Leasburg, North Carolina - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Leasburg is a former town

Town

A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...

and the former county seat

County seat

A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....

of Caswell County, North Carolina

Caswell County, North Carolina

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 23,501 people, 8,670 households, and 6,398 families residing in the county. The population density was 55 people per square mile . There were 9,601 housing units at an average density of 23 per square mile...

. The community has a partial presence in Person County

Person County, North Carolina

Person County is a county located in the Piedmont region in north-central North Carolina in the United States. It is part of the Durham-Chapel Hill Metropolitan Area. The population was 39,464 at the 2010 census.The county seat is Roxboro...

. The population was 1,942 at the 2000 census

United States Census, 2000

The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...

. It was named in honor of longtime resident William Lea and is located along US 158 and NC 119 near Hyco Lake

Hyco Lake

Hyco Lake is a reservoir in Person and Caswell counties, North Carolina. It is the area's main destination for fishing, boating, water skiing, wake boarding, and recreation and is the larger of Person County's two lakes, the other being Mayo Lake. The lake was formed from the Hyco River and has...

. Leasburg is also the name of a Caswell County township.

History

When Caswell County was created in 1777, the area that would become Leasburg was named as the county seat; however a county courthouse

Courthouse

A courthouse is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English speaking countries, buildings which house courts of law are simply...

was not built on the site until 1784 after the American Revolutionary War

American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...

. When the area around the courthouse began to develop, the community decided to incorporate. The town of Leasburg was officially recognized by the North Carolina General Assembly

North Carolina General Assembly

The North Carolina General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of North Carolina. The General Assembly drafts and legislates the state laws of North Carolina, also known as the General Statutes...

in 1788. When the eastern section of Caswell County split and became Person County

Person County, North Carolina

, a more geographically central location for the Caswell county seat was needed; so, in 1792 the courthouse was moved to an area which became known as "Caswell Court House", which later changed its name to Yanceyville

Yanceyville, North Carolina

Yanceyville, first incorporated in 1833, is the county seat of Caswell County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 2,091 at the 2000 census. It has been the county seat since 1792 . The original Caswell County Courthouse has been renovated and provides offices for county departments...

. Leasburg continued to develop after the courthouse relocation and eventually became known as the regional center for education. Numerous mills, factories, and farms prospered in the town until competition nearby from Durham doomed the area's tobacco

Tobacco

Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...

industry. The Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

left Leasburg in ruin, although many antebellum

Antebellum architecture

Antebellum architecture is a term used to describe the characteristic neoclassical architectural style of the Southern United States, especially the Old South, from after the birth of the United States in the American Revolution, to the start of the American Civil War...

residences still remain.

Famous former residents of Leasburg include Solomon Lea, the son of William Lea and the first president of Greensboro College

Greensboro College

Greensboro College is a four-year, independent, coeducational liberal-arts college, also offering four master's degrees, located in Greensboro, North Carolina, and affiliated with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1838...

, and Jacob Thompson

Jacob Thompson

Jacob Thompson was a lawyer and politician who served as United States Secretary of the Interior from 1857 to 1861.-Biography:...

, who served under President James Buchanan

James Buchanan

James Buchanan, Jr. was the 15th President of the United States . He is the only president from Pennsylvania, the only president who remained a lifelong bachelor and the last to be born in the 18th century....

as Secretary of the Interior

United States Secretary of the Interior

The United States Secretary of the Interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior.The US Department of the Interior should not be confused with the concept of Ministries of the Interior as used in other countries...

. Leasburg was also the birth place of the short-lived Piedmont blues

Piedmont blues

Piedmont blues refers primarily to a guitar style, the Piedmont fingerstyle, which is characterized by a fingerpicking approach in which a regular, alternating thumb bass string rhythmic pattern supports a syncopated melody using the treble strings generally picked with the fore-finger,...

musician, Carolina Slim

Carolina Slim

Carolina Slim was an American Piedmont blues guitarist and singer. His best known tracks were "Black Cat Trail" and "I'll Never Walk in Your Door". He used various pseudonyms during his relatively brief recording career, including Country Paul, Jammin' Jim, Lazy Slim Jim and Paul Howard...

Nearby communities and municipalities

Yanceyville
Yanceyville, North Carolina
Yanceyville, first incorporated in 1833, is the county seat of Caswell County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 2,091 at the 2000 census. It has been the county seat since 1792 . The original Caswell County Courthouse has been renovated and provides offices for county departments...
Milton
Milton, North Carolina
Milton is a town in Caswell County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 132 at the 2000 census. It is adjacent to the Virginia International Raceway, which is just across the NC/VA state line.-Geography:...
Prospect Hill
Prospect Hill, North Carolina
Prospect Hill is a small community in Hightowers Township, Caswell County, North Carolina, United States. It lies at the intersection of North Carolina Highways 49 and 86. It is in extreme southeastern Caswell County, North Carolina, and has about 789 people....
Roxboro
Roxboro, North Carolina
Roxboro is a city and the county seat of Person County, North Carolina. As of the 2010 census, the city of Roxboro has a population of 8,362. The city is 30 miles north of Durham, NC. It is part of the Durham-Chapel Hill Metropolitan Area.-History:...
Semora
Semora, North Carolina
Semora is an unincorporated community in Caswell County, North Carolina. It lies just northwest of Hyco Lake and has some presence in Person County. Semora is home to one of the oldest churches in North Carolina: ....

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.