Wayne County, NC - Heritage Series Reprinted with permission of the Mount Olive Tribune and cannot be reproduced without permission. Transcribed by Sloan Mason. DUPLIN, PENDER AND BLADEN "Our Heritage" by Claude MOORE Friday, October 8, 1993 Last Wednesday and Thursday, a cousin, Mary KING, of Greensboro, came to see us and we decided to visit some of the interesting historic and natural sites in the adjoining counties. With new industries coming into our area and the revival of interest in local history, these places will take on a new meaning. Kenansville has already become an attraction for tourists with the restoration of Liberty Hall, the Cowan Museum, and the presentation of the historical pageants in the Kenan Amphitheater. On Wednesday morning we took the Union School Road to the Waycross Road to and went to old Oak Plain Presbyterian Church, built in 1859 and is still an active congregation. Thirteen Confederate soldiers and many old residents are buried in the church cemetery. Our next stop was the natural wells about one mile west of Magnolia, which is probably the most interesting natural well formation in Duplin. This particular well is actually on a hill and may be several hundred feet deep. There are layers of prehistoric marine life on the walls of the well. Then we made it on to the charming little town of Magnolia which was originally called Stricklandsville, and was founded when the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad was completed in 1840. It became a fine market for naval stores, logs, cotton, and much later it was the center of a bulb raising industry as well as a strawberry market. The depot was built of brick. The old seminary or college building, built in the 1850's, is still standing and a few other houses dating back to the middle of the 19th century. During the War Between the States, the railroad repair shop of the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad was moved to Magnolia for fear that Fort Fisher could not withstand the bombardment by the Union fleet. The Baptist, Methodist, and Universalist churches were built quite early, and later the Universalist Church disbanded to go to Red Hill. Our next stop was a tour of the Duplin Winery in Rose Hill and then to Wallace for lunch. Between Wallace and Burgaw we stopped by old Hopewell Presbyterian Church, organized in 1800, and saw the grave of Hinton JAMES, the first student at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Near Rocky Point (east) near Lane's Ferry Bridge we visited the site of "Moorefields" the colonial plantation home of George MOORE, Gen. James MOORE, Judge Maurice MOORE and others. These are located on a knoll at the end of Mooretown Road. We were helped by a local black minister, the Reverend Alexander MOORE, age 86. From Rocky Point, we took highway 53 on to the Moore's Creek Battleground, to Lake Singletary, to White Lake, and to Elizabethtown to visit the old plantation home of the Hon. Thomas MCDOWELL, a member of the Confederate Congress. On Thursday, the cousin and I visited several old homes in Faison, east of Faison, and then to Calypso, Mount Olive College, the Mount Olive Tribune building. From Mount Olive, we went to Pine Grove and Hall's Township and found the early land grants of the KING, SNELL, HARGROVE, STEVENS, OATES and other families and then to Newton Grove. Much can be learned about one's local community by visiting old homes, churches, and cemeteries, all of which tell us something about the story of our country, state and nation. ============================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. The electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Sloan Mason ==============================================================