‘Why Not’ is a unique N.C. ‘pottery community’

Why Not, an unincorporated community in southern Randolph County, sits almost smack dab in the geographic middle of North Carolina.

Not all roads lead to Why Not, but North Carolina’s “Pottery Road Scenic Byway” does…connecting Pinehurst to Seagrove.

 

About 100 ceramic shops and pottery galleries are located hither and yon along the 40-mile route. This is a popular destination for people who are attracted to the authenticity of cultural and heritage tourism. 

Some sources say this region in North Carolina is “America’s largest community of ceramic artisans.”

 

Why Not nuzzles up to the town limits of Seagrove, which is the epicenter of turning potters’ wheels and the home of the North Carolina Pottery Center. Opened in 1998, the facility is basically a state “welcome center” devoted solely to pottery. 

The center will celebrate its 25-year anniversary in 2023, with a goal of reinforcing its stature as the “gateway through which visitors enhance their appreciation of North Carolina’s world-class clay culture.” 

American pottery guru Jack Troy says North Carolina rules. “No other state has such a highly developed pottery-consciousness,” he remarked. 

The annual “Celebration of Seagrove Potters Fall Festival & Studio Tour” occurs this year November 19 and 20.

 

Adding to the legend and lore of Why Not (also seen as Whynot) is the discovery of a “new soil type” in Whynot in 1995, by soil scientists working with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), a unit of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). 

While serving as a USDA Earth Team volunteer intern in 2013, Allison Kroeger reported that “whenever a new soil type is recognized, it is named after a nearby place of origin. Soil scientists found a new soil type in Whynot and named their soil ‘Wynott.’” 

“Although it’s pronounced the same way, soil scientists dropped the ‘h’ and added an extra ‘t,’ to give the soil name a more professional edge,” Kroeger said. 

“Since Wynott has been found in Whynot, soil scientists also have mapped this particular soil type in Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama,” she said, thereby spreading the influence of Why Not throughout the southeastern region of the United States. 

There are two other places in America that shared the name Whynot/Why Not. One is in eastern Mississippi’s Lauderdale County, located near Meridian. Here, the clay soil is red – ideal for dirt track auto racing. The Whynot Motorsports Park features a quarter-mile oval track. 

The Whynot, Miss., post office opened in 1852, and the most famous person born in the community was David Ruffin, lead vocalist for The Temptations of Motown Records’ fame. 

There was a Why Not in Lee County, Ky., in the eastern coal fields section of the state. The community was formed in 1883 on the Kentucky River. The village was renamed Old Landing in the early 1900s. 

Three other communities in Kentucky weave their way into the “town-naming story.” In Allegre in Todd County, someone suggested: “Let’s all agree on something and go home.” 

As town names were suggested at a settlement in Russell County, it seemed each was greeted with a chorus of “oh no” from the gallery. The solution was to name the place Ono…and go home. 

In Rockcastle County, residents ended “their dispute” by agreeing to take the name Disputanta. The unincorporated community now prefers to be called Clear Creek.

 

Back home in North Carolina, Barbecue, an unincorporated community located in Barbecue Township within Harnett County, is an intriguing destination. We’ll go there soon.

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.n 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 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 Fuquay-Varina. 

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

 

And then, there’s the tale of “Why Not” in Randolph County.

This community sprouted up with the completion in 1853 of the 129-mile Fayetteville and Western Plank Road, which ran between Fayetteville and Bethania (near Winston-Salem). It was the longest plank road in the world. 

In 1860, the federal government thought it would be good to have a post office located at the midpoint along the road – in Randolph County. 

So, area residents assembled to select a name for their postal station. “Why not name it this, why not name it that?” The group could not agree on a name. Finally, Martin Auman…or maybe it was Alfred Yow or Noah Richardson…said: “Why not name it ‘Why Not?’” And that’s just what they did.

 

The center of the Why Not community has always been its old Methodist church, which is maintained today by the Why Not Memorial Association (WNMA), a nonprofit, volunteer-based organization that was formed in 1936. 

Descendants of alumni from the Why Not Academy, which operated from 1893-1916, are also considered “official members” of the WNMA. 

This loyal group of “Why Notters” hosts its 86th annual reunion gathering on May 15, 2022, with a “covered dish” mid-day supper on the old church grounds.

Let’s send ‘farewell message’ to our friends in Jones County

Goodbye Jones County. After several years of “sharing a legislator,” Carteret and Jones counties are being sent their separate ways…if North Carolina’s legislative redistricting plan is upheld.

 

Jones is going to be lumped in with Lenoir and Greene counties to form the 12th district in the N.C. House of Representatives, beginning with the next election. 

Carteret County will remain the hub of the 13th district and pick up the southern section of Craven County – Harlowe precinct and about “half of Havelock.” (More on that later, but today’s column is meant to bid farewell to Jones County and its friendly people.) 

Jones has been like a “little brother.” In 2022, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that 8,837 people live in Jones, while Carteret has 69,578 residents. Jones is one of 42 North Carolina counties that is shrinking – not in land area but in population. 

The North Carolina Department of Commerce annually ranks the state’s 100 counties based on economic well-being and assigns each a “tier designation.” This tier system is incorporated into various state programs to encourage economic activity in the less prosperous areas of the state.

The 40 most distressed counties are designated as Tier 1, the next 40 as Tier 2 and the 20 least distressed as Tier 3. Jones is Tier 1; Carteret is Tier 3. 

Jones was established in 1779, carved out of Craven County, because the courthouse in New Bern was “too far away when transportation was limited to the use of horses, boats or one’s own feet.” 

Jones County was named in honor of Willie (pronounced Wiley) Jones, an aristocrat from Halifax County. He was generally regarded as North Carolina’s most powerful legislative leader from 1767 through 1789.

 

Willie Jones

“Royal Gov. Josiah Martin remarked that Jones was one of the loudest voices encouraging secession from Britain and the establishment of an independent state,” according to Dr. Troy L. Kickler, a history professor at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va.

 

Prof. Kickler

After the Revolutionary War, “Willie Jones was a prominent Anti-Federalist during the ratification debate in North Carolina,” Dr. Kickler said. “Jones was influential in the political opposition to the federal constitution, and he had much to with North Carolina’s delay in entering the Union.” 

“Believing states’ rights and individual rights were intertwined, Willie Jones, in particular, criticized the Constitution as an instrument of centralization and an encroachment of community rule,” Dr. Kickler said. “Jones’ insistence for an elucidation of individual rights in the Constitution contributed greatly to the eventual adoption of the Bill of Rights.” 

“Jones heeded the advice of Thomas Jefferson: For the sake of the Union, at least nine states should ratify the Constitution, but to ensure that a Bill of Rights was adopted, at least four states should not ratify it.

 

Thomas Jefferson

“Jones made sure North Carolina was one of the four: ‘I would rather be 18 years out of the Union than adopt it (Constitution) in its present defective form.’” 

In 1788, North Carolina passed a resolution (184 to 84) not to approve or reject the Constitution,” Dr. Kickler said. For a year, North Carolina was not part of the Union. 

“But when the U.S. Congress passed a Bill of Rights, North Carolina voted for the Constitution (195 to 77) in 1789,” the professor said. 

Hence, North Carolina was officially the 12th state to join the Union. Rhode Island was the 13th. 

“Willie Jones knew his political work was done,” Dr. Kickler said.

Let’s get to know Chowan and Perquimans counties

Chowan County is fondly known in North Carolina as the “Cradle of the Colony.”

Edenton, the county seat, was settled in 1712 and chartered in 1715. Within North Carolina, it appears that only the communities of Bath, New Bern and Beaufort are older.

 

Edenton takes its name from the second colonial governor, Charles Eden, who served from 1714 until his death in 1722. Edenton was the capital of the North Carolina colony from 1722-43. 

Historian J. D. Lewis said: “From its very beginning to the time when freedom from England was finally achieved, Edenton was a hot-bed and center of continuous revolt and resistance to the Crown.” 

A perfect example is the famous “Edenton Tea Party” in 1774, when Penelope Barker and Elizabeth King formed an alliance of 50 local women to protest against “taxation without representation” by boycotting British tea and fabrics coming into North Carolina.

 

One journalist wrote: “There are but few places in America that possess so much female artillery as Edenton.” 

Geographically, Chowan County is bounded on the south by the Albemarle Sound and to the west by the Chowan River. It is one of seven counties that has been attached to Carteret County to form the state senate’s new 1st District.

 

The district is a strange configuration where part of the North Carolina Outer Banks meets a portion of the “inner banks” region. 

We need to forge strong bonds with our new partners in the 1st District to advocate for interests of eastern and coastal North Carolina. All communities in this district are heavily dependent on the various forms of tourism, and as they say…a “rising tide lifts all boats.”

 

Chowan’s eastern neighbor is Perquimans County. Each of these counties is about the same size, with respective populations approaching 14,000 people. (Perquimans is also a part of the state senate’s new 1st District.)

 

Hertford, located on the Perquimans River, is the county seat of Perquimans County. The settlement was originally known as Phelps Point. Quaker Jonathan Phelps was the primary landowner. 

However, the bill to charter the community that was put forth in the colonial legislature in 1758 specified that the town be called Hertford. 

Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford in England, was the “political patron” of North Carolina colonial governor Arthur Dobbs.

 

Francis Seymour-Conway

Better to be named after Hertford than Dobbs, said the outspoken Robert Digges Wimberly Connor, who was North Carolina’s first state archivist. Dobbs served as governor from 1753-64…but he wasn’t very popular. Connor labeled Dobbs as “a dull, overbearing Irishman” whose administration “was a total failure.” 

Connor wrote: “It was the misfortune of the colony to be governed by Arthur Dobbs. He cared nothing for the privileges of the people and was eager only to please the king and his ministry.” 

“In an outburst of wrath, Dobbs wrote to the authorities in England that (the North Carolina subjects) ‘were stubborn as mules.’”

 

Gov. Dobbs

Dobbs asked the king to grant him greater authority to rule with an iron fist to “prevent the rising spirit of independency stealing into this colony,” Connor said. 

The man who really got under Dobbs’ skin was John Harvey, a native of Harvey’s Neck in Perquimans County, who fueled the flames of “civil disobedience” in the legislature. 

John Harvey earned the reputation as the “Father of the Revolution in North Carolina,” according to Connor. 

“Sadly, less is known of his life than of any of the other Revolutionary leaders of North Carolina,” Connor noted.

N.C. redistricting ‘joins’ Carteret and Washington counties

North Carolina’s new state senate map has some goofy geography, especially in the eastern section of the state.

The senate’s new 1st District is anchored by Carteret County as the main population center, but legislators have tossed in seven other counties. Three – Pamlico, Hyde and Dare – have similar coastal characteristics to Carteret and share common issues and concerns. 

The other four counties also have water-based economies and are situated on the Albemarle Sound. Consider today’s column much like a travelogue, beginning with Washington County.

 

Measuring from county seat to county seat – Beaufort to Plymouth – the “highway distance” between the towns is about 111 miles. 

Washington County has a population of 11,013, ranking it fifth from the bottom among the state’s least-inhabited 100 counties. In contrast, Carteret has 69,578 people, 39th from the top. 

Some folks believe there are more black bears in Washington County than there are people. And they might be right. They grow big old bears there. Some exceed 700 or 800 pounds. Tourism officials say: “Welcome to Bear-olina. Where traffic ends and adventure begins!”

 Plymouth, which is on the Roanoke River, is being promoted as a “base camp for all your wildlife excursions.” This area is where some of the world’s largest black bears and highest black bear densities are found.

 

Abundant agricultural crops are fringed by extensive forests and swamps, making this an ideal habitat for bears, birds and all kinds of wildlife. 

Tom Harrison of the North Carolina Black Bear Discovery Center in Plymouth is a ‘bear-ologist.” He tells visitors that eastern North Carolina black bear sows “den up for a short time and give birth to their cubs in January, but the bears don’t really hunker down for the winter.”

 

“Our bears do experience metabolic changes that are an indication of hibernation,” Harrison explained. “Their heart rate slows down, their metabolism slows down, and they will sleep for periods of time during inclement weather.” 

Washington County celebrates the North Carolina Black Bear Festival in Plymouth on June 4, 2022, which coincides with National Black Bear Day on the first Saturday of June. 

If you’re going to the festival, also plan to visit the Port o’ Plymouth Museum, which is housed in a historic 1923 Atlantic Coast Line train depot. The facility documents Plymouth’s Civil War history. The centerpiece is the 1864 Battle of Plymouth and the “Civil War’s most successful ironclad ship” – the CSS Albemarle.

 

A 63-foot replica of the 158-foot vessel floats in the Roanoke River. Visitors can also tour an exact-size replica of the old 1866 Roanoke River Lighthouse and an associated maritime museum in Plymouth. 

Also within Washington County is Somerset Place, a North Carolina Historic Site bordering Lake Phelps, located near Creswell. The property was one of the Upper South’s largest plantations, active from 1785-1865.

 

In 1939, Somerset’s main house and six adjacent structures were incorporated into the newly formed Pettigrew State Park. In 1969, these buildings and the immediate grounds were brought under the umbrella of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Thanks largely to the efforts of author Dorothy “Dot” Spruill Redford, Somerset Place “has transformed the interpretation of slavery in North Carolina,” creating a model of inclusiveness. 

Just for fun, drive north across the Albemarle Sound Bridge (N.C. Routes 32, 37 and 94), which is about 3.5 miles long, one of the longest bridges in the state. On the other side, welcome to Chowan County, another of the eight counties now in the state senate 1st District.

‘Double-bunking’ illustrates N.C.’s population shift

North Carolina’s new 2022 redistricting legislative maps have “double-bunked” four incumbent Republican state senators who have traditionally served rural counties. 

This “situation” does not reflect any demerits for the affected lawmakers’ past performance. Rather, it is the political reality of shifting demographics in North Carolina. The urban population centers are gaining legislative seats, while the rural areas are losing them. 

So, this year, the new and strangely drawn new 1st District double bunks Sen. Norman Sanderson of Minnesott Beach in Pamlico County and Sen. Bob Steinburg of Edenton in Chowan County.

 

        Norman Sanderson

 

                Bob Steinburg

The 1st District now includes eight counties – Carteret, Pamlico, Hyde, Dare, Washington, Chowan, Perquimans and Pasquotank. 

In the 2021 session, the North Carolina State Board of Elections showed that Sanderson represented Carteret and Pamlico (with 62,540 registered voters). Steinburg represented Hyde, Dare, Washington, Chowan, Perquimans and Pasquotank (with 89,736 registered voters). 

The winner of the May 17 Republican primary election moves on to the Nov. 8 General Election as a shoo-in, since no Democrat has filed. The primary loser goes home. May the best man win. Both are retired businessmen, highly qualified and respected gentlemen. 

Sanderson, 70, was born in Lumberton, N.C., and earned a bachelor’s degree in Christian education from Logos University, Jacksonville, Fla. 

Steinburg, 73, was born in Oswego, N.Y., and is a graduate of Upper Iowa University in Fayette, Iowa. 

Jim Stirling, a research fellow with the John Locke Foundation, a conservative think tank based in Raleigh, believes the Sanderson v. Steinburg race offers a lot of intrigue. It depends on which candidate can score well on the other’s home turf, Stirling said.

 

In the western part of the state, incumbents Sen. Deanna Ballard of Blowing Rock in Watauga County and Sen. Ralph Hise of Spruce Pine in Mitchell County also find themselves facing off in the GOP primary, competing in the new 47th District. 

The district includes Alleghany, Ashe, Watauga, Avery, Mitchell, Yancey and Madison counties as well as a large portion Caldwell and a small section of Haywood.

 

 

In 2021, Ballard represented Alleghany, Ashe and Watauga (with 71,462 registered voters), while Hise represented Mitchell, Yancey and Madison (with 54,438 registered voters). 

Voters in Avery, Caldwell and Haywood (represented by neither Ballard nor Hise in 2021) make up 30% of the new 47th District. This primary election is viewed as a “pins and needles” contest that may well hinge on campaign strategy – a battle of wits between two savvy up-and-coming politicians. 

Ballard, 43, was born in Denver, N.C., and earned a bachelor’s degree in business from Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn. She is employed as director of public policy for Samaritan’s Purse, an international Christian relief organization headquartered in Boone.

Hise, 45, is a Mitchell County native who graduated from Appalachian State University in Boone. He also earned a master’s degree from North Carolina State University in Raleigh. He is employed as coordinator of special projects at Mayland Community College in Spruce Pine. 

Travis Fain, a WRAL-TV state government reporter, interviewed Dr. J. Michael Bitzer, a history/political science professor at Catawba College in Salisbury, N.C., about the effects of double-bunking. 

Dr. Blitzer said: “Redistricting does tend to shuffle the board in more ways than just the lines”…creating “fresh opportunities and interesting challenges.”

 

This is the second time Ballard has been double-bunked in the state senate. She found herself in the same position in 2018, winning a primary showdown with Sen. Shirley Randleman of Wilkesboro. Ballard received 53.6% of the vote in that contest.

Does ‘library’ stack up among ‘most beautiful words’?

Lovely, soft-sounding letter “l” is found in many of the “most beautiful” words in the English language.

In 1932, Wilfred Funk (son of the founder of Funk & Wagnalls) published his top 10 list of the most beautiful words in regard to both sound and meaning. Half of them contain an “l” – “lullaby, tranquil, luminous, golden, melody.”

 

Funk would add to his list over time, including “chalice, marigold, jonquil, oriole, tendril, oleander, amaryllis.”

 

Other literary titans suggested yet more “l” words, such as “lissome, lithe, leisure, lulu, plethora, lavender, mellifluous.” 

American poet Louis Untermeyer once commented: “The most musical words seem to be those containing the letter ‘l’. I think, offhand, of such words as ‘violet, lake, laughter, willow, lovely’ and other such limpid and liquid syllables.” 

There were even “two votes” for the word “library.” The first came from Englishman Christopher Hitchens, a journalist and author. His motion was seconded by Arthur Plotnik, former editor of American Libraries magazine, the official publication of the American Library Association, based in Chicago.

 

“When someone as keenly literate as Hitchens calls ‘library’ the most beautiful English utterance, one wants to stop and think about it, to roll the term around on the tongue, to consider what constitutes beauty in a word and how ‘library’ measures up,” Plotnick wrote. 

Yet, in the end, Plotnick acknowledges that “library” is just another “wallflower at the beauty ball.”

 

Arthur Plotnick

In search of the origin of “library,” Plotnick said: “We find ourselves worming into, of all places, a tree’s inner bark. Early Romans called such bark ‘liber,’ and they processed it to be used as a writing material. ‘Liber’ thus became the Latin’ word for paper and book.” 

It seems logical that a collection of books would be called a “liberium?” “‘Liberry’ is a bonny little word, easy to say, without rupturing a lip muscle,” Plotnick asserted. 

When encountered with a “br” combination as in “February,” the “r” is silent. It doesn’t work that way for some reason with “library.” You sound it out as “LIE-brair-ee.” 

While we are stuck with the word “library,” librarians feel compelled to seek ever more terms to augment or displace it, Plotnick said. 

“Unfortunately, most such terms are even clunkier, however aspirational,” he said. “Try putting one of these in a sonnet: Information center, media center, community collaboration space.” 

The Greek word “biblio” (for book), has gained some new traction in the modern library world, forming “biblioteca” in both the Italian and Spanish languages. Librarians working there are known as “bibliotecarios.”

 

“Imagine singing out a term with operatic possibilities,” Plotnick said. “‘Figaro, Figaro, bibliotecario!’ I would sing it all day.” “Bibliotecario” qualifies as an “l” word, with five syllables to boot. 

Alas, many literary scholars have sided with English fantasy writer J. R. R. Tolkien to deem “cellar door” as the “most beautiful word,” merely because of euphony. One is James Paradiso, who was a high school sophomore at Saint Peter’s Preparatory School in Jersey City, N.J., in 2016, when he cited Tolkien’s work:

 J. R. R. Tolkien

“Most English-speaking people, for instance, will admit that cellar door is ‘beautiful,’ especially if dissociated from its sense…more beautiful than, say, ‘sky’, and far more beautiful than ‘beautiful.’” 

Plotnick responded: “‘Cellar door’ is lovely enough to the ear, and I would gladly use it as a name for a pet canary. But for bottom-line beautiful, I’m still voting, with Hitchens, for ‘library’ rather than the dank smell of a basement.” 

Besides, two words against one isn’t a fair fight.