Anson County is named for George, Lord Anson, who was a celebrated English admiral and who…read morecircumnavigated the globe in 1740 to 1744. The county was created in 1749, and Mount Pleasant was selected as the county seat in 1750. In 1785, the county seat was moved to Wadesboro. This building was completed in 1913 and is the fifth to serve as the county courthouse. It is a two-story buff-colored brick and concrete structure. The front is a monumental Doric portico, with four fluted columns supporting a wide entablature and frieze. The second-story windows are recessed and arched, and a projecting cornice runs beneath the roofline, giving the building a stately, balanced appearance. It is a Classical Revival architecture and conveys order and permanence. Half of the original Confederal Soldiers monument remains with the soldier having been removed. The other inscriptions point to the Confederate cause, listing the specific regiments and companies from Anson County that served in the war. There is also a non-Civil War memorial listing names of those lost from Anson County who served in World War I, World War II, the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Two plaques next to the entrance, one listing "the negro men of Anson County who went forth at the call of their country" and the other with just "the men and women of Anson County." So there's that. [Review 1310 of 2025 - 4445 in North Carolina - 24862 overall]

This marker is in front of a farm stand not far from downtown Rockingham and points out the history…read moreof an important local union. The marker reads, "North Carolina Farmer's Alliance. Organized by statewide convention of delegates in Rockingham, Oct. 4, 1887. Leonidas L. Polk elected first secretary." Online, there is more information. "The Farmers' Alliance, which originated in Texas and appeared in North Carolina in 1887, was an important agent of change in an era of political and social upheaval. The organization, national in scope, was private and nominally nonpartisan. According to John D. Hicks, pioneer of Alliance historiography, the national organization's aims were fourfold: social, educational, financial, and political. In North Carolina the entanglements of the Alliance with politics were many, culminating with the defection of a sizable number of Alliance men to the Populist Party in 1892. Historian Lala Carr Steelman detailed the State Alliance's attempts to win control of the Democratic Party, purify politics, elected farmers to office, and enact agrarian reforms." "The organizational meeting of the State Alliance was held in Rockingham over two days, October 4-5, 1887. The convention drew up a constitution and appointed committees. Chosen as officers were: Alexander, president; Thaddeus Ivey, vice-president; Polk, secretary; J. D. Allen, treasurer; and Elias Carr, chairman of the executive committee." [Review 15457 overall, 961 of 2021, number 3001 in North Carolina.]

Was it only last year that we all got into a tizzy with the eclipse that was visible from Texas to…read moreMaine? People went NUTS. So I totally get that this marker is here, to an earlier eclipse and in a part of the country that was well populated. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, which dispatched a team to Wadesboro, North Carolina, chosen for its optimal viewing conditions. Photographer Thomas Smillie rigged cameras to seven telescopes and captured eight glass-plate negatives of the solar corona--some as large as 30 by 30 inches. These images were considered groundbreaking for both photography and astronomy. The U.S. Weather Bureau selected Newberry, South Carolina for a meteorological study, based on historical cloudiness data. Their goal was to observe how the eclipse affected atmospheric conditions. Their gamble paid off: skies were clear, temperatures moderate, and pressure high, allowing for ideal observations. The eclipse's duration increased as it moved eastward, from about 72 seconds in New Orleans to roughly 100 seconds near Norfolk, Virginia. It is a black marker with white text. It has the same on both sides, reading , "In 1900, hundreds of astronomers and newspaper reporters from around the world descended on Wadesboro, the perfect place to view and report on a total solar eclipse that occurred on May 28 at 1:54 PM. The goal was the rare opportunity to study the corona around the sun at total eclipse. Preeminent scientists came from around the world, among these representatives from the University of North Carolina, University of Chicago-Yerkes Observatory, Princeton, Yale, the Smithsonian, and the British Astronomical Association. Newspaper reporters from the Charlotte Observer and Charlotte News, the New York Sun, the New York World and New York Journal, the Chicago Times-Herald, the Chicago Tribune. the Philadelphia Press, the London Times, and the local Anson Independent and the Messenger and Intelligencer covered the event. "The event, which lasted precisely 2 minutes and 10 seconds, took years of planning, months of preparation, days of anticipation and hours of waiting. Tens of thousands of pictures and measurements taken that day would be studied for years to come." The marker was erected in 2017 by the Anson County Historical Society. The eclipse was one of the first eclipses to be widely documented by both scientists and the public, marking a turning point in eclipse science and public engagement. [Review 1330 of 2025 - 4449 in North Carolina - 24882 overall]

This marker is located at the side of US-74 in front of Anson High School…read more The marker reads, ""Father of soil conservation." First chief of the Soil Conservation Service, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1935-1952. Born 4 miles southwest." Online there is more information. "Among soil conservationists and agronomists, Hugh Hammond Bennett, nicknamed "the Chief" or "Big Hugh," is a legend. Widely credited with selling the benefits of soil conservation to a dubious public, Bennett is known as the "father of soil conservation." Born on a 1,500-acre farm in Anson County, in the drainage basin of the Pee Dee River, Bennett at the age of ten realized the woeful effects of erosion and benefits of conservation." "Sheet erosion, he reasoned, was the problem and preservation of the topsoil was the key. Soil conservation could be pursued through terracing, strip cropping, contour plowing, grassed waterways, and crop rotation, among other means. Bennett promoted the planting of covers such as kudzu and lespedza grass." "In 1951 the News and Observer wrote of Bennett that "When history finally sets up the measure of the contributions of the men of our times, it may very well be that so far as North Carolina is concerned Hugh Bennett of Wadesboro will be recognized as the most important North Carolinian of this generation."" [Review 13953 overall, 1275 of 2020, number 2596 in North Carolina.]

This marker is alongside a busy highway and there is a spot at the intersection to stop. It is of…read morecourse not near the actual subject but it's probably as close as anyone really gets. The marker reads, "Samuel Spencer. Jurist & Antifederalist leader. Member of court which in 1787 issued the first reported precedent for judicial review. His home stood 3 miles northeast." Online, there is more information. "Samuel Spencer, superior court justice and university trustee, was born in East Haddam, Connecticut, in 1734, the son of Samuel and Jerusha Spencer. Descended from highly respected and wealthy New England families, Spencer attended the College of New Jersey, where he graduated in 1759. It remains unclear as to when or why he moved to North Carolina. He was living in Anson County by October 1765 when he was appointed county clerk." "From 1766 to 1768 he represented Anson County in the Colonial Assembly. During the War of Regulation he served as an officer in William Tryon's army and participated in the campaign leading to the Battle of Alamance. However, his allegiance to the Crown waned in the early 1770's and he served as Anson County's representative to the first three provincial congresses of 1774-1776." "In 1787, Spencer and his fellow Superior Court judges John Williams and Samuel Ashe oversaw a landmark case in legal history. When Elizabeth Cornell Bayard attempted to overturn the confiscation and purchase of the properties of her father, a noted Loyalist, by Spyers Singleton, the court agreed with her that the confiscation acts of 1785 had violated the Fourteenth Article of the 1776 state constitution which ensured all citizens a trial by jury in cases that could result in a loss of property. The case, Bayard v. Singleton, set a precedent for judicial review. The North Carolina case preceded the more famous court case Marbury v. Madison, often credited with such establishment, by more than sixteen years." "Spencer retired to his plantation along Smith's Creek near Wadesboro. He became a founding trustee of the University of North Carolina in 1789. Married in 1776 to Phillipa Pegues, Spencer was the father of four children." [Review 15027 overall, 529 of 2021, number 2888 in North Carolina.]

This historical marker points out the early plans of settlers which did not manage to survive into…read morethe present. The marker reads, "Sneedsborough. Laid out 1795. Promoted as inland port town on Pee Dee River by Archibald D. Murphey. Only graveyard remains, five miles southeast." Online, there is more information. " In 1795 a town called Sneedsborough was founded in Anson County on the land of Richard Edgeworth. Sneedsborough was developed as an inland port town, to be connected to the Pee Dee River by a series of canals. The town expanded after its conception and became a small merchant center close to the North Carolina - South Carolina border. he canals proved impossible to build though, stalling the development and growth of industry and the town itself. By the Civil War the town had been abandoned and its remnants were destroyed by Union troops." When you zoom out and look at how far the Pee Dee River is from the coast, you can kind of understand that. [Review 14333 overall, 1657 of 2020, round number 2700 in North Carolina.]

This marker is located just east of the city of Rockingham on US-1 opposite a gas station. It…read morepoints out some Civil War history that happened here. The marker reads, "Sherman's March. Kilpatrick's Cavalry, a part of Sherman's Army, marching from Savannah to Goldsboro, passed through Rockingham on March 7-8, 1865." Online, there is more information. "In late 1864, Union General William T. Sherman began moving his forces, some 60,000 battle-hardened soldiers strong, northward from Atlanta to "divide the Confederacy in two." The plan was to march the Union forces through Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina in order to squeeze Confederate forces under General Robert E. Lee in Virginia between Sherman's men to the south and those of General Ulysses S. Grant to the north. Along the way, Sherman hoped to disrupt Confederate supply lines and break the will of southerners on the home front. This "total war" assault on civilians - women and children included - by Union forces was a break from traditional warfare that had, up until this time, focused largely on military targets." "In Georgia and South Carolina Sherman's men freely plundered their surroundings as they marched, leaving whole towns in ashes. As they approached North Carolina, Sherman's forces were divided into separate divisions or corps. They traveled across the state to protect each other's flanks, forage for supplies and to spread their influence throughout the state." "Sherman's army entered North Carolina in stages, with one contingent entering the state in modern-day Richmond County. A portion of General Judson Kilpatrick's cavalry unit entered Richmond County on the March 7 and engaged Confederate troops under the command of Matthew Butler in Rockingham. Kilpatrick's troops returned the next day and destroyed a cotton factory and a shipment of firearms before destroying track, rails and other equipment of the nearby Wilmington, Charlotte, and Rutherfordton Railroad." [Review 15461 overall, 965 of 2021, number 3005 in North Carolina.]

This marker is located in front of the Richmond County Court House here in Rockingham and points…read moreout a sign that is six miles away. That seems to be the usual, but if it was there then no one would see it. So here it is. The marker reads, "Alfred Dockery. 1797-1875. United States Congressman; state legislator for 10 years. A founder of the state Republican party, 1867. Home is 6 miles northwest." Online, there is more information. "Alfred Dockery, Congressman and legislator, was born in 1797 into a large family living in Richmond County. Unable to attend school regularly because of his responsibilities on the family farm, Dockery planned to become a farmer but became involved in politics at the age of twenty-five when he served in the House of Commons from his home county. Always interested in continuing to work his farm, Dockery returned to farming whenever not involved in political office." "As a Whig, Dockery pushed for internal improvements and general reforms statewide although he focused his efforts on promoting western interests. He was also a proponent of public education, supporting a public schools bill while serving in the state senate. Among his major contributions was his involvement in the establishment of Wake Forest Institute and his service on the first board of trustees of Wake Forest College. In 1845, he was elected to Congress for one term, after which he refused to be re-elected to the same post, seeking, instead, to return to his farm." "Dockery was elected to serve in Congress from 1851-53. He was a Unionist at a time when pro-Union sympathies were unpopular in most parts of North Carolina. However, once war was declared, Dockery quietly supported the war, sending two of his sons to fight for the Confederacy. After the war, he served in the postwar government of North Carolina and was a member of the 1865 failed state convention to end Reconstruction. A founding member of the state's Republican Party, Dockery did not live to see the end of Reconstruction and died at home in 1873. [The marker is incorrect.]" [Review 15503 overall, 1007 of 2021, number 3045 in North Carolina.]