Qualla: Leland, North Carolina

Leland, North Carolina: Introduction

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Edward Orde, CC BY-SA 4.0. The vote on September 5, 1989, came down 472 to 42 - a town being born by an enormous margin, which is the kind of thing that only happens when residents are angry enough to leave nothing to chance. The reason was the village of Belville, three miles east across the marsh. Belville's commissioners had spent the spring trying to annex chunks of what would become Leland, and on the day Leland's incorporation ballot was finalized they slipped in one last grab - voting to annex a business district roughly an hour before Leland could finalize its own paperwork. Russell Baldwin, the new town's first mayor, called it a dirty trick. Belville, as a result, is now an enclave entirely surrounded by Leland on three sides and the Brunswick River on the fourth.

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Image: Edward Orde | CC BY-SA 4.0

Leland, North Carolina: The Railroad Crossing

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Billy Hathorn, CC BY-SA 3.0. What is now Leland began as a footnote on a 19th-century rail map - the spot where Village Road crossed the Augusta, Columbia, and Wilmington railroad lines. There was no town, just a few houses and a post office, established in 1881 and named for Leland Adams, nephew of the firs...

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Image: Billy Hathorn | CC BY-SA 3.0

Leland, North Carolina: Surrounding the Holdout

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Brianriceca, CC BY-SA 3.0. If you look at a map of Brunswick County today, the geometry tells the story. Leland wraps around Belville on three sides. The Brunswick River wraps around the fourth. Belville is roughly a square mile; Leland is more than twenty-two. Mayors of both towns have tried, off and on, ...

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Image: Brianriceca | CC BY-SA 3.0

Leland, North Carolina: The Fastest Growing Town in the State

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Farragutful, CC BY-SA 4.0. In 2000 Leland had 1,938 residents. By 2010, 13,527. By 2020, 23,504. That's a twelvefold increase in twenty years, and as of 2020 the U.S. Census Bureau called Leland the fastest-growing town in North Carolina. The reasons are not exotic. Leland sits five miles west of downtown ...

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Image: Farragutful | CC BY-SA 4.0

Leland, North Carolina: Cypress Cove and a Thousand Acres

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit BSLRed, CC BY-SA 3.0. For all the suburban subdivisions, Leland has worked to hold onto its wetlands. Cypress Cove Park, donated by Kirby Sullivan in 2005, is twenty-seven acres of black-water swamp with an overlook deck, an outdoor classroom, and a handicap-accessible fishing platform - the town's fi...

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Image: BSLRed | CC BY-SA 3.0

Leland, North Carolina: Charter Day School and the Skirt Rule

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Infoazalea, CC BY-SA 4.0. One Leland story has bounced through federal courts for nearly a decade. Charter Day School, a K-8 public charter school operating in the town, required female students to wear skirts. The founder said it promoted chivalry, mutual respect, and traditional values. In 2016, the ACL...

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Image: Infoazalea | CC BY-SA 4.0