19.1 cm) on average, usually in January and February and occasionally December and March; the amount varies considerably from winter to winter.[c]Cold-air damming (CAD) can facilitatefreezing rain, often making it a more pressing concern than snow. Summers are hot and humid, with a daily average in July of 78.5 °F (25.8 °C). On average, 32 days per year have highs at or above 90 °F (32 °C), but, as in much of thePiedmont South, 100 °F (38 °C)+ readings are uncommon.[78] Autumn is similar to spring in temperature but has fewer days of rainfall and less total rainfall. Extremes in temperature have ranged from −8 °F (−22 °C) onJanuary 21, 1985, to 104 °F (40 °C), on June 12, 1911, June 12, 1914, and July 17, 1914.
As of the2020 census, there were 299,035 people, 118,046 households, and 69,420 families residing in the city.[86] At the 2019 U.S. census estimates, there were 296,710 people living in the city, up from the 2019American Community Survey's 291,303.[87] At the2010 U.S. census, there were 269,666 people; 111,731 households; and 63,244 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,131.7 people per square mile (823.1 people/km2). There were 124,074 housing units at an average density of 980.8 per square mile (378.7/km2).
Of the 124,074 households in the city in 2010, 30.1% included children under age 18, 35.5% were headed by married couples living together, 16.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.4% were classified as non-family. Of the total households, 33.8% were composed of individuals, and 9.0% were someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.31, and the average family size was 3.00.[88] In 2019, the average household size was 2.37.[7]
The 2019 American Community Survey determined Greensboro had a median age of 35.1,[87] up from 33.4 in 2010. Approximately 6.0% of the city's inhabitants were under 5; 78.2% of the population was 18 and older, and 13.7% 65 and older. The age distribution in 2010 was 22.7% under 18, 14.5% from 18 to 24, 28.2% from 25 to 44, 23.1% from 45 to 64, and 11.5% who 65 or older. The median age was 33.4. For every 100 females, there were 88.7 males, and for every 100 females 18 and over, there were 84.6 males.[88]
In 2011–15, the estimated median annual income for a household was $41,628, and the median income for a family was $53,150. Male full-time workers had a median income of $40,143 versus $34,761 for females. Theper capita income was $25,929. About 14.6% of families and 19.3% of the population were living below thepoverty line, including 25.9% of those under 18 and 10.5% of those 65 or older.[89] From 2015 to 2019, the median household income increased to $48,964 with a per capita of $29,628.[7] The median earned income for males was $44,974 and $37,937 for females.[87] An estimated 18.5% of Greensboro residents lived at or below the poverty line in 2019.[7]
Greensboro city, North Carolina – Racial and ethnic composition Note: the U.S. 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.
In 2019, the racial and ethnic makeup of Greensboro was 47.3% non-Hispanic white, 41.4% black or African American, 0.5% Native American or Alaska Native, 5% Asian alone, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander, 2.7% from some other race, and 3.0% multiracial.[87] Hispanics and Latin Americans of any race made up 7.9% of the local population.[93] At the 2020 census, 41.42% of the population was black or African American, 38.6% non-Hispanic white, 0.33% Native American, 5.04% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 4.4% mixed or some other race, and 10.17% Hispanic or Latin American of any race.[94] This reflected the national demographic shift and growth of nonwhite-identifying Americans.[95]
The economy of Greensboro and the Piedmont Triad has traditionally centered around textiles, tobacco, and furniture. Greensboro's central location in the state has made it a popular place for families and businesses, as well as more of a logistics hub, withFedEx having regional operations based in the city.[103][104] In December 2021, it was announced thatToyota Motor North America, a subsidiary of Japanese automakerToyota, would operate a $1.3 billion battery plant in Greensboro.[105][106]
Greensboro is home to an active and diverse arts community.
TheCarolina Theatre of Greensboro[121] is a performing arts facility that has been a part of downtown Greensboro since 1927. Since the facility's renovation in the 1990s, the theater has served as the home of theGreensboro Ballet, the Community Theatre of Greensboro, the Livestock Players Musical Theatre, the Greensboro Youth Symphony, and a variety of other local performing arts groups.
City Arts[122] showcases a variety of musical and theatrical productions by the Livestock Players, the Drama Center, the Greensboro Children's Theatre, the Music Center, the Greensboro Concert Band, Philharmonia of Greensboro, the Choral Society of Greensboro, and the Greensboro Youth Chorus. Most of these groups participate in the city's annual OPUS Concert Series and the summer "Music for a Sunday Evening in the Park" series.
The Community Theatre of Greensboro[123] has presented Broadway and off-Broadway plays and musicals for more than 45 years. Its Studio Theatre is in the Greensboro Cultural Center.
The Eastern Music Festival brings more than 100 summer performances, from symphonic works to chamber music to recitals by professional and talented students from around the world. The event also hosts the Fringe Festival, showcasing avant-garde and nontraditional music and performances.[124]
Elsewhere Collaborative[125] is a living museum set inside a former thrift store on South Elm Street in downtown Greensboro. Elsewhere is an interactive, evolving environment of objects, creatives, and creations. The living museum hosts events, performances, projects, and productions that activate the 58-year collection and foster communications between creatives and participants.
The Greater Triad Shag Club[126] is a nonprofit club dedicated to the music and dance associated withCarolina shag. The Shag is recognized as the "North Carolina Popular Dance".[127] The Greater Triad Shag Club meets monthly at Thirsty's 2[128] in Greensboro.
Greensboro Ballet and School of Greensboro Ballet:[129] A traditional December production ofThe Nutcracker is just one of the many artistic and educational activities offered by the ballet company. The School of Greensboro Ballet is one of a relative few nonprofit ballet schools in the nation.
TheGreensboro Cultural Center[130] houses more than 25 visual and performing arts organizations, five art galleries, rehearsal halls, a sculpture garden, a privately operated restaurant with outdoor cafe-style seating, and an outdoor amphitheater. Art galleries include the African American Atelier, the Green Hill Center for North Carolina Art, the Greensboro Artists' League Gallery and Gift Shop, the Guilford Native American Art Gallery and the Mattye Reed African Heritage Center Satellite Gallery.
The Greensboro Mural Project[131] engages the community in a participatory arts process around social issues, allowing people throughout the community to help paint the city together.
The Greensboro Opera Company[132] is a regional opera company founded in October 1981 that has experienced much growth and expansion. Beginning with the production ofVerdi'sLa traviata featuringJune Anderson (then a rising young New York City Opera soprano), the company expanded from a single fall production of a major opera in the years 1981–89 to the addition of Sunday matinee performances in the 1998–99 season when, in response to successive sold-out productions ofMadame Butterfly andCarmen in 1997 and 1998, a second spring opera with two performances was added, beginning in 1999–2000. The company has blended outside and local singers with a full orchestra, staffed by members of the Greensboro Symphony, in the pit at its home at Greensboro's War Memorial Auditorium.
The Greensboro Symphony Orchestra,[133] led by conductorDmitry Sitkovetsky, has developed a strong reputation among national musical organizations, including continued exposure on National Public Radio'sPerformance Today. The orchestra performs classical and pops concerts and holds educational programs for young listeners throughout the year.
The Mattye Reed African American Heritage Collection[134] at North Carolina A&T State University hosts one of the nation's most acclaimed collections of African culture. It houses more than 3,500 art and craft pieces from more than 30 African nations,New Guinea andHaiti.
Stagelights Theater Company[135] is a youth performing arts program dedicated to helping children experience the joy of theatre, dance, and music. Pamela Kinter founded it in 2010.[136] Students learn to express themselves in front of an audience, as well as the importance of teamwork and cooperation in creating a work of art. Stagelights holds many full-length musical theatre productions throughout the year, and also offers classes in the dramatic arts, dance, musical theatre, vocal education, and private instrument instruction.[137]
Triad Stage[141] is a not-for-profit regional theatre company based in the downtown historic district. All productions are created in Greensboro using a combination of local and national talent. The theater company was recognized as "One of the 50 Best Regional Theatres in America!" by New York's Drama League, "Best Live Theatre" in Go Triad/News & Record The Rhino Times, and was voted "2003 Professional Theater of the Year" by the North Carolina Theatre Conference.
Weaver Academy is a high school for advanced artists and performers. Plays, musicals, art shows, and concerts can be regularly seen on its downtown campus. The school has many accomplished alumni, notablyIsaac Cole Powell.
Bicentennial Garden was developed in 1976 to commemorate the U.S. bicentennial. The garden contains 1.25 miles (2.01 km) of paved trails, along with outdoor sculptures and a pavilion. The park is across the street from The Bog Garden and also on Hobbs Road.[143]
Blandwood Mansion and Gardens is the historic home of former North Carolina Governor John Motley Morehead. Today it serves as a museum of national architectural and historical significance. It is the earliest example of Tuscan Italianate architecture in the nation, designed by New York architect Alexander Jackson Davis.[144]
The Bog Garden is accessed by an elevated boardwalk that comprises a half-mile of the 1.06 miles (1.71 km) of trails that wind through a garden of plants and wildlife that thrive in a wetland ecosystem. It is off Hobbs Road.[145]
The revitalized downtown Elm Street area is known for its collection of antique shops, art galleries, and restaurants and clubs. Many people attend the First Friday events held each month at participating merchants.
First National Bank Field is the home of the Greensboro Grasshoppers baseball club. Completed in 2005, it hosts additional outdoor events and concerts during the summer months.
Green Hill Cemetery, Greensboro's oldest public cemetery, occupies 51 acres adjacent to downtown. Green Hill remains an active cemetery for burials, but visitors may walk or drive through it.[147]
Greensboro offers and is well known for over 70 miles of hiking trails, including around the lakes, Guilford Military Park, and downtown. Many allow biking also, including Owl's Roost Trail, one of North Carolina's best biking trails.
TheGreensboro Arboretum was completed as a partnership between Greensboro Beautiful and the City of Greensboro Parks & Recreation Department. It offers an extensive selection of flora for study and enjoyment. The 17-acre (69,000 m2) site features 12 permanent plant collections as well as special display gardens with a fountain, overlook, arbor, gazebo, bridges, and viewing benches.[148][149]
Greensboro Center City Park occupies half a city block adjacent to the Greensboro Cultural Center. Sponsored by Action Greensboro, the park features a fountain as well as works by several North Carolina artists.[150]
The Greensboro Children's Museum (GCM) offers hands-on and interactive exhibits, educational programming, and special events all year long for children newborn through age ten.[151]
TheGreensboro Coliseum Complex was conceived, and continues to operate, as a multibuilding facility to serve citizens of Greensboro and the surrounding region by hosting a broad range of activities including athletic and cultural events; concerts, theater and other entertainment; educational activities, fairs and exhibits; and other public and private events such as conventions, convocations and trade/consumer shows. The coliseum complex has hosted prestigious events such as the collegiateAtlantic Coast Conference (ACC) basketball tournament,East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) andAmerican Hockey League (AHL) professional hockey, theNCAA men's basketball championship andStarrcade (1983). TheCarolina Hurricanes of theNational Hockey League also called the Greensboro Coliseum their temporary home while their permanent venue was being constructed in Raleigh. Since 1959, the coliseum has featured superstars ranging fromElvis Presley toUsher. The facility again hosted ACC basketball tournaments (men's and women's) in 2010 and the 2011 and 2015U.S. Figure Skating Championships. The complex has undergone several major renovations, most recently in 1994, enlarging the maximum arena capacity to 23,500 seats. The ACC Hall of Champions and Museum opened adjacent to the coliseum complex in March 2011, as the ACC was founded in Greensboro in 1953 and was headquartered at theGrandover Office Park in south Greensboro.[152][153]
TheGreensboro Science Center is a family-oriented, hands-on science museum and planetarium. The zoo reopened in summer 2007 after extensive renovations.[154]
Guilford Courthouse National Military Park commemorates theBattle of Guilford Court House, which occurred there on March 15, 1781. The battle opened the campaign that led to America's victory in theRevolutionary War. The British lost a substantial number of troops in the battle, which factored in their surrender atYorktown seven months later. The battle site remains largely undeveloped, with large stone memorials erected early in the 20th century to memorialize the event.
Hagan Stone Park is a scenic 409-acre (1.66 km2) wildlife refuge and family campground owned and operated by the city of Greensboro, on Hagan Stone Park Road offU.S. Highway 421. It is open daily 8 am to sunset, weather permitting. The park has several lakes, camp shelters with charcoal grills, and playgrounds. The park is the home of the Greensboro Invitational Cross Country Meet hosted annually in September by the Greensboro Pacesetters for high school and college athletes.[155]
Wet 'n Wild Emerald Pointe has 36 rides, including Daredevil Drop, one of the nation's tallestwater slides, and family rides such as Tropical Drop. The park features two heavily themed family sections: Splash Island and Happy Harbor. Emerald Pointe is the Carolinas' largestwater park. According toAmusement Business magazine, Emerald Pointe has the tenth-highest annual attendance among American water parks, at nearly 500,000.[157]
World War Memorial Stadium was one of the nation's oldest continuously used professional baseball facilities before it was replaced by the city's First Horizon Stadium in 2005. The stadium was constructed in 1926 to honor the lives lost during World War I. It anchors the Aycock Historic District and remains in use by collegiate baseball teams, amateur leagues, and other special events throughout the year. The stadium was home to the Greensboro Bats professional minor-league club until the First Horizon Park opened and the team became theGreensboro Grasshoppers.
Greensboro is home to a variety of retail shopping, from well-known national chains to local boutiques and galleries.Four Seasons Town Centre, on the city's southwest side offI-40, is a three-level regional mall.Friendly Center, off Friendly Avenue, is an open-air shopping complex featuring the nation's largestHarris Teeter supermarket and a multiplex cinema.[159] The Shoppes at Friendly Center, adjacent to Friendly Center, is home to many upscale retailers and restaurants.[160] Around the corner on Market street is Fanta City International Mall, a mini-mall dedicated to foreign exchanget. This is a broad international supercenter combined with a flea market, offering European and East Asian specialties. Traditional shopping centers are primarily found on the West Wendover corridor near I-40 and on Battleground Avenue on the city's northwest side. Big-box retailers have clustered at the site of the formerCarolina Circle Mall on the city's northeast side and far south along the newly completed urban loop (I-85, I-73). On New Garden Road, a large shopping area has popped up.
Greensboro'sNorth Carolina Fusion U23 play in theUSL League Two, the nation's top level men's amateursoccer competition. It has 63 teams competing in four conferences, split into ten regional divisions. It is considered the fourth tier of competition, behind theUnited Soccer League. The team plays its home games atMacpherson Stadium in nearbyBrowns Summit, where it has played since 2003. PDL seasons take place during the summer, with the player pool drawn mainly from eliteNCAAcollege soccer players seeking to continue playing high level soccer during their summer break, which they can do while still maintaining their college eligibility.[167]
ThePGA Tour holds a tournament annually in Greensboro. TheWyndham Championship is held atSedgefield Country Club and is the last PGA Tour event before the Playoffs for theFedEx Cup.[178] The tournament was founded in 1938 as the Greater Greensboro Open and one of the oldest events on the PGA Tour.[179]
Greensboro nicknames itself "Tournament Town" due to the many sports tournaments it hosts. In addition to the ACC basketball tournament and NCAA basketball games, the city has hosted the ACC baseball tournament, the 2011 U.S. Figure Skating Championships[180] and a number of national competitions at the new Greensboro Aquatic Center. In 1974 Greensboro hosted the NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four championship game. It was the first time the Final Four was held in North Carolina.[181]
Greensboro Roller Derby was founded in 2010 and has been a member of the WFTDA,Women's Flat Track Derby Association, since 2013.[182] The league comprises three intraleague teams, named after prominent streets in the city, as well as interleague all-star and b-level teams, each featuring skaters from the three intraleague teams. The league is run by the skaters, who all have ties to the community, and is a not-for-profit organization. Roller derby bouts are held at theGreensboro Coliseum from March to November.
Greensboro has acouncil–manager government with nine members; all seats, including the mayor's, are up for election every four years. Five of the council seats are district representatives and three are citywide representatives elected at-large.
As of Oct 2024, Nancy B. Vaughan is the mayor.[183] Trey Davis is the city manager.[184]
Greensboro is the first city in the South to run aparticipatory budgeting (PB) process, whereby the city's residents decide how a portion of the city budget is spent. The first cycle was for $500,000, ran through April 2016, and was incorporated into the 2016–17 budget, with projects like murals, bridge improvements, and a citywide bus tracking app voted on by residents.[185][186][187]
TheGreater Greensboro Consortium was established to allow college students enrolled in one Greensboro-area institution tocross-register at other institutions in the same area. Students are also allowed to join certain student organizations at other institutions in the consortium not present at their home institution.[196][197][198]
Greensboro's public schools are operated by Guilford County Schools, the state's third-largest school system, with about 71,000 students.[199] Greensboro has one of the oldest public high schools in the state,Grimsley High School, established in 1899 as Greensboro High School.[200] It is also home to Weaver Academy for the Performing and Visual Arts & Advanced Technology, an arts high school. Greensboro has the state's first early college, The Early College at Guilford, ranked byU.S. News & World Report in 2021 as North Carolina's best public school and the #2 STEM school in the country.[201][202]
Greensboro is a part of the Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point televisiondesignated market area and includes the following commercial broadcast stations (listed by call letters, channel number, network and city of license):
Greensboro's Child, documentary about the 1979 Greensboro Massacre and the shadow it cast on the survivors[247]
Greensboro: Closer to the Truth, Rome International Film Festival anddeadCENTER Film Festival award-winning 2007 documentary about the 1979 Greensboro Massacre and aftermath[248][249]
Elvis Presley's concert in Greensboro in April 1972 was professionally recorded and became part of theGolden Globe award-winning musical documentaryElvis on Tour featuring Elvis in three different concerts, including the one in Greensboro.[250]
The Greensboro Police Department (GPD) consist of approximately 787 sworn law enforcement officers and non-sworn employees.[251] In March 2024, Officer Terrence Harris stated that the department was short 80 of its desired 650 sworn officer positions.[252]
The Greensboro Fire Department providesfire protection and assist withemergency medical services (EMS) throughout the city.[253] Guilford County EMS is the primary resource for EMS in Greensboro and the surrounding areas within Guilford County.
Amtrak trains, taxis, local and long-distance buses arrive and depart from theJ. Douglas Galyon Depot, also known as Greensboro station, at 236-C East Washington Street. Originally constructed in the early 1920s, the station and depot were renovated in 2004.[262]
The Greensboro Greenway is a bike trail that is being constructed to encircle downtown Greensboro. It will connect to other trails and lead out to the Bur-Mil Park area and further.[264][265]
Interstate 40 serves as the main east–west freeway in the city, in which its junction with US 29 forms the "Death Valley", a congested and accident-prone stretch of the interstate where multiple major federal and interstate routes had at a time, combine into a single freeway facility.[266][267] Interstate 85 goes through Greensboro in a southwest and northeast direction, serving as major throughafare between the three largest cities in the state, Greensboro itself, Raleigh, and Charlotte.
TheGreensboro Urban Loop is a freeway that encircles the city. Sections of thebeltway are formed fromInterstate 73 andInterstate 85.U.S. Highway 29—which travels through the southern, eastern and northern sections of the city before heading northeast toward suburbanReidsville—is a major route in Greensboro and offers freeway access to its more urban and central areas.[268][269][270]
Wendover Avenue gives direct access to Downtown Greensboro, with its freeway section. The whole route is designated asUS 70.
Other major expressways, freeways, and major arterial routes are present in the city. O'Henry Boulevard serves as mostly freeway, carrying US 29 in central Greensboro, after a short overlapping with I-40. NC 68, which gives access to the PTI Airport near Colfax, serves as both a boulevard and expressway in said area. Bryan Boulevard connects Downtown with the PTI, as a freeway spur that connects to I 74 and I 840.
^The normal window for freezing temperatures is November 2 thru April 4.
^Occasionally this never occurs in an entire winter or even calendar year; the last such occurrence was the winter of 2011–12 and 2012, respectively.
^Seasonal snowfall accumulation has ranged from 32.5 in (82.6 cm) in the winter of 1926–27 to zero in the following winter (1927–28). A trace of snow was recorded as recently as the winter of 1991–92.
^Mean monthly maxima and minima (i.e. the expected highest and lowest temperature readings at any point during the year or given month) calculated based on data at said location from 1991 to 2020.
^Official records for Greensboro have been kept since January 1903; Piedmont Triad Int'l was made the official climatology station in November 1928. For more information, seeThreadex.
^"The Battle of Guilford Courthouse".North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, Office of Archives and History. Learnnc.org. Archived fromthe original on January 26, 2017. RetrievedJanuary 9, 2017.
^Stockard, Sallie W.The History of Guilford County, North Carolina. Knoxville, Tennessee, 1902. p. 37
^abFripp, Gayle Hicks (2001).Greensboro, a Chosen Center.Sun Valley, California: American Historical Press.
^abcdeRobinson, Blackwell P.; Stoesen, Alexander R. (1981). Sydney M. Cone, Jr. (ed.).The History of Guilford County, North Carolina, U.S.A. to 1980, A.D.
^McLaughlin, Nancy H. (February 2, 2010)."Countless acts of heroism".News-Record.com. Archived fromthe original on September 10, 2012. RetrievedAugust 11, 2012.
^Waller, Signe (November 1, 2002).Love and Revolution: A Political Memoir: People's History of the Greensboro Massacre, Its Setting and Aftermath.Rowman & Littlefield. p. 49.ISBN978-0-7425-1365-5.
^"Willie Grimes". North Carolina A&T University, Bluford Library. Archived fromthe original on December 20, 2013. RetrievedSeptember 2, 2012.
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