North Carolina's Three largest metropolitian regions?

[RaleighRob]

I'm pretty sure Winston-Salem was the largest city for part of the Teens and Twenties before Charlotte overtook it and remained the largest.

Yeah, I seem to think that was an "icing on the cake" when Winston and Salem merged in the early 1910s...that together they would go over the limit to be biggest city, although briefly.

[krazeeboi]

I don't consider the Washington, D.C. area southern.

He actually classified DC as northern in his post, describing it as an exception to the slowly-growing Northern metros.

[Rwarky]

He actually classified DC as northern in his post, describing it as an exception to the slowly-growing Northern metros.

I misread the article, my apologies.

[urbanesq]

^^^ I agree that it's not exaactly southern, but DC does have an ever-so-slight southern accent. If you look at Richmond, Atlanta and some other old-line southern cities, there are lots of similarities DC. If you compare it to NYC, Boston and other northern metros, it just feels different: a little slower pace, a little more laid back.

Even when the Republicans are in charge. (!)

[nowensone]

All the discussion over Northern vs. Southern preoccupation people have aside, DC is more European than either Northern or Southern, if those two terms are really even that valid anymore. And I don't just mean the planning/architecture aspects. Then again, when I'm in DC I don't usually visit the "other side", so perhaps that isn't entirely accurate either.

[davidals]

^

LOL - DC is just a thing unto itself really. If it's below the Mason-Dixon, to me its' southern, but that's me. I have friends from VA and MD - who live in the big cities now, but came from places closer to the Chesapeake, and those places are definitely Southern. You should hear those guys' drawwwl; it would remove all doubt!

[nowensone]

^ Yeah, thats kind of the thing nowadays that is still sometimes missed, it's not about the Direction anymore as much as rural versus urban, education as well. Even cities as small as 100K have enough of that urban character that the lines are blurred, and you find many whose accents are neutral. Same in the northern cities for that matter, the wellknown NYC (Bronx subaccent, etc.), NJ and Boston "drawls" are mostly gone among your more educated citizens. Then again, they aren't quite as preoccupied about losing theirs.

Actually, maybe it's just TV..

[monsoon]

I think Wilmington was also the state's largest city at one time too

[serapis]

Thanks for that metro.

Note: The same thing still goes on, it has just taken the form of litigation.

[NcSc74]

It was until the bloody massacre that took place there in 1898. The Observer and the News & Observer just did a joint story that describes the horrible events that took place in Wilmington in 1898 and how affected development in the state for the next 100 years. It's very relevant to this thread.

See here. I recommend downloading the entire multistory report. It's fascinating as both the Observer and the N&O admit to fanning the flames of this when it happened and offer an apology for it.

One wonders how the state might have developed if this had not happened.

[krazeeboi]

Atlanta also had the benefit of being the cradle of the Civil Rights movement and produced several prominent civil rights activists, something that Wilmington lacked. This was one significant factor that made Atlanta something of a "promised land" for Blacks.

[Durhamite]

Atlanta also had the benefit of being the cradle of the Civil Rights movement and produced several prominent civil rights activists, something that Wilmington lacked. This was one significant factor that made Atlanta something of a "promised land" for Blacks.

[krazeeboi]

The previous poster was referring to the turn of the century (1898) when Wilmington was a very progressive city for African Americans and majority Black, well before the Civil Rights Movement took place in the 1950's and 1960's.

[NcSc74]

Right; I was just mentioning a factor that turned Atlanta into the "Black mecca" that it is today. Perhaps Wilmington would have had an influential Black middle class proportionate to its size similar to the one Atlanta enjoys today had the race riots never occurred, but it would have been nowhere near the scale and size of Atlanta's.

[krazeeboi]

It is an interesting theory. Another interesting fact is that a number of cities that were home to a substantial amount of African Americans, many of the financially stable and successful, back in the day subsequentially succumbed to race riots or strained race relations of some sort. Tulsa and Durham come to mind here, both having had areas known as the "Black Wall Street of America."

[lma1973]

Wilmington was the state's largest city at the turn of the 20th century. It even featured NC's tallest "skyscraper" and held that distinction for a little while. Today's metro pop for Wilmington is 368,000 with city proper pop of 100,000.

[cityboi]

Wilmington was the state's largest city at the turn of the 20th century. It even featured NC's tallest "skyscraper" and held that distinction for a little while. Today's metro pop for Wilmington is 368,000 with city proper pop of 100,000.

[nowensone]

^ Some discussion on this in another thread, think one of the larger reasons was that there were no upstate cities served by the river, as the Cape Fear and all other NC rivers aren't navigable. Actually, there weren't really any major cities at all for a port to serve as a transportation gateway. Even when rail became available it wasn't until recently that any of our cities became "major". Thats my guess anyway.

[suburban george3]

I looked at the historical records, and this is what shows in NC from 1820-present.

1820-New Bern town, NC.................. 3,663

1830-New Bern town, NC.................. 3,796

1840-Wilmington town, NC................ 5,335

1850-Wilmington town, NC................ 7,264

1860-Wilmington town, NC................ 9,552

1870-Wilmington town, NC................ 13,446

1880-Wilmington town, NC................ 17,350

1890-Wilmington town, NC................ 20,056

1900-Wilmington town, NC................ 20,976

1910-Charlotte city, NC.................... 34,014

1920-Winston-Salem city, NC............ 48,395

1930-Charlotte city, NC.................... 82,675

1940-Charlotte city, NC.................... 112,986

1950-Charlotte city, NC.................... 134,042

1960-Charlotte city, NC.................... 200,882

1970-Charlotte city, NC.................... 241,178

1980-Charlotte city, NC.................... 314,447

1990-Charlotte city, NC.................... 395,934

2000-Charlotte city, NC.................... 540,828

[cityboi]

I posted this in another thread and thought it would be relevant here. These numbers are from the U.S. census website.

As far as Wilmington not being a major port, the reasons are fairly simple. We have no natural "deep water" port cities in the state. Our major ports are Wilmington, Southport, and Morehead City. It would take enormous amounts of monies to improve these areas to make them into more significant ports than they already are.

As also mentioned, there are no real navigable rivers in the state. This probably deed help to hinder early growth of municipalities in the state. Not really until the automobile and the interstate highway system did our cities get a transportation system that would help them achieve their current status.

[krazeeboi]

^Not necessarily. Port cities and cities on navigable rivers in the South, such as New Orleans, Memphis, and Louisville, aren't really experiencing a whole lot of growth these days compared with the Southern boomtowns (e.g., Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Raleigh, etc.). It's possible that NC wouldn't have developed the economic development strategies it did if its cities heavily relied on ports and navigable rivers.

[monsoon]

Actually Charlotte for a while had water access to the Charleston via a set of canals that roughly followed the Catawba river which becomes the Wateree river then becomes the Santee-Cooper river. This of course before the this river basin was damed up to make multiple lakes. The railroads obsoleted these canals.

[cityboi]

Actually Charlotte for a while had water access to the Charleston via a set of canals that roughly followed the Catawba river which becomes the Wateree river then becomes the Santee-Cooper river. This of course before the this river basin was damed up to make multiple lakes. The railroads obsoleted these canals.

[monsoon]

Thats very interesting. I didnt know that.

[nowensone]

^ Doesn't look like a ship canal (to small), though I can't quite make out the respective size in the pic.