47 articles
Aiken, South Carolina
Aiken, South Carolina: city of about 33,800 in Aiken County, near Augusta, Georgia. Known for the Winter Colony resort era, equestrian sports and polo since 1882, Hitchcock Woods, and the nearby Savannah River Site.
Anderson, South Carolina
Anderson, South Carolina: county seat of Anderson County in the state's northwest, on the I-85 corridor between Atlanta and Charlotte. Known as the Electric City for early unlimited electric power; 2020 population 28,106, 2025 estimate 31,323.
Asheville, North Carolina
Asheville, North Carolina: county seat of Buncombe County, founded 1797 and named for Governor Samuel Ashe, at the French Broad-Swannanoa confluence. Known for Art Deco downtown, Biltmore Estate, healthcare-led economy, and Hurricane Helene recovery since 2024.
Beaufort, South Carolina
Beaufort, South Carolina: second oldest city in the state, founded 1711 on Port Royal Island; home to a 304-acre National Historic Landmark District, Reconstruction Era National Historical Park, and the Port Royal Experiment; population 13,607 (2020).
Boone, North Carolina
Boone, North Carolina: Blue Ridge mountain town, county seat of Watauga County, incorporated 1872, home of Appalachian State University and a fall-leaf tourism economy hit by Hurricane Helene in 2024.
Cary, North Carolina
Cary, North Carolina: a Wake County town southwest of Raleigh, incorporated 1871, population about 192,000, known for Research Triangle proximity, high incomes, greenways, and a 2026 town manager audit.
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Chapel Hill, North Carolina: Orange County town (partly Durham County), incorporated 1819, population about 63,600, built around the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the first US public university, chartered 1789, opened 1795.
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is a port city in coastal South Carolina, founded in 1670 as Charles Town and renamed in 1783, where the Civil War's first shots were fired.
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte, North Carolina (Queen City), largest city in North Carolina and 14th largest in the U.S. with 964,784 residents in 2025; Piedmont commercial hub founded 1768, named for Queen Charlotte, with council-manager government since 1929.
Clemson, South Carolina
Clemson, South Carolina: Upstate Pickens County college town, founded as Town of Calhoun in 1892, renamed Clemson in 1943; home of Clemson University, fare-free CAT transit, and Lake Hartwell parks; 2020 population 17,681.
Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia, South Carolina, also known as Soda City, is the capital of South Carolina and the seat of Richland County, created in 1786 as the nation's first planned capital city.
Concord, North Carolina
Concord, North Carolina, is the county seat of Cabarrus County, about 19 miles northeast of Charlotte. Founded in 1796, it is home to Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Conway, South Carolina
Conway, South Carolina: historic Horry County seat on the Waccamaw River, founded 1732 as Kingston, renamed Conwayborough 1801, Conway 1883. Home of Coastal Carolina University; 2020 census population 24,849, 2025 estimate 30,627. Distinct from Conway, Arkansas.
Duck, North Carolina
Duck, North Carolina: Outer Banks town in Dare County known for its MSD-funded beach nourishment program (first project 2017, next in 2027) and award-winning NC 12 living shoreline resiliency project completed in 2024.
Durham, North Carolina
Durham, North Carolina: Piedmont city and Durham County seat, nicknamed the Bull City for Bull Durham tobacco. Grew from an 1850s railroad station; home to Duke University, NC Central, and Research Triangle Park; population about 305,000.
Elizabeth City, North Carolina
Elizabeth City, North Carolina, is a city of about 18,600 people on the Pasquotank River near the Outer Banks, incorporated in 1793 and known as the Harbor of Hospitality.
Emerald Isle
Emerald Isle, North Carolina: a town on the western end of Bogue Banks barrier island on the Crystal Coast; founded by 1954 Red Springs investors, incorporated 1957, bridge-linked in 1971, population 3,797 swelling to 50,000 in summer.
Fayetteville, North Carolina
Fayetteville, North Carolina, or Fayetteville, NC, is a city in southeastern North Carolina and the seat of Cumberland County, with 208,501 people, beside Fort Bragg.
Florence, South Carolina
Florence, South Carolina: county seat of Florence County and Pee Dee region hub, founded 1853 as a railroad junction named for Florence Harllee. Population 41,231 (2025 est.); at I-95/I-20; AESC $1.6B battery plant paused 2025.
Gastonia, North Carolina
Gastonia, North Carolina: county seat of Gaston County, incorporated 1877 as a railroad junction town, once a leading Southern textile center, now a Piedmont city of about 87,000 west of Charlotte.
Goldsboro, North Carolina
Goldsboro, North Carolina: Wayne County seat on the Neuse River, chartered January 1, 1847 and named for railroad engineer Matthew T. Goldsborough; home to Seymour Johnson AFB (activated 1942), population about 35,000, prone to Neuse flooding.
Greensboro, North Carolina
Greensboro, North Carolina: Guilford County seat founded 1808 in the central Piedmont; population about 308,700 (2025 estimate). Known for the February 1, 1960 NC A&T sit-in at Woolworth's that sparked the national sit-in movement, and for JetZero's planned $4.7 billion aircraft plant.
Greenville, North Carolina
Greenville, North Carolina, is the county seat of Pitt County on the Tar River, a university and medical center for eastern North Carolina with about 96,000 residents in 2025.
Greenville, South Carolina
Greenville, South Carolina: Upstate city on the Reedy River, incorporated 1831, population 70,720 (2020). Former textile mill town, now known for Falls Park, Liberty Bridge, Swamp Rabbit Trail, and downtown dining.
Hendersonville, North Carolina
Hendersonville, North Carolina: county seat of Henderson County in the Blue Ridge foothills, incorporated 1847, about 15,900 residents, council-manager government, retirement destination hit by Hurricane Helene flooding.
Hickory, North Carolina
Hickory, North Carolina: anchor city of the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton MSA at the I-40/US 321 junction. Founded as Hickory Tavern (1863 charter); former furniture, hosiery, and textile manufacturing center now diversified into fiber optics and data centers.
High Point, North Carolina
High Point, North Carolina: Piedmont Triad city in Guilford County, founded 1859 on the North Carolina Railroad; the "Home Furnishings Capital of the World" and host of the semi-annual High Point Market furniture trade show.
Jacksonville, North Carolina
Jacksonville, North Carolina: county seat of Onslow County and home of Camp Lejeune and MCAS New River. Population 72,723 (2020 census); incorporated 1842, named for Andrew Jackson; council-manager government since 1953.
Kinston, North Carolina
Kinston, North Carolina: county seat of Lenoir County on the Neuse River, chartered 1762 as Kingston, renamed 1784; site of two Civil War battles and the CSS Neuse; 2020 population 19,900.
Kitty Hawk, North Carolina
Kitty Hawk, North Carolina: a town in Dare County on the Outer Banks, incorporated 1981, earlier called Chickahawk; site of the Wright brothers' first powered flight on December 17, 1903.