German immigrants and Quakers were among the first Europeans to settle in Guiliford County . High Point was located at the highest point of the 1856 North Carolina Railroad between Charlotte and Goldsboro where it intersected the 1852 Great Western Plank Road. Its central location and transportation allowed for the delivery of raw materials like cotton and lumber and processed goods in and out of the city and contributed to its early growth. Settled before 1750, High Point was incorporated in 1859. Before it became a major manufacturing center, the most important industries werewoodworking, tobacco and textiles. The first of many High Point furniture factories was opened in 1889.
High Point’s conception is not solely linked to manufacturing ; it is also tied to religious freedom beginning as early as the mid-eighteenth century as a refuge for Pennsylvania Quakers who came to the region in search of good climate, affordable land , and an opportunity to create a ordered and principled community. Members of the Society of Friends held beliefs that many considered heresy in the late eighteenth century. Central to these core convictions were values of community and equality that led to the development of early educational systems and specialized trades that were the foundations for the future growth of the area.
High Point has been an ambitious city since it’s incorporation . Whether rallying around Union carpetbaggers in the 1870s and textile barons in the 1910s, or planning public parks in the 1930s, the city has always been forward looking in its prospects. City historians such as Stephen C. Clark, J. J. Farriss ,Holt McPherson, and Frank Sizemore have proudly documented the city’s past as if writing a user’s guide for building a model city. Memorialized in numerous successful businesses and family fortunes , this ambition also is recorded in the city’s architecture.
Within the twenty-first century, increasing influence has been found in the city’s institutions of higher education. Established in 1924, High Point University is a liberal arts institution with approximately 3,000 undergraduate and graduate students from 52 countries and 36 states at campuses in High Point and Winston-Salem. It is ranked by U.S. News and World Report 6th among comprehensive universities in the South and in the top 100 nationally. The university offers 45 undergraduate majors and five graduate-degree programs. It is accredited by the Commission of Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and is a member of the NCAA, Division I and the Big South Conference.
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