Wayne County, NC - Heritage Series Reprinted with permission of the Mount Olive Tribune and cannot be reproduced without permission. Transcribed by Linda Harmon. Remembering Centennial "Our Heritage" By Claude Moore It seems like yesterday, but it has actually been 22 years since Mount Olive celebrated its 100th birthday. Preparation for the celebration began early in the years, but the highlights were the great parade held on Saturday, April 11, 1970, which was attended by more than 15,000 persons and the historical pageant depicting the history of Mount Olive. Many of the floats had been used at the Azalea Festival parade on the previous Saturday. It may have been one of the largest parades even staged in Wayne County. It was attended by Gov. Bob Scott, and other state and national notables. There were antique cars, bands, marchers, military units, horses, and a real stagecoach. The Mount Olive Tribune issues of April 7th, April 14th and April 21st carry many photographs relating to the continual activities as well as photographs of olden days in the area. During the Centennial there were various exhibits of artifacts displayed in the store windows downtown as well as at the college. It seems that a universal spirit of cooperation prevailed and all groups were involved in this celebration. The azaleas and other spring flowers were in bloom and Mount Olive as usual looked like a large flower garden. The Town of Mount Olive had its beginning after the railroad was completed in 1840. The railroad brought new life to the whole coastal plain from Wilmington to Weldon. In 1845, William F. Pollock, originally from Canada, and Benjamin Oliver of Duplin opened up a store on the railroad. A turpentine distillery was located nearby. The stop and the railroad was named for the Mount of Olives, just outside of Jerusalem. Dr. Gideon M. Roberts, the son-in-law of Benjamin Oliver, came to Mount Olive and in 1852 purchased a tract of land on the east side of the railroad from the Winn family (free colored) and in 1854 Dr. Roberts, Benjamin Oliver, Daniel K. Kornegay, Joel Loftin, David Maxwell and A. B. Humphey laid out some town lots around the depot and post office, Lemuel Kornegay was one of the early merchants in the town. The post office was established in 1853 with Dr. Roberts as the first postmaster. The post office was located in his medical office which stood at the northwest corner of Pollock and Center streets. Sometime after 1854, Dr. Roberts built his handsome home, the Elms, at 304 East James Street, the present home of Mr. And Mrs. Clyde Williams. Mount Olive continued to grow and in 1870, the town was chartered by an act of the state legislature. ============================================================== 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 Linda Harmon ==============================================================