West End, North Carolina

Unincorporated community in North Carolina, United States

35°14′23″N 79°34′03″W / 35.23972°N 79.56750°W / 35.23972; -79.56750CountryUnited StatesStateNorth CarolinaCounty MooreFounded1890Named forWestern terminus of a railroad^[1]Elevation

607 ft (185 m)Time zoneUTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (EDT)ZIP code

27376

Area codes910, 472GNIS feature ID997007^[2]

West End is an unincorporated community in Moore County, North Carolina, United States. The community is located at the multiplex of two primary state highways, North Carolina Highway 211 (NC 211) and North Carolina Highway 73 (NC 73). It is named for when it was the western terminus of a railroad from Aberdeen, from about 1890–1898.

History

In the late 1880s, turpentine distillery operator Daniel McDonald of Moore County petitioned local railroad owner Allison Page to extend rail lines to his property to allow him to ship his products. Page agreed and extended the Aberdeen & Star Railroad 13 miles (21 km) northwest from Aberdeen to McDonald's land.^[3] The western terminal of this line was dubbed West End, and a community arose around it with the same name.^[1] All buildings in the community but the train station and a drug store were destroyed by fire in 1898.^[4]

In the aftermath of the fire, the community was rebuilt on an agricultural economy, with particular emphasis on the cultivation of peaches. In 1927, peach grower J.B. Von Cannon established a factory which eventually became the Sandhills Furniture Corporation. The facility was purchased by Stanley Furniture in 1965.^[4] In early 2002, Stanley Furniture closed its West End plant, eliminating a work force of 400 jobs.^[4]^[5] In 2019, the facility was razed to make way for the widening of NC 211 into a four-lane divided boulevard.^[6]

References

^ ^a ^b "North Carolina Gazetteer". Retrieved December 7, 2022.
^ "West End, North Carolina". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
^ "Aberdeen & Star Railroad". North Carolina Railroads. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Communities: Small Towns, Rural Areas Offer History, Character". The Pilot. January 28, 2009. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
^ "Stanley closes N.C. plant, cuts estimate". Furniture Today. December 17, 2001. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
^ Douglass, Laura (September 9, 2019). "Stanley Plant, a West End Icon, Finally Coming Down". The Pilot. Southern Pines, NC. Retrieved December 7, 2022.