USA > North Carolina > Alamance County > Burlington > Hill's Burlington (Alamance County, N.C.) City Directory [1948] > Part 2
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EDUCATION
COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES-Within a two-hour automobile ride of Burlington, within North Carolina, are at least seventeen white colleges and universities of the first rank, and several within this radius in the neighboring state of Virginia, making a total of more than twenty. Of these, four are State institutions and ten are denominational. There are also a number of Negro educational institutions, State, denominational and priv- ate, within the same area.
Elon College, supported by the Christian Church, is located four miles from Burlington, and is one of the best equipped educational institu- tions in the state, as to buildings, strength of faculty, and equipment.
CITY SCHOOLS-The Burlington city public schools rank among the best in the state. The local school district has eleven buildings, of which eight are white and three Negro, the district embracing Burlington and its suburbs. At the close of 1944 the faculty consisted of 119 white and 33 Negro teachers and staffs, the enrollment of student being a total of 5,240. Classroom and laboratory equipment, library, auditorium, gymnasium and playground facilities are adequate.
The public school system is governed by a local board of education and a superintendent under the supervision of the State School Commission. and is financed principally from State funds, the State having assumed the support of all public schools through a state-wide system set up in 1933 by legislative act.
Municipal Building
14
INTRODUCTION
Burlington has a business college giving commercial classes, book- keeping and stenographic instruction.
There are also several private kindergartens and a parochial school. LIBRARY-A public library, supported by the City and County, has 25,750 volumes, while the circulation for home use in one year totaled some 65,000. This does not include use within branch school libraries.
RECREATION
Burlington is within a few hours' ride of the noted beach resorts along the coast, the nationally-known sandhill resorts around Southern Pines and Pinehurst, and the far-famed summer mountain resorts sur- rounding Asheville, in the western part of the state.
There are many game preserves in the area. Bear and deer are found in coastal and mountain counties. Raccoons, foxes, opossums, quail and rabbits are available throughout the state. Brant, ducks, geese and other migratory birds winter in large numbers on the coast and there is. also excellent fishing along the coastal sounds and in the lakes and streams of the interior.
Within an easily-accessible distance of Burlington are excellent hunting and many streams and lakes for fishing.
Within the city are playgrounds at each of the schools, baseball and football fields, several parks, a number of tennis courts, the Piedmont Country Club, with an excellent nine-hole golf course, four theatres, and a year-'round recreation commission program. A large park with stadium, Swimming pool and complete recreational facilities will be completed soon.
COMMERCIAL FEATURES
TRADE AREA
Burlington's retail and wholesale trade area covers a radius of fifteen to twenty miles, including all of Alamance County and parts of the five adjoining counties, this area having a population of 125,000.
The volume of retail business in Alamance County, according to Sales Management Magazine, was $33,000, 000 last year, and of this amount, Burlington's stores did a retail volume of $23,000,000. Per capita retail sales in Burlington amounted to $783 per year and the average sales per store, $39,297. Of all cities in the state over 5,000 population, Burlington ranks fourth in average sales per store, first in per capita sales, and eleventh in total volume of sales, while it ranked 20th in population. Aver- age per capita sales for the eight largest cities of the state (with popula- tions from 30,000 to 85,000) was $361, and average volume per store, $28,100. All these eight cities ranked below Burlington in per capita re- tail sales.
The same census showed total number of retail stores for the county to be 600; and for Burlington, 239, the total number of business firms, in- cluding retail stores, being about 500. Burlington's twenty wholesale firms' volume of sales was $15,000,000 in 1946.
LOCAL STORES
A recent survey of the nearby trade area indicated the decided pre- ference of customers within Burlington's area in patronizing local stores, because of the excellent quality and service, the variety and prices of commodities, which compared favorably with those of cities much larger. There is a very small percentage of mail-order and out-of-town shopping. Approximately 88.4 per.cent of these in the Burlington area buy in Bur- lington.
15
INTRODUCTION
The following is an analysis of the city's retail and wholesale out- lets:
Auto accessories, 33.
Auto sales, 14.
Ladies' ready-to-wear and millinery, 22.
Luggage and leather goods, 15.
Beauty shops, 26.
Lumber and millwork, 5.
Building materials, 10.
Men's clothing, 14.
Cafes, restaurants, 40.
Merchant tailors, 4.
Cigars and tobacco, 65.
News-stands, 20.
Coal and wood, 6.
Novelties and toys, 12.
Department stores, 7.
Office supplies, 4.
Drug stores, 13.
Plumbing and heating, 5.
Electrical supplies, 16.
Printing, 5.
Feed, 5.
Radios, 15.
Fish and oysters, 5.
Service stations, 50.
Florists, 5.
Shoes, 17.
Fruits, 5.
Soda fountains, 30.
Furniture and home furn- ishings, 16.
Sporting goods, 5. Variety 5-10-25¢, 4.
Garages, 24.
Groceries and meats, 80.
Hardware, 4.
Wholesale gas, oils, 10.
Jewelry, 7.
HOTELS
The city has two commercial hotels-the Alamance, with a capacity of 200, there being a total of 85 rooms (24 double and. 61 single), all with bath, on the first floor a dining-room, on the mezzanine a private dining- room, and a ballroom on the second floor; the Piedmont Hotel, with a ca- pacity of 100, having a total of 68 rooms, of which 53 are single and 15 double, some with bath and some without.
There are alsoa large number of private rooming houses and board- ing houses, as well as six apartment houses.
FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
Two commercial and two industrial banks. Two building and loan associations. Three personal small-loan companies within the city, which are in position to handle local commercial and financing needs along sound lines.
TRANSPORTATION
RAIL-Railway passenger andfreight service over the Southern Rail- way lines connects with all other rail routes, there being five passenger trains each way daily, with through Pullman and sleeper service to im- portant points. Burlington is only. one night out of New York by rail.
Freight service time between Burlington
and New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore
Knoxville . . Two days Savannah and Atlanta Three days
New Orleans Four days Memphis Four days Chicago Five days
Six package cars operate daily to junction points. Daily through freight service is furnished on three of four trains each way. Local freight service both ways every other day, switching service to and from Greens- boro each day except Saturday. Local side-trackage sufficient for some 600 cars.
Wholesale groceries and feeds, 9.
Bakeries, 2.
Barber shops, 21.
16
INTRODUCTION
EXPRESS-Adequate express facilities are furnished by the Railway Express Agency. Express delivery time: Between Burlington and New York City, 16 to 17 hours; Washington, 11 hours; and other major points on schedules equally prompt proportionate to distance.
BUS-Hourly passenger bus schedules are maintained in every direc- tion, making connections for all points, while several short-line bus services are in operation to nearby towns and a local bus service operates on regular routes within the city and to nearby industrial sections. There is, of course, adequate local taxicab service.
MOTOR TRUCK-Nine long-distance motor truck freight lines with local terminals operate from or through Burlington on daily schedules north and south to the larger cities, making connections for Western and Eastern cities.
Recreation at Burlington
17
INTRODUCTION
AIRPLANE-A commercial airport, operated by the Burlington Fly- ing Service, located two miles west of the city's business section, is equipped with two hangars, has repair service and other supply facilities, telephone, taxi and bus connections with the city, with several passenger planes available on the field, making possible connections with the major established air mail and passenger routes. Fairchild Field, east of the city, is privately operated as a test field and service airport for Fairchild Aircraft.
INDUSTRY
Alamance County's industrial history dates from the year 1837, when Edwin M. Holt, who was born and reared in the county, established a cotton mill on Alamance Creek, four miles southwest of Burlington. - About the year 1854 this mill began the production of colored woven cotton fabrics, the first in the South to produce this material.
In 1887, when Burlington acquired its name, there were three cotton mills, one coffin factory, and a few smaller plants. Today there are 30 hosiery mills, 15 other textile and 33 miscellaneous-a total of 78, in a community with a population of 22,491. There are 41 other plants, princi- pally textile, located in the remainder of the county.
Industrial expansion has been steady .. The Lafayette Mills were estab- lished in 1881; the E. M. Holt Plaid Mills in 1883; the Lakeside Mills in 1893. In other parts of the county the older plants include White Furniture, in 1881; Durham Hosiery Mills, in 1898; Virginia Cotton Mills, in 1894.
Burlington has become known as one of the leading hosiery-mill centers of the country. According to latest available census data, only five cities of the U. S. outrank Burlington in production, only one of these being in the South, while Burlington leads the South in number of plants. The first hosiery mill here, the Daisy, was established in 1896, followed a few years later by the Burlington Knitting Co., the Whitehead Hosiery Mill, the Sellars Hosiery Mill, the May Hosiery Mills, and the McEwen Knitting Mills-the last being the first in the section to manufacture full- fashioned hose. These were followed by many others, most of which are still operating.
Beginning in 1923, with the establishment here of the Burlington Mills, the rapid expansion of this group of plants, now numbering seven in and near the city, with some twenty in other cities in the area has brought the weaving industry to the forefront, making the city known for dress goods, art silk, tapestries, and other cotton, rayon and silk fabrics, as well as for hosiery.
The E. M. Holt Plaid Mills, which have celebrated their 60th anniver- sary, also entered the rayon and silk-weaving field a number of years ago, and have several plants in Burlington and the county. This plant was pur- chased by Burlington Mills in 1939.
These groups and several others have made Burlington one of the country's leading centers in this textile field.
In 1942 Fairchild Aircraft Corp, established a plant here, which pro- duced war planes during the war and is now being converted to civilian production. This firm's process of laminated wood constructionis widely recognized as the most modern method of rigid, butlight, airplane construc- tion. This process, along with the modernly-equipped plant, bids well to make Burlington one of the South's aircraft manufacturing centers.
Other industrial lines represented by local manufacturing plants are lumber, building material, brick and stone, -insecticides, disinfectants, caskets, soft drinks, ice, mixed feeds, dairy products, baking, printing, proprietary medicines, cosmetics, gas, paper boxes, foundry and machine shops, foods and textile supplies.
Among the 3,073 counties in the U. S., Alamance ranks 216th in num- ber of manufacturing plants, and 203d in number of wage-earners.
18
INTRODUCTION
INDUSTRIAL PAYROLLS in the Burlington area average well over $4,400,000 per week, with 19,000 persons employed. Indicative of the steady industrial growth, in the past fifteen years, the average number of new plants per year was eight. After allowing for a number of plants which have "fallen by the wayside" during this period, the net increase has been impressive.
In recent years Burlington has been led by only one or two cities in the state in the establishment of new plants, and tied by one or two, these being considerably larger than Burlington, while this city led in 1938.
By the 1940 U. S. Census the county ranked fourth in the entire state in number of plants, sixth in total wages paid, and seventh in value of pro- ducts, totaling $44,939,768.
THE FUTURE-SOME COMMENTS
During the severe economic crisis of 1930-34, this sturdy city fought the depression and conquered it.
"No town in the state has shown its ability to come back better than the city of Burlington," declared a newspaper man from another Carolina city, and Burlington citizens have made that reputation possible, both by individual and collective community effort.
The late Franklin K. Lane, one-time Secretary of the Interior, made the following statement in one of his addresses: "The region of central North Carolina, stretching from the Blue Ridge Mountains to a point about Goldsboro, is destined to become the greatest industrial area in the U. S., because of its great industrial advantages and economics." Burlington and Alamance County are situated midway in this region and bid fair to prove the validity of his statement.
The late Irvin S. Cobb said: "Let some statistician tell a tale in exul- tant terms of bank clearings and enlarged bank deposits, exports, advance- ment of wealth and production. Going only by what these two eyes have seen, I proclaim that North Carolina today is the foremost state of the Union in material progress, in public spirit, in educational expansion, and optimism of outlook."
Burlington's development, although not as rapid as some other cities, has not, like many of them, been of the "boom" type, or "one-sided," but rather a steady, sound, substantial one. This underlying economic sound- ness has borne fruit.
Piedmont Country Clubhouse
.
INTRODUCTION
19
.
F
Burlington Residences
20
INTRODUCTION
With vast markets awaiting the products of Burlington's industry, diversified farming assuring its agricultural progress, and established retailers equipped with facilities and the experience to serve best their customers' needs, the city can reasonably look forward to the greatest era of firm expansion in its history during the coming years.
The city invites and will welcome and cooperate with those firms and people who believe that character and economic soundness are para- mount to mere size in development.
PROJECTS UNDER WAY, 1948
Burlington citizens are eager to provide needed facilities for a grow- ing community. A few of the projects under way at the beginning of 1948 are as follows:
(1) A stadium that will seat 7,000 people, with a possibility of doub- ling the capacity when needed.
(2) The City of Burlington is beginning a water and sewer extension project that will cost approximately $2,000,000 and will furnish water and sewers for the new section of the city.
(3) The County Commissioners have authorized a bond issue for ap- proximately $3,000,000 for the City and County schools.
(4) The North Carolina Theatres plan to erect a large and modern theatre between Front and Davis streets on the Gant property.
(5) The industrialists of the city have provided approximately $400, 000 and expect to add another $100,000 this year to make a total of $500, 000 to be spent for a community building ..
(6) The Alamance County Club golf course has just been completed, and the clubhouse and swimming pool will be provided as soon as permits can be secured.
(7) The City of Burlington, in cooperation with interested citizens, is developing the South Main Street City Park, and plans to provide a large . Swimming pool.
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21
STATISTICAL SUMMARY OF BURLINGTON'S DEVELOPMENT (See Text for Other Commercial and Industrial Data) ANNUAL TOTALS
1920
1930
1931
1932
1933
1934
1935
1936
1937
1938
1940
Population-City
5,952
9,737
11,500
12,000
13,000
14,000
12,198
Suburbs
2,000
5,500
10,293
Public School Enrollment.
1,785
2,230
2,591
2,723
2,510
4,332
4,599
4,693
4,405
4,592
4,830
Retail Volume-U. S ..
100%
51 %
68 %
100%
81%
101.6%
Per Capita Retail Purchases-Burlington
$682
$550
$693
Percent, Occupancy Store Buildings ..
83,863
81,022
72,325
67,355
95.4% 77,128
86,427
96.7% 105,032
97.0%
97.8%
Express Shipments. .
850
2,166
2,193
2,082
2,091
2,254
2,359
2,658
2,891
3,187
155,738 4,229
Telephones, Local Exchange.
$26,790,189 $38,807,184 $41,622,949 $46,183,183 $59,268,715 $74,246,274 $60,436,255
Commercial Bank Debits ..
$83,000
$155,503
$395,622
$629,388
$1,004,037
$1,326,292
Water Consumption-Gallons ..
$28,940
$63.834
$61,395
$64,787
$68,067
$77,984
$84,153
$93,897
$101,575
$112,260
$137,843
Postal Money Orders Issued.
· $404,740
$354,111
$342,902
$342,703
$341,280
$391,010
Postal Savings Accounts, Amount.
New Construction
$812.800
$172.275
$68,240
$250,000
$300,000
$554,870
$845,075
$1,158,500
$1,490,500
$2,338,706
Note: Population figures for 1933-38 inclusive are unofficial estimates.
Alamance County (Including Burlington)
1920
1930
1933
1935
1938
1940
Population
32,718
42,140
45,500
48,000
52,000
57,427
Value All Farm
Property
$10,179,404
$8,997,341
$10,000,000 $10,500,000
Manufacturing
Plants
98
126
91
91
120
101
Industrial Wage- Earners
4,455
7,283
8,501
11,345
14,000
16,960
Wages, Industrial
$3,476,476
$5,617,733
$5,761,483
$8,418,296 $10,500,000 $11,306,122
Value of Manu- factured Products
$19,300,028 $27,229,188 $26,789,767 $30,261,531 $40,000,000 $44,939,768
Number of Retail Stores
455
513
492
550
600
Retail Sales
Volume
.$10,510,000 $7,797,000 $10,051,000 $12,500,000 $13,975,000 Special U. S. Census, July 19, 1944, for Burlington, 21,830 population.
INTRODUCTION
.
Resources, Building and Loan Ass'ns.
499,526,000 376,752,000 395,498,000
405,588,000
420,555,000 497,856,000 657,949,000 739,818,000 746,625,000 789,546,000
Post Office Receipts ..
$192,725
$386,816
$423,089
$307,822
$407,163
$431,213
$490,891
$512,826
$523,046
$575,612
Burlington
·
4,000
4,500
107,198
120,765
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.
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24
ABBREVIATIONS
acct accountant
addresso
addressograph
ady
advertising
agrl
agricultural
agt agent
al
alley
< . alteration Am American
appr
apprentice
apts
apartments
archt architect
asmblr assembler
Assn Association
assoc. .associate
asst
assistant
atndt
attendant
atty
attorney
eud
auto automobile-
auto opr
. automatic
operator
av
avenue
A
. telephone
bet
between
bgemn .. baggageman
bkbndr .. bookbinder
bkpg mach opr.
bookkeeping machine ftr operator fırn
bkpr bookkeeper bldg building
bldr
builder
bik block
blksmith
. . blacksmith
blrmkr .. boilermaker
blvd
boulevard
br branch
brklyr
bricklayer
gro
brkmn brakeman h
cabtmkr cahinetmaker capt captain hd hand
carp
carpenter
cash cashier
Ch Church
chauf chauffeur
chf chief
civ
civil
clk clerk
clnr cleaner
collector
collr
com] commercial
comn commission
comnr .commissioner
compt .. coniptometer
cond
conductor
confr confectioner
cons consulting
contr
contractor
corner cor
corres. . correspondent ct
custdn .custodian
cutter
delivery del
dep deputy
dept department
dicta dictaphone
dietn dictitian
director dir
dispr dispatcher
dist district
diy
division
dlr dealer
dmnstr .. demonstrator mech1 .. mechanical
do ... ditto or same
dom ..
, domestic
Abraham Abr
Alexander
Alex
Alfred Alf
Archibald Arch
Arthur
Arth
Elizabeth Eliz
Eugene
Eng
Michael Michl
Thomas Thos
Benjamin
Benj
Frederick
Fredk
Patrick
Patk
William Wm
meter rdr .. ..... meter
mfg .. manufacturing mfr .. manufacturer mgr manager mimeo opr
mimeograph operator mkr maker
reader Rev Reverend rptr . repeater rte mn .route man rtg aide .. routing aide Ry Railway
RyMS
Railway Mail Service
mkt
market
S or
S
. South
mldr
molder
mlnr
milliner
mn
man
mono monotype se southeast
mse opr
. morse
scc
secretary
sergt
msngr
messenger
operator
sergeant
ship
shipping
sht mtl wkr .... sheet
metal worker
sismgr .. salesmanager
slsmn
salesman
slswn
saleswoman
smstrs
seamstress
soc
society
solr solicitor
square
ss ..
.south side
sta
sta eng station
stationary engineer statn . statistician sten ... stenographer stereo ... stereotyper stmftr steamfitter
str setter
supt .. superintendent
supvr
supervisor
surg
surgeon
SW southwest swtchmn ... switchman tab mach opr ... tabulating machine
operator
packer tchr teacher
tech
techniclan
tel
telephone
teleg
telegraph
plshr
polisher
ter
terrace
plstr
plasterer
tmkpr
timekeeper
pntr
painter
tmstr
teamster
tndr
tender
PO
postoffice
PS Public School pres president
prfrdr
. proofreader
prin
principal
twp
township
priv sec. . private
secretary
prod produce
junior
prof
professor
prop
proprietor
prov
provisions
prsfdr
.. . press feeder
prsmn pressman
prsr .presser
ptrnmkr patternmaker pub publishing
puhlr
publisher
purch purchasing
Indrs whsemn warehouseman laundress r .. resides or rooms R C .. Roman Catholic rd road wid widow
wkr
worker
wks
works
RD .. Rural Delivery
real est ... real estate
rec
receiving
WS.
. west side
wtchmn. .. watchman ydmn .... yardman
ydmstr .. yardmaster
ABBREVIATIONS OF GIVEN NAMES
Richard Richd
Robert
Robt
Samuel
Saını
Solomon
Sol
Stephen
Steph
Margaret Margt
Theodore . Theo
August
Aug
10-10
Catherine
Charles
Chas
Daniel
Danl
Elward
Edw
Katherine Kath
Geo 1
George
Jamcs Jas
rep .. representative reprmn .. repairman restr . . restaurant
dr drive
drftsmn .. draftsman drsmikr .. dressmaker
e or E East
elec electrical
electn electrician clectro .. electrotyper elev elevator embdr embroiderer emp employe emp agcy
employment agency eng engineer
engr engraver es east side
est estate
exam . examiner
cxch
exchange
fnshr
finisher
formn
foreman
Natl
National
forwn
forewoman
frt
freight
ft
foot
ne
northeast
fitter
nr
ncar
ns.
. north side
nw
northwest
O ... property owner ofc wkr .. office worker opposite opp
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