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History
& Sites of Interest
History of Cameron
Born of a plank road and a railroad and spurred on by the turpentine
and dewberry industries, Cameron, North Carolina, prospered
in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Fayettville
plank road arrived in the area in the 1850’s, and with
the arrival of the railroad in 1875, a town was planned and
built by people taking advantage of the opportunities the railroad
offered.
Cameron was the end of the run for the Raleigh and Augusta Railroad.
Entrepreneurs settled here and made a substantial living in various
businesses, notably turpentine distilleries, the mercantile and
hotel trades, and especially dewberry farming and consignment.
The dewberry business became so successful that for many years
Cameron was considered the dewberry capital of the world. Surrounded
by the farmland of Moore County, the planned town developed along
the main thoroughfare, Carthage Street, radiating from the railroad
around which its major activities centered.
Along Carthage Street, Cameron’s railroad men, merchants,
and farmers built a compact community consisting of one and two
story frame and brick houses, stores, and churches displaying
elements of the styles popular in the era of 1875 to 1925. Though
the trains no longer stop in the town and dewberries are not
grown on a large scale anymore, Cameron still retains its turn
of the century character and its feeling of a modest, isolated,
concentrated village.
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Cameron Presbyterian Church 1879
Formed by members of Union and Buffalo Presbyterian Churches, this church was
also associated with the education of Cameron’s children through Daniel
McIntyre’s Classical School. The town cemetery is located behind the
church. The church is still active with regular Sunday Services.
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Cameron Methodist Church 1886
Built by Duncan and Allen Campbell. It is noted for its New England style architecture
and its little-altered interior. The church is still active with regular Sunday
Services. |
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