Textile mills
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, North Carolina's Piedmont became one of the great textile regions of the world. Mills rose in Gastonia, Charlotte, Concord, Kannapolis, Burlington, Greensboro and hundreds of smaller places, each with a mill village of company houses, a store and churches. The 1929 Loray Mill strike in Gastonia was a major labor event. Real photos of mills, workers and mill villages are collected by labor historians and families with mill roots.
Tobacco
Durham, home of the American Tobacco Company and the Bull Durham brand, and Winston-Salem, home of R. J. Reynolds, were tobacco cities. Tobacco auction warehouses in towns across the eastern and Piedmont regions were busy every fall. Real photos of tobacco factories, warehouses, sales and farms are distinctive North Carolina subjects.
Furniture
High Point, Lenoir, Hickory and Thomasville became furniture-making centers, and postcards show factories and the furniture exhibitions held in High Point. Real photos of factories and workers are collected.
The mountains
Western North Carolina's mountains drew visitors to Asheville, Blowing Rock, Linville, Hendersonville and other resorts. The Biltmore Estate and the Grove Park Inn appear on many cards. Logging railroads, camps and sawmills operated throughout the region, and real photos of logging, mountain towns and the early Blue Ridge Parkway are collected.
The Outer Banks and coast
The Outer Banks' lighthouses, lifesaving stations, fishing villages and shipwrecks appear on cards. The Wright brothers' first flights at Kitty Hawk in 1903 made the area famous, and early aviation views and the later monument are collected. Wilmington, New Bern, Beaufort and Morehead City had harbors, fishing fleets and resorts.
Places and subjects to look for
- Mill towns: Gastonia, Concord, Kannapolis, Burlington and mill villages.
- Tobacco cities: Durham and Winston-Salem, plus warehouse towns in the east.
- The mountains: Asheville, Blowing Rock, logging camps and resorts.
- The Outer Banks: lighthouses, lifesaving stations and Kitty Hawk.
- The coast: Wilmington, New Bern, Beaufort and fishing villages.
- Raleigh: the capitol and state buildings.
- Courthouse towns in all 100 counties.
Courthouse towns
North Carolina has 100 counties, and their county seats often grew around courthouses with main streets nearby. Real photos of courthouse towns, especially on court days or during celebrations, are popular with local collectors.
Railroads
The Southern Railway, the Atlantic Coast Line, the Seaboard and many short lines and logging railroads served the state. Depot real photos and mountain railroad scenes, such as the line climbing the Blue Ridge to Asheville, are collected.
Colleges
The University of North Carolina, Trinity College (later Duke), Wake Forest, Davidson and many other colleges appear on cards. Major campus views are common; real photos of student life are more interesting.
Real photos versus printed views
Asheville resorts, the Biltmore, college campuses and city landmarks were printed in quantity. Real photos of mill villages, tobacco towns, logging and small courthouse towns carry most of the value in a North Carolina collection.
What is common
Printed views of the Biltmore, the capitol, Asheville hotels and later chrome beach and mountain cards are plentiful.
Why mill village cards are so valued
Many North Carolina mill villages were sold off or torn down after the mills closed, and the communities that lived there scattered. Real photo postcards are often the only images of the mill, its workers and the village as it was. Descendants of mill families, local historians and collectors of Southern labor history all look for them, which is why a modest-looking real photo of a mill village can matter a great deal.
Questions about North Carolina postcards
Are North Carolina mill postcards valuable? Real photos of mills, workers and villages are collected and historically significant.
Are Kitty Hawk postcards collectible? Early views of the Wright brothers' site and aviation subjects are collected.
Are tobacco warehouse postcards worth anything? Real photos of sales and warehouses are distinctive and collected.
Do you buy North Carolina collections? Yes, complete collections from anywhere in the state, by mail.