Western NC Your Focus? Check out the Edith M Clark History Room!

Along the former Old Wagon Road / Great Philadelphia Wagon Road in Rowan County, North Carolina, lies the historic town of Salisbury. Founded in 1753, Salisbury was settled primarily by Scots-Irish and Germans. It was the largest city in western North Carolina in the 1700s and early 1800s. During the Civil War, it had the only Confederate Prison in the state.

Today this charming city boasts five local historic districts and ten historic districts listed individually on the National Register of Historic Places. In addition to its rich history, Salisbury also is home to one of the best genealogical libraries in the southeast.

With over 19,000 books, 5700 microforms, 51 computer databases, and 268 manuscript collections, the Edith M. Clark History Room on the third floor of the Rowan Public Library in Salisbury comprises one of the largest genealogical and historical collections in North Carolina. The History Room’s collection focuses on Western North Carolina, especially all areas of old Rowan County.

However, it also contains records for other North Carolina counties, bordering states, and other states relevant for studying migration routes to/from Rowan County. In addition to the many books, genealogical journals, and manuscript collections available at the library, some highlights of the history room’s holdings include:

● The McCubbins Collection
● Jo White Linn Collection
● Archibald Henderson Collection of books on drama, literary criticism, & American history
● The Craige Collection of North Caroliniana
● The Christian Reid Collection of books by local author Francis Fisher Tiernan
● Family histories
● An extensive collection of Civil War records
● Salisbury Confederate Prison materials
● Draper Manuscripts (North Carolina Papers, Tennessee Papers, Draper's Life of Boone, Daniel Boone Papers, Rudolph-Ney Papers, King's Mountain Papers, and Mecklenburg Declaration Papers, & Miscellanies)
● North Carolina county records on microfilm
● Historic western North Carolina newspapers on microfilm, such as the Carolina Watchman and the Western Carolinian
● Historic North Carolina maps
● Salisbury City Directories, beginning in 1901

Some of the library’s records are available online, such as their

Digital Archives and the Theo Buerbaum collection of historic Salisbury postcards. The library’s online catalog includes records in the history room, which makes planning your research easy. They also have online finding aids for the history room. So, while you’re coming to North Carolina for the NGS Conference, be sure to make a stop in Salisbury at their wonderful library.

[Content provided by: Elaine Turk Nell]

Local Gem -- Johnston County Heritage Center

The Johnston County Heritage Center is housed in the landmark 1913 building that gave birth to First Citizens Bank & Trust Company. Given to the County of Johnston by the bank’s founding family (the Holdings), the structure was completely renovated and opened to the public in 2000 as a combination local-history and genealogy library and museum. The Heritage Center is open 9-5 Monday-Saturday. Staff and volunteers on duty in our reading room will be glad to assist you with your hands-on research.

The Heritage Center also receives visitors 24/7 through its major portal on the County of Johnston’s Web site. Searchable databases on our Web site include Johnston County Census records, newspaper obituaries, an online catalog that includes our reference materials, and an inventory of our extensive collections of artifacts, photographs, documents, and files on a multitude of subjects. A variety of books about Johnston County history and genealogy may also be purchased through our Web site.

The Heritage Center is located at: 241 E. Market Street, Smithfield, NC -- less than 30 miles from downtown Raleigh.

For more information, phone the Heritage Center at (919) 934-2836, write to P.O. Box 2709, Smithfield, NC 27577, or e-mail heritagecenter@johnstonnc.com.

The Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room (Charlotte)

The Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room of the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County houses the largest collection of genealogical and historical materials of any public library in the state. Beginning in 1903, the Library began as a Carnegie Library and is now in its third building. Located in uptown Charlotte at 310 N. Tryon, it has a major presence in the community. This special collection is used by authors, the media and general researchers from around the country. Mecklenburg County was formed from Anson County in 1762 and was a part of the great migration that helped populate the rest of the south in the 1800s.

Charlotte is the largest city and Mecklenburg County is the largest county in North Carolina. The library’s collection specializes in city and county materials, as well as all southern and border states. Unique and most frequently used materials include:
• The Charlotte Observer negatives between 1956-1962 and 1966 – 2002
• “Heritage Books” from various counties and states
• Historic maps and Searching for Historic Maps
• Manuscripts
• Microfilm -- over 10,000 reels of federal census, county and state records plus all known issues in existence of The Charlotte Observer, surviving North Carolina newspapers published in the 1700s and some western North Carolina newspapers starting in the 1800s
• Online databases HeritageQuest.com and Ancestry.com Library Edition
• Public and private school publications
• Surname and biographical files

The Carolina Room Staff are committed to presenting local historical information for Internet users. Some exhibits include African-American history, military information as it relates to the city and county, database of cemeteries with several thousand burial records, photographs and postcards, some legal notices, divorce records and newspaper abstracts, early city and county directories, and entire books on local history.

Please visit these sites for more information.
General Library Information
Catalog
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Story, genealogical and historical exhibits by Carolina Room Staff
Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room Information