Whynot is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in Randolph County,

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, United States, and is included in the

Piedmont Triad The Piedmont Triad (or simply the Triad) is a metropolitan region in the north-central part of the U.S. state of North Carolina anchored by three cities: Greensboro, North Carolina, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Winston-Salem, and ...

metropolitan region. Whynot is located on NC 705, also known as the "North Carolina Pottery Highway", southeast of Seagrove and west of

Jugtown Pottery Jugtown Pottery was founded in 1921 by Jacques and Juliana Busbee, artists from Raleigh, North Carolina, who in 1917 discovered an orange pie dish and traced it back to Moore County. There, they found a local tradition of utilitarian pottery in o ...

, a historic pottery listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. The North Carolina Pottery Highway contains over 100 potteries and galleries in a region surrounding Seagrove.

History

Whynot was first settled in the 18th century by

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and

English people The English people are an ethnic group and nation native to England, who speak the English language in England, English language, a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language, and share a common ancestry, history, and culture. The Engl ...

, along with the nearby communities of Erect,

Hemp Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a plant in the botanical class of ''Cannabis sativa'' cultivars grown specifically for industrial and consumable use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest ...

, Lonely, Steeds, and Sophia. The community was originally spelled with two separate words, "Why Not". The origin of town's name came from residents debating a title for their community. A man finally remarked: "Why not name the town Why Not and let's go home?" The Why Not Academy and Business Institute, a combination public and private school, was located in the community from 1893 to 1916. Whynot has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names.

Arts and culture

Area residents first began making pottery in the 18th century. The area still contains several pottery shops including Dirtworks Pottery, Tom Gray Pottery, Dixieland Pottery, Marsh Pottery, Kovack Pottery, Michele Hastings & Jeff Brown Pottery, and Whynot Pottery.

Gallery

Image:Randolph County map Whynot.png, Location of Whynot on a map of

Randolph County, North Carolina Randolph County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 144,171. Its county seat is Asheboro. Randolph County is included in the Greensboro- High Point, NC Metropolitan Statistica ...

Image:Why Not NC postmark.jpg, Postmark from a

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

soldier living in "Why Not". (note the original spelling of the community) The postmark is dated December 16, 1862. File:Whynot General Store.jpg, Whynot General Store

History

Arts and culture

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading