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163-392: Robeson County ( / ˈ r ɒ b ɪ s ə n / ROB -ih-sun ) is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of North Carolina and is its largest county by land area. Its county seat and largest community is Lumberton . The county was formed in 1787 from part of Bladen County and named in honor of Thomas Robeson, a colonel who had led Patriot forces in the area during

326-473: A U.S. state or other territories of the United States which consists of a geographic area with specific boundaries and usually some level of governmental authority. The term " county " is used in 48 states, while Louisiana and Alaska have functionally equivalent subdivisions called parishes and boroughs , respectively. Counties and other local governments exist as a matter of U.S. state law , so

489-1054: A city , town , or village . A few counties directly provide public transportation themselves, usually in the form of a simple bus system. However, in most counties, public transportation is provided by one of the following: a special district that is coterminous with the county (but exists separately from the county government), a multi-county regional transit authority, or a state agency. In western and southern states, more populated counties provide many facilities, such as airports, convention centers , museums, recreation centers , beaches, harbors, zoos, clinics, law libraries , and public housing . They provide services such as child and family services, elder services, mental health services, welfare services, veterans assistance services, animal control , probation supervision, historic preservation, food safety regulation, and environmental health services. They have many additional officials like public defenders , arts commissioners, human rights commissioners, and planning commissioners. There may be

652-446: A consolidated city-county or independent city exists, a city council usually governs city/county or city affairs. In some counties, day-to-day operations are overseen by an elected county executive or by a chief administrative officer or county administrator who reports to the board, the mayor, or both. In many states, the board in charge of a county holds powers that transcend all three traditional branches of government. It has

815-846: A public transport bus service , the South East Area Transit System. Airplane facilities are provided by the Lumberton Municipal Airport in Lumberton. The Laurinburg–Maxton Airport , situated in Scotland County near the border with Robeson, serves both the Scotland city of Laurinburg and the Robeson town of Maxton. Railroads in Robeson County are operated by CSX Transportation . The longest straight stretch of railroad track in

978-452: A 0.91 percent increase in the county's population between 2020 and 2023. Robeson County is run by a commission–manager government . The county commission comprises eight members elected from single-member districts in four-year staggered terms. Presided over by a chair elected by the commissioners from among their members for one year, the commission has legislative and policy-making authority over county government. The commissioners appoint

1141-424: A county fire department and a county police department – as distinguished from fire and police departments operated by individual cities, special districts, or the state government. For example, Gwinnett County, Georgia , and its county seat, the city of Lawrenceville , each have their own police departments. (A separate county sheriff's department is responsible for security of the county courts and administration of

1304-399: A county manager with executive authority over county administration and implement the commission's decisions. The manager appoints directors of county government departments. The county government supplies emergency services, social services, public health services, recreation, and economic development in its jurisdiction. It also maintains a water system and landfill. A local property tax funds

1467-539: A crucial part of the early economy. The proliferation of the cotton gin and rising demand for cotton led Robeson County to become one of the state's major cotton-producing counties throughout the 1800s. The Lowry War was fought between a group of mostly-Native American outlaws and local authorities during the latter stages of the American Civil War and through the Reconstruction era . After Reconstruction ended,

1630-400: A declaration of outlawry against Lowry and some of his associates, dividing the local Republican Party and threatening their hold on county politics. In an attempt to broker a solution, local Republicans convinced Lowry to surrender himself to be tried in the postwar court system, but he shortly thereafter escaped. The Lowry Gang then killed Reuben King, the former sheriff of the county, during

1793-460: A few counties bear names of Native American , French, or Spanish origin. Counties are most often named for people, often political figures or early settlers, with over 2,100 of the 3,144 total so named. The most common county name, with 31, is Washington County , for America's first president, George Washington . Up until 1871, there was a Washington County within the District of Columbia , but it

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1956-534: A former director of the Wilmington, Charlotte and Rutherford Railroad , testified that they were peaceful but were stubborn and lazy workers. Many Scuffletonians suffered from prolonged periods of hunger, especially during the American Civil War , when Scuffletonians attempting to dodge labor conscription for Confederate fort construction hid in the swamps and did not tend to their crops. The tension raised by

2119-400: A land area of 20,057 square miles (51,947 km ). The least extensive county is Kalawao County, Hawaii , with a land area of 11.991 square miles (31.058 km ). The least extensive county equivalent in the 50 states is the independent city of Falls Church, Virginia , with a land area of 1.999 square miles (5.177 km ). If U.S. territories are included,

2282-453: A large number of counties, and many Western states were sparsely populated when counties were created by their respective state legislatures. The five counties of Rhode Island and eight of the 14 counties of Massachusetts no longer have functional county governments, but continue to exist as legal and census entities. Connecticut abolished county governments in 1960, leaving its eight counties as mere legal and census entities. In 2022,

2445-463: A loss of 17,638 people between 2010 and 2020, a decline of 13.1 percent and the largest numerical decline among North Carolina's counties. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses, the white demographic experienced the largest decrease in size, while Hispanics and people who identify as two or more races experienced the most significant increases. The proportion of county residents under the age of 18 dropped by 22 percent. The North Carolina Rural Center reported

2608-403: A newspaper in the 1870s that most Scuffletonians were of a mix of white and indigenous descent, very rarely intermingling with blacks. According to historian Malinda Maynor Lowery, in the early 1800s intermarriage and social interaction among blacks, whites, and Native Americans was common in the community, though this faded over subsequent decades. "Scuffletown" was a pejorative name applied to

2771-415: A population over 100,000; 137 counties have a population over 500,000; 45 counties have a population over 1,000,000; and 14 counties have a population over 2,000,000. At the other extreme, 35 counties have a population under 1,000; 307 counties have a population under 5,000; 709 counties have a population under 10,000; and 1,492 counties have a population between 10,000 and 50,000. At the 2000 U.S. Census ,

2934-500: A prominent Indian farmer, of stealing two of his hogs and butchering them to feed Union escapees. He ordered the Lowry family to stay off his land under threat of being shot. In December, Barnes was ambushed and shot as he made his way to work. Shortly before he succumbed to his wounds, he accused William and Henry Berry Lowry , two sons of Allen, of committing the attack. The following January, Confederate Home Guard officer James Brantly Harris

3097-452: A regular crop. Many tobacco warehouses were built, and the town of Fairmont became the county's primary market town for the crop. Significant tobacco markets were also established in Rowland and Lumberton. The county's first cotton mill opened in 1897, and St. Pauls subsequently developed as the county's primary textile center. In the early 1900s, farmers organized a trade association and convinced

3260-524: A robbery in January 1869, ending all attempts by Reconstruction authorities to negotiate a settlement. The gang continued its raids. As a result federal troops were dispatched to assist the local authorities. In February 1872, the Lowry Gang committed their largest heist, stealing two safes from downtown Lumberton. Shortly thereafter, Henry Berry Lowry disappeared. Over the next two years, bounty hunters tracked down

3423-453: A significant amount of pro-segregation activity among whites in the South, including a resurgence in white supremacist Ku Klux Klan (KKK) activity. Klan activity and violence increased in Robeson in the early 1950s before being suppressed under pressure from the district solicitor and the federal government. In early 1958, Klan leader James W. "Catfish" Cole of South Carolina attempted to revive

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3586-470: A swampy area marked by occasional hills and log cabins of rudimentary build. These one-room structures had minimal furnishings, and their occupants usually slept on dirt floors. Most had no windows, though some had peepholes near their doors. Most of these provided shelter to individual nuclear families . These homesteads were typically surrounded by three or four acres of fields, which were plowed and planted with corn, potatoes, and rice. The poor quality of

3749-568: A system of tripartite segregation which was unique in the American South . However, whites generally regarded both the Indians and blacks as " colored ". Indians and blacks nevertheless maintained separate identities. Some other county facilities were separated for "Whites", "Negroes", and "Indians", including the courthouse in Lumberton. Under this racial hierarchy, whites constituted the dominant racial caste, and blacks were socially subordinated, while

3912-742: A unique name to identify their group. In 1952, the name Lumbee, inspired by the Lumbee/Lumber River, was approved by the Indians in a referendum, and the following year, the General Assembly formally recognized the label. In 1956, the United States Congress formally extended partial recognition to the Lumbee Tribe, affirming their existence as an Indigenous community but disallowing them from the use of federal funds and services available to other Native American groups. Other Indians rejected

4075-428: A unique system of tripartite racial segregation was instituted in the county to separate whites, blacks, and Native Americans. In the early 20th century, Robeson developed significant tobacco and textile industries while many of its swamp lands were drained and roads were paved. From the 1950s to the 1970s, the county experienced tensions over racial desegregation. During the same period, local agriculture mechanized, and

4238-516: A western section of Bladen County . It was named for Thomas Robeson, a colonel who had led Patriot forces in the area during the Revolutionary War. General John Willis, owner of the Red Banks plantation, lobbied to have the county's new seat of government located on his land. The site, to be known as Lumberton , was chosen due to its central location in the county, proximity to a reliable ford of

4401-428: Is Lake . Words from Native American languages, as well as the names of Native American leaders and tribes, lend their names to many counties. Quite a few counties bear names of French or Spanish origin, such as Marquette County being named after French missionary Father Jacques Marquette . The county's equivalent in the state of Louisiana, the parish (Fr. paroisse civile and Sp. parroquia ) took its name during

4564-564: Is 343 sq mi (890 km ), whereas in Utah it is 2,427 sq mi (6,290 km ). The most extensive county or county equivalent is the Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska , with a land area of 145,505 square miles (376,856 km ). All nine of the most extensive county equivalents are in Alaska. The most extensive county is San Bernardino County, California , with

4727-574: Is a 1725 map compiled by John Herbert, which identified four Siouan -speaking communities near Drowning Creek—later known as the Lumber River . The Native American/American Indian-descent people in the Lumber River valley eventually coalesced into a series of farming communities collectively dubbed " Scuffletown " by whites but known by inhabitants as "the Settlement". The date of Scuffletown's formation

4890-410: Is also one of the westernmost regular habitats in the state for American alligators . Plant life supported by the river includes bald cypress, gum, poplar, loblolly-bay , and juniper trees. Ferns, Virginia creeper , Spanish moss , pitcher plants , and Venus flytraps also reside along the river and its tributaries. As of the 2020 census , there were 116,530 people residing in the county. Lumberton

5053-541: Is an unusual case because it encompasses multiple entire counties in one city. Each of those counties is coextensive with one of the five boroughs of the city: Manhattan (New York County), The Bronx (Bronx County), Queens (Queens County), Brooklyn (Kings County), and Staten Island (Richmond County). Scuffletown, North Carolina The Lumbee people in southeastern North Carolina originated from various Native American /Indian groups which were greatly impacted by conflicts and infectious diseases dating back to

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5216-500: Is either done at the state level or at the municipal level. In Connecticut and parts of Massachusetts, regional councils have been established to partially fill the void left behind by the abolished county governments. The regional councils' authority is limited compared with a county government—they have authority only over infrastructure and land use planning, distribution of state and federal funds for infrastructure projects, emergency preparedness, and limited law enforcement duties. In

5379-399: Is greater than the populations of 41 U.S. states, and is only slightly smaller than the combined population of the 10 least populous states and Washington, D.C. It also makes the population of Los Angeles County 17.4 times greater than that of the least populous state, Wyoming. The second most populous county is Cook County, Illinois , with a population of 5,275,541. Cook County's population

5542-529: Is land and 1.96 square miles (5.1 km) (0.21%) is water. It is the largest county in North Carolina by area. Owing to its large size, the county was historically sometimes referred to informally as the "State of Robeson". It is bordered by the North Carolina counties of Bladen , Columbus , Cumberland , Hoke , and Scotland , and the South Carolina counties of Dillon , Horry , and Marlboro . Robeson

5705-455: Is larger than that of 28 individual U.S. states and the combined populations of the six smallest states. The least populous county is Loving County, Texas , with 64 residents in 2020. Eight county equivalents in the U.S. territories have no human population: Rose Atoll , Northern Islands Municipality , Baker Island , Howland Island , Jarvis Island , Johnston Atoll , Kingman Reef , and Navassa Island . The remaining three islands in

5868-483: Is located in the state's Coastal Plain region and is one of the state's ten counties within the Sandhills region, characterized by sandy and fertile soil. It hosts 11 major soil types, mostly sandy loams . It has a temperate climate and rarely experiences snowfall. The county hosts many pocosins , bald cypress forests, Carolina bays , creeks (including Shoe Heel and Big Shoe Heel), and 50 swamps. The swamps feed into

6031-766: Is no formal level of government (municipality, public education, or otherwise) existing below that of the county in the state. In most Midwestern and Northeastern states, counties are further subdivided into townships or towns , which sometimes exercise local powers or administration. Throughout the United States, counties may contain other independent, self-governing municipalities . In New England, counties function at most as judicial court districts and sheriff's departments (presently, in Connecticut only as judicial court districts—and in Rhode Island , they have lost both those functions and most others but they are still used by

6194-410: Is rarely a county responsibility, execution of capital punishment is never a county responsibility, and the state's responses to prisoners' appeals are the responsibility of the state attorney general , who has to defend before the state appellate courts the prosecutions conducted by locally elected district attorneys in the name of the state. Furthermore, county-level trial court judges are officers of

6357-557: Is simultaneously a city, which is a municipality (municipal corporation), and a county, which is an administrative division of a state, having the powers and responsibilities of both types of entities. The city limit or jurisdiction is synonymous with the county line, as the two administrative entities become a non-dichotomous single entity. For this reason, a consolidated city-county is officially remarked as name of city – name of county (i.e., Augusta–Richmond County in Georgia). The same

6520-501: Is true of the boroughs of New York City , each of which is coextensive with a county of New York State. For those entities in which the city uses the same name as the county, city and county of name may be used (i.e., City and County of Denver in Colorado). Similarly, some of Alaska 's boroughs have merged with their principal cities, creating unified city-boroughs. Some such consolidations and mergers have created cities that rank among

6683-643: Is unknown as was its actual location. Some scholars believe it was in the vicinity of the later town of Pembroke while others place it at Moss Neck . Historians Adolph Dial and David K. Eliades believed it was a mobile community. Others still believe the name applied broadly to any concentration of Indians in the area. Culturally, the Scuffletonians were similar to other Europeans in their dress and style of homes. They were Protestant Christians and spoke English, though they spoke an "older form", which set them apart from later settlers. Not viewed as Native Americans by

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6846-480: Is unknown. According to Mary Norment, a white Robesonian and the widow of a man killed in the Lowry War , and North Carolina Adjutant General John C. Gorman, Scuffletown was created after Tuscarora farmers were forced off their land in the 1700s and retreated into sandy, swampy lands in the vicinity of the Lumber River , where they were joined by runaway enslaved Africans. Conversely, one white Robesonian reported to

7009-634: The Alaska Constitutional Convention wanted to avoid the traditional county system and adopted their own unique model with different types of boroughs varying in powers and duties. In some states, these powers are partly or mostly devolved to the counties' smaller divisions usually called townships , though in New York, New England and Wisconsin they are called "towns". The county may or may not be able to override its townships on certain matters, depending on state law. The newest county in

7172-454: The City and County of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ; City and County of San Francisco, California ; and Lynchburg-Moore County, Tennessee A consolidated city-county may still contain independent municipalities maintaining some governmental powers that did not merge with the rest of the county. For example, the government of Jacksonville–Duval County, Florida , still provides county-level services to

7335-544: The Fair and Equitable Tobacco Reform Act of 2004 caused deep economic and social damage, with increasing underemployment , rising poverty, growing welfare dependency , and an increase in certain types of crimes. Economic development thereafter increasingly focused on the supply of fossil fuels, poultry farming, biogas and biomass facilities, and logging. The Latino population also increased as Mexican immigrants—many of them undocumented —supplanted black agricultural workers. In 2016,

7498-597: The Mid-Atlantic and Midwest , counties typically provide, at a minimum, courts, public utilities , libraries, hospitals, public health services, parks, roads, law enforcement, and jails. There is usually a county registrar, recorder, or clerk (the exact title varies) who collects vital statistics , holds elections (sometimes in coordination with a separate elections office or commission), and prepares or processes certificates of births, deaths, marriages, and dissolutions (divorce decrees). The county recorder normally maintains

7661-552: The New York City Borough of Manhattan), with 72,033 persons per square mile (27,812 persons/km ) in 2015. The Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska , is both the most extensive and the least densely populated county or county equivalent with 0.0380 persons per square mile (0.0147 persons/km ) in 2015. In the 50 states (plus the District of Columbia), a total of 981 counties have a population over 50,000; 592 counties have

7824-653: The North Carolina Senate 's 24th district , and the North Carolina House of Representatives ' 46th and 47th district. Robeson is one of the four counties within the jurisdiction of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina . Tribal members within the county elect some members of the tribal council. Its headquarters is in Pembroke. Robeson County lies within the bounds of North Carolina's 20th Prosecutorial District,

7987-559: The Province of Maine founded York County . Massachusetts followed in 1643. Pennsylvania and New York delegated significant power and responsibility from the colony government to county governments and thereby established a pattern for most of the United States, although counties remained relatively weak in New England . When independence came, the framers of the Constitution left

8150-627: The Revolutionary War . As of the 2020 census , the county's population was 116,530. It is a majority-minority county; its residents are approximately 38 percent Native American , 22 percent white, 22 percent black, and 10 percent Hispanic. It is included in the Fayetteville -Lumberton- Pinehurst , NC Combined Statistical Area . The state-recognized Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina is headquartered in Pembroke . The area eventually comprising Robeson

8313-437: The U.S. Minor Outlying Islands ( Midway Atoll , Palmyra Atoll and Wake Island ) have small non-permanent human populations. The county equivalent with the smallest non-zero population counted in the census is Swains Island, American Samoa (17 people), although since 2008 this population has not been permanent either. The most densely populated county or county equivalent is New York County, New York (coextensive with

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8476-569: The USGS counts Guam's election districts (villages) as county equivalents. The U.S. Census Bureau counts the 3 main islands in the U.S. Virgin Islands as county equivalents, while the USGS counts the districts of the U.S. Virgin Islands (of which there are 2) as county equivalents. Common sources of county names are names of people, geographic features, places in other states or countries, and animals. Quite

8639-671: The United States Census Bureau and some other federal agencies for some federal functions), and most of the governmental authority below the state level is in the hands of towns and cities . In several of Maine's sparsely populated counties, small towns rely on the county for law enforcement, and in New Hampshire several social programs are administered at the state level. In Connecticut, Rhode Island, and parts of Massachusetts, counties are now only geographic designations, and they do not have any governmental powers. All government

8802-419: The cotton gin and rising demand for cotton led it to be rapidly adopted, and Robeson County became one of the state's major cotton-producing counties throughout much of the 1800s. Wealthy white planters held the best land in the county, and often outcompeted smallholding Indian and white farmers due to the aid of enslaved labor, creating stark class divisions. Cotton demand facilitated the growth of slavery and

8965-466: The county seat ("parish seat" in Louisiana, "borough seat" in Alaska, or " shire town " in several New England counties). The county seat usually resides in a municipality. However, some counties may have multiple seats or no seat. In some counties with no incorporated municipalities, a large settlement may serve as the county seat. The power of county governments varies widely from state to state, as does

9128-473: The median land area of U.S. counties was 622 sq mi (1,610 km ), which is two-thirds of the median land area of a ceremonial county of England , and a little more than a quarter of the median land area of a French département . Counties in the western United States typically have a much larger land area than those in the eastern United States. For example, the median land area of counties in Georgia

9291-544: The "tied mule" incidents were emblematic of this. In these scenarios, a farmer would tie his mule to an Indian's land and release some of his cattle there before bringing local authorities to the scene to accuse the Indian landowner of theft. Doubtful of a fair trial in the courts, an Indian would settle with the farmer by offering him a portion of land or free labor. By the 1860s, many Indians were landless. The legal discrimination and exploitative practices heightened racial tensions in

9454-647: The 16B Superior Court District, and the 16B District Court District. County residents elect a county sheriff, clerk of Superior Court , and district attorney. Judicial officials work out of the Robeson County Courthouse in Lumberton. Law enforcement is provided across the county by the sheriff's office, while the University of North Carolina at Pembroke and the towns of Lumberton, St. Pauls, Maxton, Red Springs, Rowland, Pembroke, and Fairmont retain police departments. According to an October 2021 report issued by

9617-409: The 1970s. The trade of marijuana eventually supplanted moonshine before being overtaken by cocaine trafficking in the 1980s, which was enabled by the county's midway location between Miami and New York City along Interstate 95 . The drug trade was fueled by worsening economic prospects in the region which began with the 1970s energy crisis and increased living costs. By the mid-1980s, local agriculture

9780-425: The 1990s and early 2000s, which have now been supplanted by the supply of fossil fuels, poultry farming, biogas and bio-mass facilities, and logging. Robeson continues to rank low on several statewide socioeconomic indicators. Indigenous people have lived in the region as early as 20,000 BCE, though little is known about those who lived there in the pre-colonial and early colonial eras. Archeological excavations in

9943-504: The 1990s. In recent years commercial activity has grown along the Interstate 95 corridor, Chicken processing, pork processing, and the pellet fuel industry have supplanted much of the former textile industry. The significant presence of such high-pollution industries in the county has led some residents to describe the area as a sacrifice zone . Health care/social assistance, manufacturing, retail, education, and accommodation/food service are

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10106-451: The 50 states and District of Columbia. There are an additional 100 county equivalents in the territories of the United States . The average number of counties per state is 62, with a range from the three counties of Delaware to the 254 counties of Texas . Southern and Midwestern states generally tend to have more counties than Western or Northeastern states, as many Northeastern states are not large enough in area to warrant

10269-454: The 50 states and the District of Columbia. If the 100 county equivalents in the U.S. territories are counted, then the total is 3,244 counties and county-equivalents in the United States. The idea of counties originated with the counties of England . English (after 1707, British ) colonists brought to their colonies in North America a political subdivision that they already used in

10432-973: The British metropole : the counties. Counties were among the earliest units of local government established in the Thirteen Colonies that would become the United States. Virginia created the first counties in order to ease the administrative workload in Jamestown . The House of Burgesses divided the colony first into four "incorporations" in 1617 and finally into eight shires (or counties) in 1634: James City , Henrico , Charles City , Charles River , Warrosquyoake , Accomac , Elizabeth City , and Warwick River . America's oldest intact county court records can be found at Eastville, Virginia , in Northampton (originally Accomac) County , dating to 1632. Maryland established its first county, St. Mary's in 1637. In 1639,

10595-620: The Confederacy was an oppressive regime. This change in attitudes was brought on by their contact with Union prisoner-of-war escapees from the Florence Stockade , 60 miles (97 km) away in South Carolina. Indians became increasingly willing to help the Union soldiers escape and avoid recapture. As time progressed, some of the swamp deserters—including Indians, blacks, and Union soldiers—formed bands to raid and steal from area farms, though this

10758-501: The Home Guard suspected that the Lowry family was primarily responsible. On March 3, 1865, a Home Guard detachment arrested Allen Lowry and several others. Following an impromptu tribunal, the guardsmen executed Allen and his son William for allegedly possessing stolen goods. The Home Guard was briefly disrupted by the incursion of Sherman's troops several days later but resumed investigating the Lowry family thereafter. These events initiated

10921-461: The Indians and other free persons of color for labor along the coast, especially at Fort Fisher . The Indians were usually tasked to either construct batteries or grind salt. Most found the work dangerous and monotonous, and the conditions at the labor camps were poor. Many consequently fled into the swamps of Robeson County to avoid conscription. Though some Indians still sought to serve in the army during this time, by late 1863, most had concluded that

11084-602: The Indians formed a middle caste and, though retaining more privileges than blacks, were still subject to discrimination. The county's second rail line was established in 1884 by the Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railway , connecting Lumber Bridge , Red Springs , and Maxton. In 1892, the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad built a north–south line through the county, intersecting with the Wilmington, Charlotte and Rutherford Railroad at

11247-634: The Klan in Robeson County. His group burned crosses in St. Pauls and Lumberton to intimidate the Lumbee community before advertising a rally to be held at Hayes Pond, near Maxton. The rally was held on the evening of January 18, attended by about 50 Klansmen—most not from the county, and joined by several hundred armed Lumbees. The Lumbees opened fire, inflicting minor injuries and causing the Klansmen to disperse. The event, dubbed by

11410-706: The Lowry War, a conflict which dominated Robeson County throughout the Reconstruction period. The situation in Robeson County briefly calmed with the Union victory, as locals focused on rebuilding their livelihoods. The region suffered an economic downturn brought on by an agricultural depression and the destruction of the turpentine industry by Union troops. Some white Robesonians moved down the Lumber River into South Carolina in search of new farmland, while others moved west. Many black freedmen turned to tenant farming . Local government in Robeson mostly continued as it had during

11573-586: The Lowry and Oxendine families to have better means than other Scuffletonians, with the former having better homes owing to many family members being carpenters by trade. According to Norment, the Scuffletonians were notorious for loose morals and committing petty crime, including theft of neighbors' livestock and engaging in drunken brawls. She also reported that despite being Protestant Christians, many were superstitious and believed in fairies, ghosts, and spirits. They attended their own churches and would sometimes listen to preaching circuit ministers. H. W. Guion,

11736-419: The Lumbee Tribe. The area also began increasingly voting for Republican state and local candidates, with Robesonians in 2016 electing their first Republican state senator since Reconstruction. In 2020, Republicans won most races in the county. As of April 2022, Robeson hosts about 70,400 registered voters, comprising about 36,500 registered Democrats, 12,300 registered Republicans and 21,300 unaffiliated. Trump won

11899-578: The Lumbee designation and identified themselves as Tuscarora—stressing a connection to the Tuscarora people who had populated North Carolina in the 1700s—intending to secure a better chance at full federal recognition. In 1954, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Brown v. Board of Education , ruling that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. The ruling sparked

12062-464: The Lumber River, and as it was where several roads intersected. The first county courthouse was a wooden residence sold by Willis, which was moved into place after the land was cleared. Lumberton served as county residents' primary area of commerce for much of the area's early history, as transportation links with major regional cities elsewhere were tenuous. The 1790 United States census recorded 5,356 county residents. The county's first U.S. Post Office

12225-994: The Lumber River, which flows eastward from the northwest corner of the county to the southeast corner. Portions of the Lumber River State Park are located in Robeson, as is the entirety of the Warwick Mill Bay State Natural Area . The two state game lands in the county are Bullard and Branch Hunting Preserve and Robeson Game Land. Most of Robeson County lies within the Lumber River basin. The river and its banks support many flora and fauna. Resident mammals include deer, raccoons, muskrats, beavers, minks, and otters. The river also supports wild turkeys and several varieties of ducks. Local fish include catfish, robin, perch, pike, bluegill bream, jack, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, black crappie, and redbreast sunfish. Reptilian life includes copperhead snakes and some water snakes including cottonmouths . Robeson County

12388-612: The PSRC supports the Robeson Planetarium , while county government also runs seven libraries. A county history museum is located in Lumberton. According to the 2022 American Community Survey , an estimated 16.4 percent of county residents have attained a bachelor's degree or higher level of education. County (United States) In the United States , a county or county equivalent is an administrative or political subdivision of

12551-551: The State Bureau of Investigation, in 2020 Robeson experienced the highest violent crime rate of the state's counties at 1,190 incidents per 100,000 people, and the third-worst overall crime rate. Politically, Robeson County has historically been dominated by the Democratic Party. A majority of Robesonians voted for Republican presidential candidate Richard Nixon in 1972 , but then voted for Democratic presidential candidates in

12714-644: The U.S. Census Bureau began to also count Connecticut's Councils of Governments , which took over some of the regional powers from the state's former county governments, as county equivalents. Territories of the United States do not have counties; instead, the United States Census Bureau also divides them into county equivalents. The U.S. Census Bureau counts American Samoa 's districts and atolls as county equivalents. American Samoa locally has places called "counties", but these entities are considered to be " minor civil divisions " (not true counties) by

12877-473: The U.S. Census Bureau recognized the state's nine Councils of Governments as replacement for the state's eight legacy counties for all statistical purposes; full implementation was completed in 2024. The average U.S. county population was 104,435 in 2019, while the median county, which is Nicholas County, West Virginia , had a population of 25,965 in 2019. The most populous county is Los Angeles County, California , with 10,014,009 residents in 2020. This number

13040-475: The U.S. Census Bureau treats American Samoa's three districts and two atolls as county equivalents). American Samoa's counties are treated as minor civil divisions. Most territories are directly divided into municipalities or similar units, which are treated as equivalent of counties for statistical purposes: The U.S. Census Bureau counts all of Guam as one county equivalent (with the FIPS code 66010), while

13203-683: The U.S. Census Bureau. The number of counties per state ranges from the three counties of Delaware to the 254 counties of Texas . County populations also vary widely: in 2017, according to the Census Bureau, more than half the U.S. population was concentrated in just 143 of the more than 3,000 counties, or just 4.6% of all counties; the five most populous counties, ordered from most to least, are Los Angeles County, California ; Cook County, Illinois ; Harris County, Texas ; Maricopa County, Arizona ; and San Diego County, California . As of 2022 , there are 3,144 counties and county-equivalents in

13366-413: The United States in 1912. Following the passage of a state drainage law in 1909, many swamps in the county were drained to increase usable farmland, improve transportation, and reduce malaria cases. Work on the drainage of the nearly 22,000-acre Back Swamp was completed in 1918. Most major roads in the county were paved with state support between the 1920s and 1947. In 1929, Robeson became the first county in

13529-484: The United States is the city and county of Broomfield, Colorado , established in 2001 as a consolidated city-county , previously part of four counties. The newest county equivalents are the Alaskan census areas of Chugach and Copper River , both established in 2019, and the Alaskan boroughs of Petersburg established in 2013, Wrangell established in 2008, and Skagway established in 2007. A consolidated city-county

13692-414: The United States to appoint a county manager . Like the rest of the country, local agriculture suffered throughout the 1920s following World War I due to decreased demand and limited crop market opportunities. The Great Depression led to a severe decline in tobacco prices. Area farmers responded by increasing their output, but the expanded agricultural supply only lowered crop prices. Robesonians dubbed

13855-463: The United States, spanning 78.86 miles, passes through Robeson. The Public Schools of Robeson County (PSRC) operates public schools, with its jurisdiction being the entire county. As of 2022, the system operates 36 schools and serves about 23,000 students. The state classifies the PSRC as a low-performing district. The county hosts two post-secondary institutions: the University of North Carolina at Pembroke and Robeson Community College . Additionally,

14018-419: The age of 25 lacked a high school diploma , and the local unemployment rate was higher than the state average. Native Americans and blacks suffered disproportionately from the lack of prosperity, and many Native Americans partook in the drug trade. Narcotics-related activities led to murders and stoked social unrest, political tensions, and police corruption. Robeson's homicide rate grew to four times worse than

14181-437: The area as late as the 1860s. English and a few French settlers moved into the eastern portion of the eventual county. Despite the increase in settlement, population levels in the Lumber River valley remained low for many years, as swamps and thick vegetation divided arable land and made transportation difficult. The production of timber and naval stores formed a key part of the area's early economy, with logs being floated down

14344-454: The area eventually encompassing Robeson County have uncovered glass beads —often used by Native Americans in trade, pottery, and clay pipes. Archeologist Stanley Knick concluded that the land had been inhabited continuously from 12,000 BCE in the early Paleo-Indian period through the Archaic and Woodland periods and up to the present. The earliest written mention of Native Americans in the area

14507-576: The area of Scuffletown. She wrote "the boundaries of 'Scuffletown' cannot be defined because it was not the custom of native people to define geographic boundaries...[the Scuffletown] designation is more an identification of families and clans, while the incorporated limits of Pembroke are recognized as the geographic, economic, and educational center of Native American country." Scuffletown had no public streets or buildings and no local government. Contemporary accounts by Norment and journalists describe it as

14670-464: The area owned by James Lowry (an ancestor of Lumbee outlaw Henry Berry Lowry ) in the 1700s and, after becoming drunk, would do a "broad shuffle". One tradition suggests that Continental Army General Burwell Vick was staying at the tavern in the 1700s after the American Revolution and named the surrounding area in homage to drunken scuffles that took place at the tavern, as a way of suggesting

14833-412: The area. In 1848, a new county courthouse was constructed to replace the original building. Lumberton was formally incorporated four years later. In 1860, the Wilmington, Charlotte and Rutherford Railroad was laid through the county as its first railway. By April 1861, the line reached the town of Shoe Heel—later known as Maxton . The introduction of the railroad facilitated the creation of new towns in

14996-571: The assignment of black staff and white and black students to their institutions. In early 1973, dozens of buildings in the county, most of them owned by whites, were set ablaze. In March, Old Main , a historic building on Pembroke State's campus, which had symbolic importance to the Native American community, was burned. In 1974, a federal court ruled that the "double voting" system used by the county school board, whereby both county residents and municipal residents could vote for board members—despite

15159-544: The authorities by hiding in swamps with a group of associates, which became known as the Lowry Gang. Although a somewhat fluid band at times numbering 20–30 men, the gang usually operated with six to eight men. The principle members were primarily relatives of Lowry, though the gang also included two blacks and a poor white. They usually stayed in improvised shelters in Back Swamp, a ten-mile-long stretch of sparsely-traveled land near Allen Lowry's homestead. Throughout 1866 and 1867,

15322-530: The bands became predominantly Indian. Union forces entered Lumberton on March 9, burning two bridges and a depot. They also foraged off the locals' goods, seizing draft animals, cattle, and crops. The bulk of Confederate forces surrendered at Appomattox , Virginia shortly thereafter. On May 15, enslaved people in Robeson were declared emancipated. In 1864, during the latter stages of the Civil War, Confederate postmaster James P. Barnes accused some sons of Allen Lowry,

15485-402: The board. These positions may include county clerk , county treasurer , county surrogate, sheriff , and others. District attorneys or state attorneys are usually state-level as opposed to county-level officials, but in many states, counties and state judicial districts have coterminous boundaries. The site of a county's administration, and often the county courthouse , is generally called

15648-410: The city and the county at least nominally exist, they are properly classified as counties in their own right. Likewise, the boroughs of New York City are coextensive with counties and are therefore by definition also not county equivalents. There are technically no counties in U.S. territories. American Samoa has its own counties , but the U.S. Census Bureau does not treat them as counties (instead,

15811-419: The community by white Robesonians. Its own residents called it "the Settlement". The origins of the name are not certain. Norment suggested that one possible origin of the name was "It was generally a scuffle with the mulattos to live to live—to keep body and soul together, owing to their improvident habits." Another explanation she offered was that mulattos were known to gather at a tavern at Harper's Ferry in

15974-451: The completion of Interstate 95 within several years accelerated industrialization. By 1990, fewer than 2,300 Robesonians worked in agriculture, and manufacturing accounted for a third of the county's employment. The tobacco and manufacturing sectors rapidly declined in the 1990s and 2000s, with manufacturing especially adversely impacted by several national free trade agreements. The Robeson County Office of Economic Development determined that

16137-459: The convention, the Democrats reversed many of the reforms instituted in the 1868 constitution, making it harder for Republicans and blacks to hold office. With Reconstruction thus ended, Democrats reasserted their dominance over politics in the South, but Republicans remained competitive in North Carolina, and the Indian population in Robeson continued to support them. Though Republicans still made up

16300-421: The county (which merely implements state law). A typical criminal defendant will be arraigned and subsequently indicted or held over for trial before a trial court in and for a particular county where the crime occurred, kept in the county jail (if he is not granted bail or cannot make bail), prosecuted by the county's district attorney, and tried before a jury selected from that county. But long-term incarceration

16463-500: The county again in 2024. With an estimated voter turnout rate of 59 percent, the county had the lowest turnout of any county in the 2024 elections. Robeson County largely relied on the textile and tobacco industries throughout the 20th century. Agriculture predominated in employment in 1960, and the county earned the second-highest agriculture-related revenue among all Southern counties, though its per-capita income remained low. By 1970, agriculture had been overtaken by manufacturing, and

16626-419: The county government to appoint a local commissioner for agriculture. In 1909, Robeson County's third courthouse was constructed. Two years later a portion of the county was split off and combined with a section of Cumberland County to form Hoke County . Bouts of typhoid, hookworm, smallpox, and a high infant mortality rate led Robeson's government to organize the first county-level public health department in

16789-616: The county government. Several county departments are headquartered in the Robeson County Administration Center in Lumberton. Robeson County is a member of the Lumber River Council of Governments , a regional planning board representing five counties. The county also has a Soil and Water Conservation District led by an elected supervisor. Robeson County is located in North Carolina's 7th congressional district ,

16952-457: The county jail.) In several southern states, public school systems are organized and administered at the county level. As of 2024 , there were 2,999 counties, 64 Louisiana parishes , 19 organized boroughs and 11 census areas in Alaska, 9 Councils of Government in Connecticut, 41 independent cities , and the District of Columbia for a total of 3,144 counties and county equivalents in

17115-429: The county school board to integrate its institutions. The board responded by dissolving special Native American districts and consolidating Native students with black and white schools. This did not affect most white students in the county, who were largely served by independent municipal school districts. Feeling a loss of control over their traditional schools, many Lumbees and Tuscaroras protested integration and resisted

17278-463: The county school system and declining state education subsidies led the county school board to close nine schools in 2019. During the 2020 presidential election , President Donald Trump held a rally in Robeson County, marking the first time a sitting president had ever held a formal appearance there. According to the U.S. Census Bureau , the county has a total area of 949.26 square miles (2,458.6 km), of which 947.30 square miles (2,453.5 km)

17441-464: The county was impacted by Hurricane Matthew , leading to record flooding in Lumberton. In 2018, the county was struck by Hurricane Florence , which broke the record. The storms heavily damaged thousands of residences throughout the county, and entire streets in south and west Lumberton were left abandoned. The destruction of significant affordable housing accelerated a population decline in the county, which had begun in 2013. Falling student enrollments in

17604-806: The county. North Carolina seceded from the United States in 1861 and joined the Confederate States of America to fight in the American Civil War . Many Indians and Buckskin whites were unenthusiastic about the war; most local supporters of the Confederate cause were wealthy or well-educated. Some Indian men enlisted in the Confederate States Army , though it is unknown whether they were accepted as recognized Indians or passed as white. Major white enslavers were exempted from service, as were those wealthy enough to pay for surrogates to serve in their place. In 1863, Confederate authorities began conscripting

17767-449: The electoral support of black freedmen, Indians, and poor Buckskin whites. Republican officials were reluctant to take any action concerning the lawlessness in Robeson since prosecuting former Home Guardsmen for their extrajudicial killings would harm their law and order campaign, while targeting the Lowry Gang would split their local base of support. Despite this, the new Republican Governor of North Carolina , William Woods Holden issued

17930-636: The expansion of plantations. By 1850, the county had a population of 7,290 whites, 4,365 enslaved people, and 1,171 free persons of color . In 1835 a new Constitution of North Carolina was ratified, which restricted the ability of "free persons of color" and "free persons of mixed blood" to vote and bear arms. While having previously enjoyed the same political rights as white people, the new constitution disenfranchised Native Americans. White farmers in Robeson County also sought ways to obtain Native Americans' land or labor. According to Indian oral tradition,

18093-399: The four independent municipalities within its borders: Atlantic Beach , Baldwin , Jacksonville Beach , and Neptune Beach . The term county equivalents is used by the United States Census Bureau to describe divisions that are comparable to counties but called by different names: Consolidated city-counties are not designated county equivalents for administrative purposes; since both

18256-499: The gang conducted raids "in retaliation" for previous wrongs inflicted upon them, but no people were killed. Following the passage of federal Reconstruction Acts in 1867 and the ratification of a new state constitution in North Carolina in 1868, nonwhites in Robeson, both black freedmen and Indians, were re-enfranchised. The Republican Party won a majority of the vote in elections in Robeson, displacing Conservative planter families who had dominated county affairs. The party relied on

18419-461: The general law of the state or by a charter specific to that county. States may allow only general-law counties, only charter counties, or both. Generally, general-law local governments have less autonomy than chartered local governments. Counties are usually governed by an elected body, variously called the county commission , board of supervisors , commissioners' court , county council , county court , or county legislature . In cases in which

18582-622: The geographically largest cities in the world, though often with population densities far below those of most urban areas. There are 40 consolidated city-counties in the U.S., including Augusta–Richmond County; the City and County of Denver, Colorado; the City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii ; Indianapolis–Marion County, Indiana ; Jacksonville–Duval County, Florida ; Louisville–Jefferson County, Kentucky ; Lexington–Fayette County, Kentucky ; Kansas City–Wyandotte County, Kansas ; Nashville–Davidson County, Tennessee ; New Orleans–Orleans Parish, Louisiana ;

18745-511: The implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement led to the closure of 32 manufacturing facilities and the loss of over 6,000 jobs between 1995 and 2005. From 1997 to 2007, the county lost 22,860 acres in farmland. Tobacco is still grown in the county, as are corn, soybeans, sorghum, peanuts, and cotton. Some local landowners raise pine trees and sell them as timber. Poultry farming has also rapidly increased since

18908-405: The judicial branch of the state government rather than county governments. In many states, the county controls all unincorporated lands within its boundaries. In states with a township tier, unincorporated land is controlled by the townships. Residents of unincorporated land who are dissatisfied with county-level or township-level resource allocation decisions can attempt to vote to incorporate as

19071-504: The land generated minimal agricultural yields. Horses were rare, and oxen were used as draft animals. Dogs were kept for hunting. Water was sourced from hand-dug wells. Scuffletown residents, who were mostly poor, also provided for themselves by picking wild blackberries and whortleberries, hunting and fishing, or working as day laborers for neighboring farmers. The latter work included digging ditches, splitting shingles, harvesting sap for turpentine, and other various jobs. Norment reported

19234-500: The largest police corruption investigation in state history and led to 22 officers, including the sheriff, being convicted for various crimes. Following the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1992, Robeson County lost thousands of manufacturing jobs, followed shortly by a knock-on loss of employment in other sectors. Deindustrialization coupled with the decline in the tobacco industry prompted by

19397-481: The largest-employing sectors in Robeson County. According to the 2022 American Community Survey one-year estimate, the median household income was $ 38,610. As of 2023, 28 percent of local residents are impoverished, making Robeson one of the poorest counties in the state. In its 2024 county economic tier ratings, the North Carolina Department of Commerce classified Robeson as tied with two other counties for

19560-459: The latter not being served by the county school system, was unconstitutional. Following a bitter 1986 referendum which received national attention, the municipal systems were merged with the county system in 1988. Pembroke State College was elevated to university in 1971 and was grouped under the University of North Carolina System the following year. In 1974 the county courthouse was demolished. It

19723-490: The lawlessness of the community. Other historians have suggested that the name was a corruption of "Scovilletown", a possible allusion to the Scoville family. Local residents were known as "Scuffletonians". The actual location of Scuffletown is disputed. Some scholars believe it was in the vicinity of the later town of Pembroke while others place it at Moss Neck . Historians Adolph L. Dial and David K. Eliades believed that it

19886-560: The least extensive county equivalent is Kingman Reef , with a land area of 0.01 square miles (0.03 km ). In some states, a municipality may be in only one county and may not annex territory in adjacent counties, but in the majority of states, the state constitution or state law allows municipalities to extend across county boundaries. At least 32 states include municipalities in multiple counties . Dallas , for example, contains portions of five counties, while numerous other cities comprise portions of four counties. New York City

20049-416: The legislative power to enact laws for the county; it has the executive power to oversee the executive operations of county government; and it has quasi-judicial power with regard to certain limited matters (such as hearing appeals from the planning commission if one exists). In many states, several important officials are elected separately from the board of commissioners or supervisors and cannot be fired by

20212-458: The majority of registered voters in Robeson, disagreements caused by the Lowry War prevented them from solidifying local control. The Indians also resisted being treated the same as blacks under the new socio-political hierarchy, who were relegated to a subordinate position. Hamilton McMillan, a Robesonian member of the North Carolina House of Representatives and a Democrat, sought to switch the Indians' allegiance to solidify his party's control over

20375-435: The manufacturing industry grew. The new sector was unable to provide stable enough employment to locals, and by the 1980s, Robeson was heavily afflicted by cocaine trafficking. The narcotics trade fueled violence, social unrest, political tensions, and police corruption and caused the county's statewide reputation to suffer. The county's economy was further damaged by significant declines in the tobacco and textile industries in

20538-674: The matter to the states. Subsequently, state constitutions conceptualized county governments as arms of the state. Louisiana instead adopted the local divisions called parishes that dated back to both the Spanish colonial and French colonial periods when the land was dominated by the Catholic Church . In the twentieth century, the role of local governments strengthened and counties began providing more services, acquiring home rule and county commissions to pass local ordinances pertaining to their unincorporated areas . In 1955, delegates to

20701-429: The members. Neither project proved successful, and by the 1940s, both faced neglect from the government, though the mutual association persisted into the 1960s before it finally collapsed. Hundreds of Indians from Robeson County fought for the United States during World War II in white units (blacks were segregated into different outfits). Many returned with a willingness to pursue social change. Some of them, especially

20864-405: The national average and the county had the highest numbers of drug-related arrests in the state in 1985 and 1986. In February 1988, two Tuscaroras held the staff of the county newspaper, The Robesonian , hostage to protest local corruption. Shortly thereafter, Lumbee judicial candidate Julian Pierce was murdered under disputed circumstances, and the father of basketball player Michael Jordan

21027-514: The next most common source of county names are geographic features and locations, with some counties even being named after counties in other states, or for places in other countries, such as the United Kingdom (the latter is most common in the area of the original Thirteen Colonies in the case of the United Kingdom, or in places which had a large number of immigrants from a particular area for other countries). The most common geographic county name

21190-683: The next nine elections. The local Republican Party grew in the early 21st century, fueled by prevailing religious conservatism in the county and discontent with the loss of manufacturing jobs. Many of the Democrats who remained with their party were conservative . Democrats continued to win state and local races by large margins in the 2000s but their margins of victory in presidential and congressional races decreased. In 2016 and 2020, county voters favored Republican Donald Trump , who won over majorities of white and Lumbee voters by championing socially conservative issues, criticizing free trade agreements, and declaring his support for full federal recognition of

21353-424: The official record of all real estate transactions. Other key county officials include the coroner / medical examiner , treasurer , assessor , auditor , comptroller , and district attorney . In most states, the county sheriff is the chief law enforcement officer in the county. However, except in major emergencies where clear chains of command are essential, the county sheriff normally does not directly control

21516-421: The outcome, likely to provide either party with their majority. The Democratic state chair telegrammed the local Democrat-dominated elections board, writing, "As you love the state, hold Robeson." The board then voted to certify the elections without counting results from four Republican-majority precincts, giving the county's two Democratic delegate candidates a slim margin of victory. With their narrow majority at

21679-662: The period of European colonization . Those who survived these disruptions grouped together as homogenous communities. In 1830, the United States government began a policy of Indian removal , forcibly relocating Native American populations in the American South further west. Native Americans in Robeson County, North Carolina , were not subject to removal. Culturally, this group was not particularly distinct from proximate European Americans ; they were mostly agrarian, and shared similar styles of dress, homes, and music. They also spoke English and were mostly Protestants . Their identity

21842-448: The police departments of city governments, but merely cooperates with them (e.g., under mutual aid pacts). Thus, the most common interaction between county and city law enforcement personnel is when city police officers deliver suspects to sheriff's deputies for detention or incarceration in the county jail. In most states, the state courts and local law enforcement are organized and implemented along county boundaries, but nearly all of

22005-539: The press as the " Battle of Hayes Pond ", garnered national media attention and led Klan activity against the Lumbees to cease. Pembroke State College (formerly the Croatan Normal School) was racially integrated in the 1950s and 1960s. After 1965, the rate of black and Native American voter registration substantially increased. By 1968, black and Native voters outnumbered whites. In 1970, the federal government ordered

22168-489: The races, 11,757 people identified as Hispanic or Latino. In proportions, the county was approximately 38 percent Native American, 22 percent white, 22 percent black, and 10 percent Hispanic. It is a majority-minority county and proportionately has the largest Native American population of any North Carolina county and the smallest white population. Robeson County is included in the Fayetteville -Lumberton- Pinehurst , NC Combined Statistical Area . Robeson County experienced

22331-578: The relationship between counties and incorporated cities. The powers of counties arise from state law and vary widely. In Connecticut and Rhode Island , counties are geographic entities, but not governmental jurisdictions. At the other extreme, Maryland counties and the county equivalent City of Baltimore handle almost all services, including public education , although the state retains an active oversight authority with many of these services. Counties in Hawaii also handle almost all services since there

22494-553: The remaining gang members, and the war ended when the last active one was killed in February 1874. Dissatisfied with the 1868 Reconstruction constitution, Conservatives/ Democrats pushed for a convention to be held in 1875 to revise the document. Elections to determine the delegates to attend were held in August. Early returns indicated that a Republican-majority convention was likely, and the final results from Robeson County were, depending on

22657-433: The rest of the county and the wider South in the early-to-mid 20th century. St. Pauls and Red Springs developed as white-majority towns hostile to nonwhites, while the towns of Fairmont and Rowland retained significant black labor forces. In 1913 the General Assembly reclassified the Indians as Cherokees . Following the stagnation of cotton prices in the 1890s, farmers in Robeson County began rapidly adopting tobacco as

22820-593: The river for sale in Georgetown, South Carolina , in the late 1700s. During the American Revolutionary War , control over the Lumber River valley was heavily contested by British Loyalists and Patriots . Tensions raised by the war caused some whites to migrate out of the area, moving as far away as Canada . Robeson County was created by the North Carolina General Assembly in 1787 out of

22983-552: The site of Campbell's Mill. A train station was subsequently built, and a strong trading community was established. It was incorporated in 1895 as the town of Pembroke , and in 1909, the Croatan Normal School was moved there from its original location in Pates . Pembroke became a center for Indian commercial activity. Due to the Indians' predominance in the community, the town lacked strict adherence to many Jim Crow norms common in

23146-796: The specific governmental powers of counties may vary widely between the states, with many providing some level of services to civil townships , municipalities , and unincorporated areas . Certain municipalities are in multiple counties ; New York City is uniquely partitioned into five counties, referred to at the city government level as boroughs . Some municipalities have been consolidated with their county government to form consolidated city-counties , or have been legally separated from counties altogether to form independent cities . Conversely, counties in Connecticut and Rhode Island , eight of Massachusetts's 14 counties , and Alaska's Unorganized Borough have no government power, existing only as geographic distinctions. The United States Census Bureau uses

23309-442: The state of North Carolina until the 1880s, these people were generally dubbed " mulattos " by locals and in federal documents throughout the mid-1800s to distinguish them from blacks. The original Scuffletonians were joined by some whites and blacks in the mid-1700s, including some escaping enslavement. The earliest written record of white settlement dates from 1747 land deed applications. The area eventually comprising Robeson County

23472-541: The state's French and Spanish colonial periods. Before the Louisiana Purchase and granting of statehood, government was often administered in towns where major church parishes were located. Of the original 19 civil parishes of Louisiana that date from statehood in 1807, nine were named after the Roman Catholic parishes from which they were governed. The structure and powers of a county government may be defined by

23635-608: The state. He convinced the General Assembly to formally recognize the Indians as "Croatoans"—arguing that they descended from English settlers of the Lost Colony who mixed with Croatan Indians. In 1887, McMillan convinced the legislature to appropriate money to establish a Croatan Normal School to train teachers who could staff new Indian schools. As a result, most Robeson Indians began to vote for Democrats, and their voting rights were preserved when blacks were disenfranchised by constitutional amendment in 1900. This distinction birthed

23798-421: The substantive and procedural law adjudicated in state trial courts originates from the state legislature and state appellate courts. In other words, most criminal defendants are prosecuted for violations of state law, not local ordinances, and if they, the district attorney, or police seek reforms to the criminal justice system, they will usually have to direct their efforts towards the state legislature rather than

23961-399: The term "county equivalent" to describe places that are comparable to counties, but called by different names. Louisiana parishes, the organized boroughs of Alaska, independent cities, and the District of Columbia are equivalent to counties for administrative purposes. Alaska's Unorganized Borough is further divided into 11 census areas that are statistically equivalent to counties. In 2024,

24124-505: The third-most economically distressed county in the state. Robeson County is served by Interstate 95 , which travels north–south through the county; and Interstate 74 (incomplete), which travels east–west. The two routes intersect to the southwest of Lumberton. It is also served by U.S. Route 74 ( Alt. ) ( Bus. ), US 301 , US 501 , and North Carolina Highways 20 , 41 , 71 , 72 , 83 , 130 ( Bus. ), 211 , 295 (to become I-295 ), 710 , 711 , and 904 . County government supports

24287-515: The time period the " Hoover Days". In response to the downturn, in 1936, the federal government created Pembroke Farms, a resettlement community for struggling Indian farmers. In 1938, the government offered loans for the establishment of a second project, the Red Banks Mutual Association. The association served as a cooperative with multiple Indian households farming common land from which profits would be attained and then divided among

24450-430: The war veterans, disliked Robeson County's segregation. In 1945, a group of Indians petitioned the governor to support the restoration of an elected municipal government in Pembroke, which had been swapped for an appointive system in 1917 at the behest of the community's white minority. Two years later, the town returned to an elected government, and Pembroke chose its first Indian mayor. Other Indian leaders lobbied to adopt

24613-465: The war, with rich white men of prominence dominating public offices, especially the justices of the peace who constituted the county court. The Home Guard was formally dissolved but was replaced by a similar institution, the Police Guard. In December, the Police Guard arrested Henry Berry Lowry at his wedding and held him on charges of murdering Barnes. He shortly thereafter escaped custody and avoided

24776-451: Was a mobile community. Others still believe the name applied broadly to any concentration of Native Americans in Robeson County. According to the historian Lowery, Scuffeltown encompassed many smaller locations including Prospect , Hopewell, New Hope, Union Chapel, Saddletree, Harper's Ferry, Saint Annah, Fair Grove, and Moss Neck. Journalist Connee Brayboy included Moss Neck, Pates , Red Banks , Evans Crossing, and Brooks' Settlement within

24939-428: Was ambushed and shot following his involvement in the deaths of three Lowrys. Fearing Harris' death would lead to retaliation from the Home Guard, local Indians began preparing for violence. Short on food and weapons, they started stealing from white-owned farms and plantations. Supplies intended for the guard were stolen from the courthouse in Lumberton. White citizens were infuriated by the decline in law and order, and

25102-440: Was dissolved by the District of Columbia Organic Act . Jefferson County , for Thomas Jefferson , is next with 26. The most recent president to have a county named for him was Warren G. Harding , reflecting the slowing rate of county creation since New Mexico and Arizona became states in 1912. The most common names for counties not named after a president are Franklin (25), Clay (18), and Montgomery (18). After people,

25265-448: Was established there by 1796. That year settlers moved up the Lumber River and established Robeson's second white community, Princess Anne. Much of the county's geography was not officially understood by surveyors until the early 1800s. The county's boundaries were modified and remarked several times between 1788 and 1832. Initially, wheat, corn, rice, sugar cane, and potatoes were popular crops among Robesonian farmers. The proliferation of

25428-402: Was in decline; reliance on mechanized agriculture and the consolidation of smallholding farms into larger corporate operations led to the loss of work for many farmers and their laborers. Newer manufacturing jobs did not provide residents sufficient employment and stability to make up for the shift. Over a quarter of county residents lived below the poverty threshold , over half of adults over

25591-406: Was initially inhabited by Native Americans, though little is known about them. By the mid-1700s, a Native community had coalesced around the swamps near Lumber River , which bisects the area. Later in the century, Scottish, English, and French settlers occupied the other lands. The population remained sparse for decades due to the lack of suitable land for farming, and timber and naval stores formed

25754-526: Was mostly out of a desire to survive and had little to do with challenging the Confederacy. The Indians' aid to the Union escapees and their attempts to dodge labor conscription drew the attention of the Confederate Home Guard , a paramilitary force tasked with maintaining law and order in the South during the war. In early March 1865, Union troops led by General William Tecumseh Sherman entered North Carolina . The Union escapees left to join them, and

25917-559: Was murdered in Robeson in 1993. The county's reputation among North Carolinians suffered due to these events. Political action motivated by discontent led to an increasing number of blacks and Native Americans to run for office. In 2002, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation opened an inquiry into corruption allegations in the Robeson County Sheriff's Office. Their subsequent Operation Tarnished Badge became

26080-507: Was not heavily settled by whites until about ten years before the American Revolution , when Highland Scots moved into the area. They formed a separate community from the Scuffletonians. The immigrants encompassed a range of class distinctions, from literate and aristocratic English-speaking families to poorer Scottish Gaelic -speakers, many of whom were indentured servants. The latter were called "Buckskins" due to their reputation for wearing pants made of deer leather. Gaelic remained spoken in

26243-406: Was replaced with a new structure in 1976. Robeson County became one of the top moonshine -producing counties in North Carolina in the 20th century. The prevalence of poverty enticed many Robesonians to sell moonshine to supplement their incomes, and the large number of isolated swamps and woods offered many places where stills could be concealed. Many Lumbees and Tuscaroras produced moonshine into

26406-431: Was rooted in kinship and shared location. Through intermarriage, they acquired some white and black ancestry. Not viewed as Native Americans by the state of North Carolina until the 1880s, these people were generally dubbed " mulattos " by locals and in federal documents throughout the mid-1800s to distinguish them from blacks. They were recognized under the name "Lumbee" in the 1950s. The date of Scuffletown's formation

26569-400: Was the most populous community, with 19,025 residents. About 51 percent of county residents were women. Racially, 30,041 identified as white, 26,424 identified as black or African American, 44,871 identified as American Indian, 908 identified as Asian, and 79 identified as Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, 8,192 identified as other, and 6,015 identified as two or more races. Of the total among

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