Qualla: Beulaville, North Carolina

Beulaville, North Carolina: Introduction

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Marc.bratcher, CC BY-SA 3.0. When the wrecking crew came for the old soda shop downtown to make way for a McDonald's, they found a working moonshine still in the basement, plus several barrels of the finished product. Nobody in Beulaville, North Carolina, was particularly surprised. The town had been founded in 1873 as a trading hub for turpentine farmers and loggers, and from the start it had a reputation. Its original name was Snatchet. The nickname locals preferred was Tearshirt. You can guess what kind of evenings produced that one.

Image: Marc.bratcher | CC BY-SA 3.0

Beulaville, North Carolina: Before the Crossroads

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Marc.bratcher, CC BY-SA 3.0. Long before any European set foot on this stretch of the coastal plain, Native people moved through these forests on hunting trails. The Joara, descendants of the Mississippian culture, had a chiefdom that reached this area as early as 1000 AD. By the time English and Welsh settl...

Image: Marc.bratcher | CC BY-SA 3.0

Beulaville, North Carolina: Snatchet to Beulaville

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Marc.bratcher, CC BY-SA 3.0. In 1736 a wealthy Londoner named Henry McCulloh got a 71,160-acre grant from the Crown and brought in several hundred Ulster Scots and a few Swiss Protestants to settle it. They built Sarecta on the Northeast Cape Fear River and another settlement at the lower end of Goshen Swamp...

Image: Marc.bratcher | CC BY-SA 3.0

Beulaville, North Carolina: Rails, Tobacco, and Hogs

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Marc.bratcher, CC BY-SA 3.0. Around 1900 the Kinston Carolina Railroad and Lumber Company laid track from Kinston to Pink Hill. The residents of Limestone Creek Township raised $15,000 to lobby for an extension through Beulaville to Chinquapin, and the Duplin County Railroad opened in 1916. The rails ran alo...

Image: Marc.bratcher | CC BY-SA 3.0

Beulaville, North Carolina: The Panthers of East Duplin

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Marc.bratcher, CC BY-SA 3.0. On 6 November 1945, the main building of Beulaville High School burned to the ground. Only the John Hargett Gymnasium and the auditorium survived. School continued in the gym and a teacherage next door until 1947, when the elementary building was rebuilt and a new high school ros...

Image: Marc.bratcher | CC BY-SA 3.0