Carthage

History

The town was the home of the Tyson & Jones Buggy Company, a predominant cart and buggy manufacturer in the late 1800s. A common local story is that after the closing of the Tyson Buggy Company, Henry Ford was interested in buying the old plant and converting it into a car assembly line. According to the legend, the owners refused to let Ford buy the plant. He moved on and built his first plant in Detroit, making it the center of auto manufacturing. This story is often repeated despite a lack of evidence, and it runs contrary to the life of Ford, who was born and raised in Detroit and started his businesses there. A few years after being closed, the former Tyson Buggy plant burned down. Another common local story is that the town was originally selected as the site for the University of North Carolina. Supposedly, city leaders did not want the university built there. City leaders purportedly told the state that Carthage was on too steep of a hill for locomotives to climb and that access to the university would be limited if built there. This often-repeated story does not account for the fact that locomotives were not invented until two decades after the university had been built in Chapel Hill. The town has an annual event in spring called the Buggy Festival. This event is used to showcase the history of the town and features music, hot rods, old tractors, old buggies made by the Tyson Buggy Company, and crafts from potteries in the surrounding areas. The festival is held in the town square around the Old Court House, recognized as a historic landmark. Tyson & Jones buggy factory partner William T. Jones was born the son of a slave and her white owner in 1833. By the time of his death in 1910, William T. Jones was one of the prominent business owners in Carthage. He…

Geography

Carthage is in east-central Moore County. North Carolina Highways 24 and 27 pass through the center of town as McReynolds Street (to the northwest) and Monroe Street (to the southeast), leading west to Troy and southeast to Fayetteville. North Carolina Highway 22 enters Carthage on McReynolds Street with NC-24/27 but turns south in the center of town onto McNeill Street. Highway 22 leads south to Southern Pines and northwest to Ramseur. U.S. Routes 15 and 501 pass through the southeast side of the town on a bypass; the combined highways lead northeast to Sanford and south to Aberdeen. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town of Carthage has a total area of , of which , or 0.55%, are water. |source 2 = National Weather Service }}

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,762
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  3,089
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,918
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,656
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  2,608
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  2,586
• Eastern Bluebird

  Sialia sialis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,551
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  2,371

Largest nearby schools

• Pinecrest High
  High · Southern Pines · 2,221 students · 22:1 ratio
• Union Pines High
  High · Cameron · 1,438 students · 19.7:1 ratio
• STARS Charter
  Other · Vass · 809 students · 14.7:1 ratio
• West Pine Middle
  Middle · West End · 688 students · 17.2:1 ratio
• New Century Middle
  Middle · Cameron · 625 students · 16.9:1 ratio
• McDeeds Creek Elementary
  Elementary · Southern Pines · 625 students · 16.4:1 ratio
• Pinehurst Elementary
  Elementary · Pinehurst · 624 students · 16:1 ratio
• Southern Pines Elementary
  Elementary · Southern Pines · 612 students · 14.6:1 ratio

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