Leasburg is a former

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

and the former

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

Caswell County, North Carolina Caswell County is a county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is located in the Piedmont Triad region of the state. At the 2020 census, the population was 22,736. Its county seat is Yanceyville. Partially bordering the state of Virginia, ...

, United States. The community has a partial presence in Person County. The population was 1,662 at the 2010 census. It was named in honor of longtime resident William Lea and is located along US 158 and NC 119 near

Hyco Lake Hyco Lake is a reservoir in Person and Caswell counties, North Carolina. It is the area's main destination for fishing, boating, water skiing, wake boarding, and recreation and is the larger of Person County's two lakes, the other being Mayo Lake ...

. Leasburg is also the name of a Caswell County township.

History

When Caswell County was created in 1777, the area that would become Leasburg was named as the county seat; however, a county courthouse was not built on the site until 1784, after the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. When the area around the courthouse began to develop, the community decided to incorporate. The town of Leasburg was officially recognized by the North Carolina General Assembly in 1788. When the eastern section of Caswell County split and became Person County, a more geographically central location for the Caswell county seat was needed; so, in 1792 the courthouse was moved to an area which became known as "Caswell Court House", which later changed its name to Yanceyville. Leasburg continued to develop after the courthouse relocation and eventually became known as the regional center for education. Numerous mills, factories, and farms prospered in the town until competition nearby from

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

doomed the area's

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

industry. The

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

left Leasburg in ruin, although many

antebellum Antebellum, Latin for "before war", may refer to: United States history * Antebellum South, the pre-American Civil War period in the Southern United States ** Antebellum Georgia ** Antebellum South Carolina ** Antebellum Virginia * Antebellum ...

residences still remain. Famous former residents of Leasburg include Solomon Lea, the son of William Lea and the first president of

Greensboro College Greensboro College is a private college in Greensboro, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and was founded in 1838 by Rev. Peter Doub. The college enrolls about 1,000 students from 32 states, the District of Columbi ...

, and

Jacob Thompson Jacob Thompson (May 15, 1810 – March 24, 1885) was the United States Secretary of the Interior, who resigned on the outbreak of the American Civil War and became the Inspector General of the Confederate States Army. In 1864, Jefferson Davis ...

, who served under President James Buchanan as Secretary of the Interior. Leasburg was also the birthplace of the short-lived Piedmont blues musician, Carolina Slim. The Garland-Buford House and James Malone House are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

Caswell County Speedway

Caswell County Speedway was once in operation in Leasburg and offered dirt track

kart racing Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on fu ...

. The 1/5 mile track's

ruins Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...

are still present and can be seen from Solomon Lea Road.

Nearby communities and municipalities

* Yanceyville * Milton * Prospect Hill * Roxboro * Semora

References

External links

Leasburg History

{{authority control Populated places in Caswell County, North Carolina Populated places in Person County, North Carolina Unincorporated communities in North Carolina Populated places established in 1777 Former county seats in North Carolina