St. Pauls, NC

St. Pauls is a Robeson County town that began around St. Pauls Presbyterian Church, built on land William Davis donated in 1799. The first settlement was only four buildings: the church, Davis's home, a post office, and a livery stable along the stage road between Fayetteville and Lumberton. Education arrived early too. Robeson Institute opened as an academy in 1845, burned in 1885, and was replaced by a school and Masonic Lodge building the following year. Cotton mills and railroads later pulled the town into a larger industrial network; by 1920, three cotton mills were operating, and a rail line reached town between 1907 and 1910. Saint Pauls High School is still in town, carrying the town's school story into the present. St. Pauls remains a crossroads town whose church, school, rail, and mill history all sit close together.