This content is from the North Carolina Gazetteer, edited by William S. Powell and Michael Hill. Copyright © 2010 by the University of North Carolina Press. Used by permission of the publisher. For personal use and not for further distribution. Please submit permission requests for other use directly to the publisher.

Some place names included in The North Carolina Gazetteer contain terms that are considered offensive.

"The North Carolina Gazetteer is a geographical dictionary in which an attempt has been made to list all of the geographic features of the state in one alphabet. It is current, and it is historical as well. Many features and places that no longer exist are included; many towns and counties for which plans were made but which never materialized are also included. Some names appearing on old maps may have been imaginary, but many of them also appear in this gazetteer.

Each entry is located according to the county in which it is found. I have not felt obliged to keep entries uniform. The altitude of a place, the date of incorporation of a city or town, may appear in the beginning of one entry and at the end of another. Some entries may appear more complete than others. I have included whatever information I could find. If there is no comment on the origin or meaning of a name, it is because the information was not available. In some cases, however, resort to an unabridged dictionary may suggest the meaning of many names."

--From The North Carolina Gazetteer, 1st edition, preface by William S. Powell

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Place Description
Meat Camp Creek

rises in NE Watauga County and flows SE into South Fork New River. Named because early hunters had a camp there, to which they took hides and salted meat.

Meat Camp Township

N central Watauga County.

Mebane

town in E Alamance and W Orange Counties. Settled about 1854 and named for a local family. Inc. 1880 as Mebanesville; name changed 1883. Mepern's [Mebane's?] Tavern in the vicinity was mentioned by Bishop A. G. Spangenberg in 1752. The Bingham School was there from 1865 to 1891. Produces bedding, furniture, textiles, and apparel. Alt. 678.

Mecca

community in SW Surry County served by post office, 1898-1913.

Mechanic

community in W Randolph County.

Mechanicks Hill

See Robbins.

Mechanicsville

See Robbins.

Meck Neck

is modern colloquial term used to describe area in NW Mecklenburg County surrounded by waters of Lake Norman on three sides and Lincoln County on the n.

Mecklenburg County

was formed in 1762 from Anson County. Located in the S central section of the state, it is bounded by the state of South Carolina and by Gaston, Lincoln, Iredell, Cabarrus, and Union Counties. It was named for Princess Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1744-1818), who married George III in 1761. Area: 549 sq. mi. County seat: Charlotte, with an elevation of 795 ft. Home to banks, corporate offices, and professional football and basketball teams. Townships, now numbered 1 to 15, were formerly Charlotte, Berryhill, Steele Creek, Sharon, Providence, Clear Creek, Crab Orchard, Mallard Creek, Dewees, Lemley, Long Creek, Paw Creek, Morning Star, Pineville, and Huntersville. Produces corn, wheat, oats, cotton, eggs, poultry, dairy products, processed meat, baked goods, fabricated metals, textiles, industrial machinery, canned foods, paper products, chemicals, hosiery, apparel, furniture, snack foods, software, soybeans, peaches, tires, computers, aircraft parts, electronics, and asbestos products.

Medford Branch

rises in S Haywood County and flows NW into Browning Branch.