Names of N.C. places tell a fascinating story of who we are

North Carolina has more than its fair share of “beautiful” names assigned to its cities, towns and small communities.

Among the most pleasing to the ear is “Fuquay-Varina,” a growing municipality located in southern Wake County.

 

There was a Mr. Fuquay as well as a Ms. Varina, but their paths never crossed. Here’s the story: 

William Fuquay was a Frenchman who fought on the side of the colonials in the Revolutionary War. Afterward, he acquired about 1,000 acres of farmland where Fuquay-Varina now exists. Back then, the community was known as “Sippihaw,” named for a Native American tribe. 

In the late 1850s, a Fuquay family descendant, while plowing a field, uncovered a mineral spring. “Taking the waters from Fuquay Springs” became an attraction for people with all types of physical ailments. 

James Devereaux Ballentine grew up in Sippihaw and was the town’s schoolmaster before going off in 1861 to fight for the Confederate army in the Civil War. During his tour of duty, he received letters from one of many southern ladies who wrote to the troops to boost their morale by offering words of encouragement. 

Ballentine was so impressed with his letters from “Varina,” he just had to find her when he returned home in 1865. He located Virginia Avey in Fayetteville, about 45 miles due south of Sippihaw. They courted and were married in 1867. He always called her “Varina.” 

A new settlement began to form south of the Fuquay Springs, at the rail junction of the Cape Fear and Northern Railway and the Norfolk Southern Railway. A new post office was needed. Ballentine got the job in 1880.

He chose to name his post office “Varina” as an expression of his love and affection toward his dear wife. 

In 1902, Sippihaw was renamed “Fuquay Springs,” and it was incorporated in 1909. Varina remained unincorporated, but the people of Fuquay Springs and Varina agreed to merge in 1963 to form the Town of Fuquay-Varina.

 

What’s cool is that this town with the hyphenated name has two historic districts and has been able to successfully retain its charm and identity…without being totally swallowed up by urban sprawl from Raleigh.

The town’s logo spells out Fuquay-Varina using dashes (not hyphens) of alternating colors, while promising to offer “a dash more.”

 

The pitch is that the “town offers something extra that allows people to personally connect with all the desirable traits that make Fuquay-Varina distinct” for its current population of about 41,482. 

Then, there’s Winston-Salem, North Carolina’s largest hyphenated city, with about 252,274 people. In 1913, the two communities of Winston and Salem in Forsyth County were formally linked to become a single municipality.

 

The merger process began in 1879. It was a long and rocky road that extended over several decades. 

The U.S. Postal Service played a role in the matchmaking. It discontinued the Salem post office in 1899, sending the mail over to the Winston post office, while creating a new Winston-Salem post mark. 

The (Raleigh) News & Observer once “compared the Winston-Salem consolidation campaign to a courtship and impending wedding,” wrote author Frank Tursi. 

The N&O reported: “The bride-to-be, Miss Salem, feels that in learning, in the love of music and the arts, she is the superior of the groom, Mr. Winston.”

 

“The bride-to-be had stipulated that she will not give up her maiden name and lose her identity.”

 

Scenes from Old Salem

They were officially wed on May 6, 1913. Mr. Winston and Miss Salem, who’ve lived happily ever after, observed their 110th anniversary a few months ago.