Moss Neck is a community in

Robeson County, North Carolina Robeson County is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of North Carolina and is its largest county by land area. Its county seat is and largest city is Lumberton. The county was formed in 1787 from part of Bladen County and named in ...

, United States.

History

Moss Neck is located in west-central Robeson County. The name was coined by Native Americans to refer to a stream in the area, and it was later applied to the community after it was settled. It began as a center for

turpentine Turpentine (which is also called spirit of turpentine, oil of turpentine, terebenthene, terebinthine and (colloquially) turps) is a fluid obtained by the distillation of resin harvested from living trees, mainly pines. Mainly used as a special ...

distillation, though as local pine forests were depleted the industry moved south. The community remained due to the presence of a post office and a cooperage. In January 1861, the

Wilmington, Charlotte and Rutherford Railroad The Carolina Central Railroad, was a railway company in the United States. It was incorporated in 1855 as the Wilmington and Charlotte Railroad and was renamed the Wilmington, Charlotte and Rutherford Railroad shortly after. It was reorganized as ...

built a line through the village. A railway station was established, leading to a revitalization of the local community, and it became a center of

Lumbee The Lumbee are a Native American people primarily centered in Robeson, Hoke, Cumberland and Scotland counties in North Carolina. They also live in surrounding states and Baltimore, Maryland. The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina is a state-rec ...

activity. It was frequented by members of the Lowry Gang during the

Lowry War The Lowry War or Lowrie War was a conflict that took place in and around Robeson County, North Carolina, Robeson County, North Carolina, United States from 1864 to 1874 between a group of mostly Native American outlaws and civil local, state, and ...

. In 1892, the

Wilmington and Weldon Railroad The Wilmington and Weldon Railroad (W&W) name began use in 1855, having been originally chartered as the Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad in 1834. At the time of its completion in 1840, the line was the longest railroad in the world with of track ...

proposed building a north-south line through Moss Neck, but at the opposition of a prominent citizen the line was moved a few miles west to Campbell's Mill, which shortly thereafter became Pembroke. By 1909, in addition to the railway station, the community hosted several homes, two turpentine distilleries, a water mill, a sawmill, a hotel, a post office, a school, and a Methodist church. Over the following decades, the community declined as the turpentine industry moved southward and

naval stores Naval stores are all liquid products derived from conifers. These materials include rosin, tall oil, pine oil, and terpentine. The term ''naval stores'' originally applied to the organic compounds used in building and maintaining wooden sailing ...

were supplanted by steel in shipbuilding. The station at Moss Neck was eventually closed, and other business migrated to Pembroke. In the 1920s the Methodist church was disassembled and rebuilt in Pembroke. By 1949, the town was largely deserted.

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{coord, 34, 40, 03, N, 79, 09, 10, W, type:city_region:US-NC_source:GNIS-enwiki, display=title Unincorporated communities in Robeson County, North Carolina Lumbee