Aberdeen

History

Scottish emigrants were the first Europeans to settle the area, beginning in 1745. They were drawn to the area by bountiful hunting and virgin land, and they founded the communities of Bethesda and Blue's Crossing by the late 18th Century. During the American Revolution, the people of what is now Aberdeen were generally Loyalists. There were a few small skirmishes in the vicinity of Aberdeen, most notably the one at Ray's Mill Creek, in which Colonel Philip Alston of the House in the Horseshoe, who was in pursuit of Loyalist Colonel David Fanning, savagely beat Kenneth Black, a local who had acted as Fanning's guide through the area. One of the earliest industries of Bethesda and Blue's Crossing was naval stores due to the abundance of pine trees in the area. These goods were transported to market initially via the Cape Fear River to Wilmington, and later by plank road. Over 1,500 residents of what is now Aberdeen participated in the Civil War. Nearly one-third of the soldiers sent were killed, which decimated the labor supply. After the Civil War, however, the Raleigh and Augusta Air Line Railroad connected the community of Blue's Crossing to the rest of the country, allowing them to sell their naval stores and timber to the rest of the country. In 1877, a post office was established and Malcolm J. Blue was appointed postmaster. Four years later, Allison F. Page bought numerous forested acres to build a rail line, as well as to clear the land for timber. This land was later sold to James Walker Tufts for $1 an acre, and later became home of the historic golf resort, Pinehurst Resort. Blue's Crossing's name was officially changed to the present Aberdeen in 1888. In the early twentieth century, tobacco farming came to the town. Aberdeen's proximity to Pinehurst…

Geography

Aberdeen is in southern Moore County in the Sandhills region of North Carolina. It is bordered to the northwest by Pinehurst and to the northeast by Southern Pines. U.S. Routes 1, 15, and 501 pass through the town together as Sandhills Boulevard. Sanford is to the northeast via Route 1, while Carthage, the Moore county seat, is to the north via Routes 15 and 501. Route 1 leads southwest from Aberdeen to Rockingham, and Routes 15/501 lead south to Laurinburg. North Carolina Highway 5 has its eastern terminus in Aberdeen and leads northwest to the center of Pinehurst. North Carolina Highway 211 follows Routes 1/15/501 through Aberdeen but leads southeast to Raeford. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town of Aberdeen has a total area of , of which , or 1.71%, are water. Aberdeen Creek, a tributary to Drowning Creek (an upstream name for the Lumber River), flows southward through the middle of Aberdeen.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  8,709
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  6,996
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  6,845
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  6,798
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  6,724
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  6,666
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  6,580
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  6,398

Most recent

• M 2.5 — 2019-03-26
  8 km E of Archdale, North Carolina
• M 2.58 — 2015-11-15
  10 km S of Denton, North Carolina
• M 2.5 — 2012-07-29
  7 km NNW of Wallace, South Carolina
• M 2.9 — 2011-03-21
  9 km S of Cordova, North Carolina
• M 3.7 — 2006-09-25
  7 km W of Rowland, North Carolina
• M 3.4 — 2006-09-22
  4 km WSW of Blenheim, South Carolina