Timeline

1771

Guilford County created from Orange and Rowan counties

1808

Ralph Gorrell sells county commissioners 42 acres of land for $98
General Assembly passes act naming Greensborough as Guilford County’s new county seat
Greensborough first hosts county court sessions

1810

Legislative charter written for Greensborough
U.S. Census reports 11,420 residents: 9,850 free whites; 1,467 enslaved people of color; 103 free people of color
Greensborough Male Academy founded

1817

Freedman Benjamin Benson, kidnapped by a slave trader, sues for his freedom in Superior Court; he wins his case in 1820

1819

Sol, a slave, and Quaker Vestal Coffin help slave John Dimrey escape from his owner

1820

U.S. Census reports 14,511 residents: 12,692 free whites; 1,611 enslaved people of color; 208 free people of color

1821

Quakers open a school for African Americans, which closes after opposition by slaveowners
Greensborough Female Academy founded
Masonic Lodge No. 76 established

1822

Muirs Chapel United Methodist Church founded

1824

First Presbyterian Church founded
Minister, physician and educator David Caldwell dies

1826

Greensborough Patriot begins publication

1828

Entrepreneur Henry Humphreys opens Mt. Hecla Cotton Mill, a steam-powered textile mill with 75 looms, the first in the state

1829

First town census counts 369 people and values town’s real estate and property at $53,495
Greensborough Guards organized, reorganized as Guilford Grays in 1860

1830

U.S. Census reports 19,737 residents: 15,761 free whites; 2,594 enslaved people of color; 382 free people of color
Minister Peter Doub establishes Methodist congregation now known as W. Market St United Methodist Church, build’s town’s first church building the next year
Greensboro Female Benevolent Society raises funds to build Presbyterian church building
Traveling circus charges 25 cents admission to see elephants and tigers

1833

Great meteor shower observed

1837

Town incorporates and includes one square mile
Quakers open New Garden Boarding School, which becomes Guilford College in 1888

1838

Greensborough Female College (Greensboro College), founded by Methodists, receives charter

1840

U.S. Census reports 19,175 residents: 15,891 free whites; 2,647 enslaved people of color; 637 free people of color
Town officials pay Gill, an African American, last name unknown, $34 to plant elm trees along North and South streets, now called North and South Elm
Edgeworth Female Seminary founded

1841

First public school sessions

1841-1845

Resident John Motley Morehead serves as governor

1843

Health committee formed after yellow fever epidemic
Manufacture of cigars, snuff, and plug tobacco begins

1845

Greensborough Female College Main Building completed

1846

B.G. Worth advertises daguerreotype portraits

1847

Troy-Bumpass House

1848

Portrait painter sets up studio at Gott’s Hotel

1849

Greensboro Volunteer Fire Company organized after town’s first major fire
Buena Vista Lodge No. 21 Independent Order of Odd Fellows organized

1850

U.S. Census reports 19,754 residents: 15,874 free whites; 3,186 enslaved people of color; 694 free people of color
Greensborough Mutual Fire Insurance established

1851

Groundbreaking for North Carolina Railroad

1852

Calvin Wiley becomes first state superintendent of schools
Frances Webb Bumpass began publishing a Methodist newspaper called Weekly Message

1854

Porter’s Drug Store opens on Elm St.

1856

First train arrives in Greensborough

1857

Two-foot snowfall observed

1859

Wesleyan minister Daniel Worth imprisoned in city jail for anti-slavery activities
First YMCA founded
Greensborough College for Women charges $20 tuition per semester
First Baptist Church organized

1860

U.S. Census reports residents: 15,738 free whites; 3,186 enslaved people of color; 693 free people of color

1861

Greensboro and Guilford residents vote against a referendum for a secession convention on Feb. 28
North Carolina secedes from the Union on May 20
Alexander Eckel becomes first elected mayor
Local companies, nicknamed the Guilford Grays and Dixie Boys, leave Greensboro for service in Confederate Army
Sterling, Campbell & Albright Co. begins publishing school textbooks for Confederate school systems

1862

Future short story author William Sidney Porter (O. Henry) born September 11

1863

Rail line linking Greensboro to Danville, VA completed, improving the Confederate government’s ability to ship supplies south
Greensborough Female College Main Building burns

1865

Confederate soldiers wounded at the Battle of Bentonville sent by train to Greensboro for medical care
Confederate President Jefferson Davis here during retreat from Richmond

1866

Providence Baptist Church founded
St. Matthews Methodist Church founded
Ladies Memorial Association founded with goal of burying war dead

1867

St. James Presbyterian Church founded
Philadelphia Quaker Yardley Warner purchases land for sale to newly-freed African Americans, creating a community later known as Warnersville

1869

Sergeant Mfg. established
Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church organized
St. Barnabas Episcopal Church organized
Total solar eclipse

1870

Greensboro chartered as a city

1871

J.W. Scott Co established
Benbow Hotel opens

1872

Downtown fire destroys Guilford County Courthouse
William P. Hughes opens photography studio with Lewis
W. Andrews in County Courthouse
Odell Hardware established
New North State newspaper endorses Ulysses S. Grant for president

1873

Tobacco Board of Trade established to regulate business
Northwestern Railroad tracks completed west to Salem
Bennett Seminary (Bennett College for Women) chartered as coeducational school to train teachers
Glascock Stove and Manufacturing Co. established

1874

Fire department reorganized

1875

Public schools, segregated by race, open
Elm Street renovations include a new gravel surface, brick sidewalks and kerosene lamps

1877

Chamber of Commerce established, incorporated in 1888
St. Agnes Roman Catholic Church built

1878

Mt. Tabor United Methodist Church organized
YMCA reorganized
Frances Bumpass helps organize Women’s Foreign Mission Society of Methodist Church

1880

First telephones installed
New gas street lights
Local tax supplement funds 120 days of public school instruction

1882

Green Hill Cemetery opens
Poplar Grove AME Church established
Persimmon Grove African Methodist Episcopal Church organized

1883

State’s first chapter of Woman’s Christian Temperance Union established here
Bennett Seminary founds YMCA branch

1884

First telephone exchange opens

1885

City has 50 retail stores
Benbow Hotel hosts fruit and flower show
Mt. Zion Methodist Episcopal Church founded

1886

Harmon Unthank joins board of directors for People’s Five Cent Savings Bank, a first for African Americans in the South
Lindsay Street School opens
Florence Garrett speaks at a WCTU meeting, becoming first black woman in North Carolina to address a public meeting of white women
Charleston earthquake damages Greensboro buildings

1887

City passes first bond issue for $100,000. Bond funds support installation of new water system and lines for electricity downtown
Guilford Battleground Company incorporated
Westminster Presbyterian Church founded

1888

Cape Fear & Yadkin Valley Railway completes line from Greensboro to Mt. Airy
New Goshen United Methodist Church founded
Fire destroys early town records

1889

John M. Dick Steam Laundry established
Euterpe Club, oldest music club in the South, formed

1890

First residential areas receive electric lines
Greensboro Daily Record begins publication
L. Richardson Drug Co. established

1891

City limits expand to four square miles
Greensboro voters approve financial incentives for NC A&T State University and UNCG
Volunteer Southside Hose Company organized
Newspaper editors coin the nickname The Gate City, referring to city’s many railroad lines
First hospital, King’s Daughters, opens, (closes 1893)
Hotel Clegg opens on S. Elm St.
Keeley Institute established to treat substance abuse
Shiloh Baptist Church founded
Trinity African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church founded
Grace United Methodist Church founded
First Friends Meeting founded
Cones built Southern Finishing & Warehouse Co.
First mule-drawn streetcar operates on Elm St.
Shiloh Baptist Church founded

1892

Simon Schiffman purchases jewelry store
New Cedar Grove Baptist Church organized

1894

Lunsford Richardson introduces Vick’s VapoRub
NCA&T student newspaper begins publication

1895

Proximity Mills established
Brooks Lumber Co. established
Greensboro Industrial & Immigration Association founded to promote economic development

1896

Liberty Bell stops in Greensboro during national tour
Proximity School opens

1897

McDuffie-Eubanks Drug Store opens
Grace Lutheran Memorial Church founded
Eller Memorial Baptist Church founded
New Zion Missionary Baptist founded
Proximity United Methodist Church founded

1898

Revolution Mill opened
C.C. Fordham’s Drug Store built on S. Elm Street
Educator Booker T. Washington speaks at NC A&T
Woodmen of the World, Camp No. 13 founded

1899

Greensboro Police Dept. founded
Southern Railroad Depot opens on S. Elm Street
Wysong & Miles Co. established
Belk Department Store opens on S. Elm St.
Art Shop established
Typhoid epidemic kills 14 at UNCG, school closes temporarily
Friendly Ave. Baptist Church founded

1900

Greensboro Agricultural Fair begins
Guilford Hotel opens
African American photographer Harris Hogan opens studio
Elks Lodge No. 602 founded
Greensboro Ice & Coal Company established
Aycock neighborhood
Mt. Zion Baptist Church founded
College Place United Methodist founded
Congregational United Church of Christ founded

1901

Greensboro Life Insurance Company formed
Young Men’s Business Association created
Guilford Battle Chapter DAR founded

1902

Lucy Robertson becomes first female president of Greensboro College
Public library opens in city hall
Pioneer Building & Loan launched to serve black residents
Dixie Building completed
Greensboro Electric Co. inaugurates electric streetcar line and opens Lindley Park
Greensboro Coca Cola Bottling Co. opens franchise
First professional baseball team organized
Guilford Battle Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution organized
Gate City Motor Company founded
Southside Hardware opens
Union Memorial United Methodist Church organized
International Typographical Union organized
Peace United Church of Christ founded

1903

A.W. McAlister founds Pilot Life Insurance Company
Children’s Home Society of NC founded
50 manufacturing companies make 30 different types of goods
Ellis, Stone & Co. opens store
Scott Seed Co. opens
South Greensboro Business Men’s Association founded
YWCA organized
St. Paul United Methodist Church founded
Guilford County Medical Society established
First Labor Day celebration features downtown parade

1904

Dixie Building opens on S. Elm St.
S. H. Kress Store opens at 312 S. Elm St.
Revolution School opens
Roundtrip train fare to St. Louis World’s Fair costs $17
Knights of Columbus founded
Plumbers and Steamfitters Union organized
Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen organized
Pomona Baptist Church founded

1905

White Oak Mill opens
Imanuel Lutheran College moves here, operates until 1961
Sidney Alderman & William Eutsler open photographic studio
E.F. Craven Company founded
Meyer’s Department Store opens
Robt. A. Sills Co. shoe store opens on S. Elm St.
Wills Book Store opens
International Association of Machinists organized
White Oak Grove Missionary Baptist Church founded
Palm St. Christian Church founded
McAdoo Heights neighborhood

1906

Carnegie Public Library opens
New Zion Baptist Church founded
Presbyterian Church of the Covenant founded
Clifton Road Baptist Church founded
College Park Baptist Church founded
Episcopal Church of the Redeemer founded
St. Leo’s Hospital opens

1907

Jefferson Standard Life Insurance incorporated
First Evangelical Lutheran Church founded
Art Club sponsors public art exhibit at Public Library
Crystal Theatre opens to show moving pictures
First Lutheran Church founded
Northside Baptist Church founded
Sixteenth Street Baptist Church founded
White Oak neighborhood
White Oak School opens
Eastside Park neighborhood
Egg-size hail destroys crops

1908

Greensboro celebrates Centennial
Hippodrome, with seating for 20,000, erected
Merchant Association organized
A.W. McAlister opens pitch and putt golf course on Summit Ave.
First Lutheran Church of Greensboro chartered
Temple Emanuel founded
First Moravian Church founded
Laughlin Memorial United Methodist Church founded
Journalist Edward R. Murrow born in southern Guilford County

1909

Greensboro Daily News begins publication
Boy Scout Troop 1 organized
Lyric Theatre opens
Greensboro Woman’s Club founded
Local educator Charlotte Hawkins Brown founds N.C. Federation of Negro Women’s Clubs
Glenwood neighborhood
Episcopal Church of the Redeemer organized
Mt. Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church founded

1911

City adopts at-large voting system for City Council
Greensboro Country Club incorporated
Greensboro becomes first city to receive official piece of air mail sent in the United States
Laughlin Memorial United Methodist Church founded
Irving Park neighborhood
Hebrew Cemetery founded
Town of Hamilton Lakes

1912

Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Company merges with Security Life and Greensboro Life insurance companies, moves headquarters here
Proximity Print Works established
St. Stephen United Church of Christ founded
Banner Building opens
Curry School parents organize Mothers’ Club, forerunner of PTSA

1913

St. James Baptist Church organized

1914

Fire department receives first motorized fire truck
Home Federal Savings & Loan established
George C. Brown Co. opens for business
Glenwood Presbyterian Church founded
Guilford Baptist Church founded
Greensboro Woman’s Club lobbies for cleaner grocery stores

1915

Piedmont Theatre opens
Hinshaw Memorial United Methodist Church founded
Greensboro YWCA starts Travelers Aid Society
N.Y. Herald describes Cone Mill villages as utopias

1916

Clendenin, Wrenn & Kirkman Realtors established
Banks offer 4% interest on savings accounts

1917

Ford Body Co. established
Greensboro Rotary Club organized
American Red Cross chapter: with 193 charter members, created 16 committees for projects such as soldier comfort bags, layettes, made hospital gowns and dressings, and hosted 166,000+ servicemen at canteens near railroad station
UNCG Farmerettes can 8000 gallons of produce
First Christian Church founded

1918

Greensboro reports 1200 cases of Spanish influenza
Moose Lodge No. 685 holds first meeting
Brotherhood of Painters Decorators, & Paperhangers organized
Bricklayers and Masons union organized
Boy Scout Council organized
Oak Grove A.M.E. Zion Church founded
East White Oak Missionary Baptist Church founded

1919

O. Henry Hotel opens on N. Greene St.
Greensboro Patriots professional baseball team organized
Henry Burtner Post #53 American Legion organized
Greensboro Business & Professional Women’s Club founded
Greensboro Section, National Council of Jewish Women founded
Carolina Steel established
Hanes-Lineberry Funeral Service founded
East White Oak Baptist Church organized
Westerwood neighborhood developed
The Business & Professional Women’s Club founded
Kiwanis Club organized
International Alliance of Theatrical Employees and Moving
Picture Machine Operators union organized

1920

Dedication of county courthouse

1921

Greensboro Civitans Club founded
Mt. Pleasant Christian Church founded
Lindsay St. School PTA opens first school cafeteria in the state
National Theatre opens

1922

World War Memorial Stadium built in honor of war dead
First electric Stop-Go sign set for installation
Greensboro Lions Club holds first meeting
Operative Plasterers & Cement Finishers Union organized
Wood, Wire, & Metal Lathers Union organized
United Way organized
Greensboro Girl Scouts organized
Laughlin Memorial United Methodist Church founded

1923

City limits expand to 17.84 square miles, includes mill villages
Attorney Louise Alexander becomes first woman to join police force
Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Building opens
Guilford College Art Appreciation Club founded
Mt. Olivet African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church founded

1924

Pilot Life Insurance Co. established
Greensboro Historical Museum founded
Carnegie Negro Library opens on Bennett College campus
O. Henry Study Club founded
Straughan’s Bookshop opens
Sunset Hills neighborhood developed
College Park neighborhood developed

1925

Temple Emanuel dedicated in Fisher Park
Nocho neighborhood developed
Bessemer Methodist Episcopal Church founded
Latham Park neighborhood developed
International Printing Pressmen organized
Colonial Dames founded
East White Oak YMCA founded
Guilford Building opens

1926

Greensboro Public Library launches first bookmobile in South
Bennett becomes a woman-only college
Charity League (Junior League of Greensboro) organized
Blumenthal’s opens
First radio station, WBIG (We Believe in Greensboro) signs on air
Mock, Judson Voehringer Co. begins operation
American Federation of Musicians organized
Fire department becomes all-paid force; Central Fire Station opens on N. Greene St.

1927

King Cotton Hotel and Carolina Theatre open
War Memorial Stadium dedicated
Lindley Field selected as regional airport site
Aviation hero Charles Lindbergh pilots The Spirit of St. Louis to town, appears at War Memorial Stadium
Southern Railway Depot opens on W. Washington St.
Carolinas Junior Golf Tournament begins
L. Richardson Hospital opens to serve African American patients at S. Benbow Rd. location
Greensboro establishes juvenile court
W. H. Sullivan Co. founded
Sedgefield Inn completed
Greensboro Men’s Club founded
Civic Music Association founded
Church of God in Christ founded
YMCA opens on West Market St.

1928

Electric streetcar route added on Battleground and Freeman Mill Rd.
Mary Nicholson becomes first N.C. woman to earn pilot’s license
Carolina Theatre shows its first talking picture
Nocho Park neighborhood
Bessemer neighborhood
Kirkwood neighborhood
Lake Daniel neighborhood
Altrusa Club founded
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers organized
Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship Clerks Freight Handlers, Express & Station Employees organized
James B. Dudley High School opens
St. Mary’s Catholic Church founded
First Presbyterian Church moves to Fisher Park location

1929

Electric streetcar route added to 16th St., Walker Ave., Gorrell St., and Irving Park
Wells Temple Holiness Church founded
Little Gate Garden Club founded
P.E.O. Sisterhood, Chapter A organized
Greensboro Bar Association established
Greensboro Senior High School (Grimsley) opens
Starmount Co. organized
Fisherman at Lake Brandt catches turtle weighing 32 lb. 5 oz.

1930

Starmount Country Club golf course opens
Greensboro Patriots gain first major league affiliation with St. Louis Cardinals, play first pro baseball game at War Memorial Stadium
Glenwood Friends Meeting founded
Greensboro Junior Woman’s Club chartered
Veterans of Foreign Wars chapter founded
St. Mark Holy Church founded
United Institutional Baptist Church founded

1931

Pla-Mor miniature golf opens on N. Elm St.
Poet Langston Hughes holds reading at Bennett College
National Guard stages first reenactment of the Battle of Guilford Courthouse
22 farmers form local dairy cooperative later known as Guilford Dairy
Emancipation Day celebration includes downtown parade and pageant at Dudley High School
Aviatrix Amelia Earhart speaks here on “Women in Aviation”

1933

Greensboro branch of NAACP founded
United States Post Office, now Preyer Federal Building, opens

1934

Electric streetcar route added to White Oak, Glenwood, & Pomona
Electrically-powered trolley buses in use
Jefferson Standard Life Insurance purchases WBIG Radio
Guilford Industries of the Blind established
Exchange Club founded
Rachel Caldwell Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, founded
6,409 people reported on local emergency relief
Recreation Dept. weekly payroll totals $20

1935

Burlington Mills moves headquarters to Greensboro
Greensboro Patriots close operations until 1941
Ceasar Cone Elementary School opens
Greensboro Council for Protestants, Jews and Catholics founded

1936

Montgomery Ward Co. opens new S. Elm St. store
Greensboro Art Center, WPA project which served both races, established and operated until 1940
Greensboro Junior Chamber of Commerce, known as Jaycees, founded
Greensboro Chapter, National Conference of Christians & Jews established
Tornado hits E. Lee St. area, killing 13 and injuring 44

1937

Otto Zenke begins interior design firm
Boar & Castle Restaurant opens on W. Market St. extension
Dr. Eva Hamlin Miller joins Bennett College faculty as first art instructor
Bennett students boycott downtown theatres, protesting theatres’ practice of editing films to downplay the roles of black actors
City’s first supermarket, Big Star, opens on W. Washington St.
Windsor Center opens
Nocho Park opens
Lady Lions organized
Pilot Club chartered
Guilford Memorial Park cemetery opens

1938

Sam Snead wins first Greater Greensboro Open professional golf tournament
Building and Construction Trades Union organized
Salvation Army Boys Club organized
Tabernacle Baptist Church founded

1939

Greensboro Historical Museum and Greensboro Public Library open in Richardson Civic Center at 130 Summit Ave.
Public Library opens in Richardson Civic Center
Hayes-Taylor YMCA opens on E. Market St.
Reid Memorial Christian Methodist Episcopal Church founded
Greensboro Symphony Orchestra founded
International Association of Heat & Frost Insulators and Asbestos Workers organized
Piedmont Bird Club founded
Mary Lynn Richardson Park created

1940

Greensboro is headquarters to five insurance companies: Jefferson Standard, Pilot Life, Dixie Fire, Gate City Life, and Southern Dixie
Brightwood Baptist Church founded
Textile Workers Union of America local organized

1941

Gillespie Golf Course opens
Emmanuel Wesleyan Church founded
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers organized
City Council of Garden Clubs founded
NCA&T awards first Master of Science degrees
Fire destroys Greensboro College Main Building

1942

Weatherspoon Museum founded
WGBG (We’re Going to Beat Germany) Radio signs on air
Greensboro chapter, Delta Sigma Theta sorority founded
Businesses dimmed lights from 9 pm – 7 am
City orders 13 electronic air raid sirens

1943

Army Air Force Basic Training Camp 10 opens

1944

George Preddy, ranked as America’s leading fighter pilot air ace, killed by friendly fire over Belgium
Citizens purchase $10 million war bonds to build frigate USS Greensboro
Red Cross volunteers prepare 51,000 surgical dressings
First black police officers hired
First women jurors in Superior Court criminal case
Serviceman, later Hollywood actor, Charlton Heston marries at Grace United Methodist Church

1945

Robert Wynn becomes first African American Agricultural Extension Agent in nation, serves until 1970
Greensboro Patriots join Class C Carolina League
Gate City Life Insurance merges with Pilot Life Insurance
Mother Murphy’s Laboratories established
Family Service of the Piedmont founded
Beta Nu Zeta Chapter, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority founded

1946

Parks & Recreation Commission established
Basic Training Camp #10, now known as Overseas Replacement Depot, closes
Guilford Mills opens with 6 machines
Bessemer Improvement Co. buys ORD properties
Immanuel Baptist Church founded
United Slate, Tile, and Composition Roofers, Damp & Waterproofers Worker’s Union organized
Sheet Metal Workers Union organized
Guy & Joseph Thomas Branch, Disabled American Veterans, founded
Greensboro Academy of Medicine established by black physicians
Guilford Hills neighborhood established

1947

Parks & Recreation begins youth baseball program
First downtown parking meters installed
Metropolitan Day Nursery founded by Metropolitan Council of Negro Women
Dormition of The Theotokos Greek Orthodox Church founded
Sears, Roebuck and Co. opens mail order warehouse
A&P opens grocery store at 221 Commerce Pl.
Historical Book Club of North Carolina founded
Susie B. Dudley YWCA organized
Beth David Synagogue groundbreaking
7.49 inches of rain recorded on Sept. 24

1948

185 polio cases reported; residents build polio hospital
Guilford Park Presbyterian Church founded
City named mail hub for U.S. Postal Service
Greensboro Opera Association founded
WCOG Radio signs on air
International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehouse Men and Helpers organized
International Printing Pressmen & Assistants’ Union organized
Westover Church founded

1949

WFMY-TV transmits first live television signal in NC
Julia Ballinger Dwiggins becomes first woman elected to City Council
Parks and Recreation Department launches first women’s basketball leagues
WGBG’s Curt Gill becomes first African American disc jockey in state
First NC All-Star high school football and basketball games held here
One-way traffic begins on principal downtown streets
Greensboro Tobacco Market established

1950

Nocho Park golf course opens
Fire Prevention Bureau established
Civil Defense program established
Greensboro Tar Heel Chorus founded
Cerebral Palsy School (now Gateway) opens
Friends of the Library founded
International Association of Bridge, Structural and Ornamental Iron Workers organized
Communication Workers of America, Locals 3062 & 3607 organized
Parks & Recreation Dept. holds first Easter Egg Hunt
Greensboro Memorial Park opens
Lakeview Memorial Park opens

1951

Dr. William Hampton became first black elected to City Council
Old Rebel Children’s Show premieres on WFMY-TV
Greensboro Patriots become Chicago Cubs affiliate
J.P. Stevens & Co. opens headquarters on W. Market St.
City Council approves fluoridation of city water
Evangelist Billy Graham leads six-week crusade here
Greensboro Writers Club organized
Unitarian Church founded

1952

Koury Corp. founded
Parks & Recreation Dept. launches Sixty-Plus Club
First public housing units open
Police Department adds Vice Squad
Greensboro Woman’s Club sponsors first Fine Arts Festival
Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church dedicated
Starmount Presbyterian Church founded
Debutante Club of Greensboro founded

1953

Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital admits first patient
Atlantic Coast Conference established here
Guilford College acquires Greensboro Evening College and renames it Greensboro Division of Guilford College, now known as Continuing Education Program
CIO Textile Union splits, local unions affiliate with United Textile Workers of the AFL, with Locals 259, 739, and 290
Buffalo Presbyterian Church celebrates 200th anniversary
WFMY-TV launches “What’s Cooking Today” with Cordelia Kelly

1954

St. Leo’s Hospital becomes Notre Dame Catholic High School, which operates until 1968
Notre Dame admits African American students
WPET Radio signs on air
St. Francis Episcopal Church founded
Southern Foods founded
Temperatures reaches 106 degrees on July 14

1955

Lorillard opens major manufacturing plant in Greensboro
Six African American golfers arrested for playing at Gillespie Golf Course. Convicted of trespassing, later pardoned by Governor Luther Hodges
Former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt speaks at New Garden Friends Meeting
City has 500+ active social and civic organizations
The Links founded
Approximately 12,300 of 61,175 employed people are organized for collective bargaining
Belk’s Department Store opens on South Elm Street
Woodmere Park neighborhood
City hires professional rainmaker in attempt to end drought; Hurricane Hazel does so instead

1956

Electric trolley cars end operation; diesel-powered bus service begins
Former White Oak YMCA becomes Cone Community Center
Greensboro Patriots play exhibition game against NY Yankees
Duke Power orders Jim Crow signs removed from Greensboro buses
Lorillard opens E. Market St. cigarette manufacturing plant
Christ United Methodist Church founded
Lawndale Baptist Church founded
Sedgefield Presbyterian Church founded

1957

City limits extended to more than 49 square miles
Natural Science Center opens as Greensboro Junior Museum
Parks & Recreation Dept. organizes Special Populations Unit
First black students enroll at Greensboro Senior High School (Grimsley) and Gillespie Park Elementary
Summit Rotary Club founded
Town of Hamilton Lakes annexed
The Good Morning Show premieres on WFMY-TV
Friendly Shopping Center opens

1958

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speaks at Bennett College
Greensboro’s professional baseball team affiliates with the NY Yankees and change name from Patriots to Yankees
Parkway Baptist Church founded
City celebrates Sesquicentennial
First Community Swim Meet held
Page High School opens
Actor Andy Griffith appears at Carolina Theatre

1959

Greensboro Coliseum Complex opens, first event is “Holiday On Ice”
NC’s first McDonald’s restaurant opens on Summit Ave.
Warnersville Recreation Center opens
American Federal Savings & Loan chartered, first federally chartered African American financial institution in NC, later known as Mutual Community Savings Bank (1992)
First basketball game at Coliseum features NC A&T versus Elizabeth State
St. John’s United Methodist Church founded

1960

Four NC A&T freshmen begin sit-in protest on Feb. 1 at Woolworth lunch counter, launching change across the South; local counters desegregate on July 25
Glenwood Recreation Center opens
Candidate Richard Nixon campaigns here for president
Direct dialing begins for long distance calls

1961

City Beautiful organized
Carlotta Supper Club opens
City hires first all-African American firefighter class
Wesley Long Hospital moves to N. Elam Ave.

1962

Eastern Music Festival founded
WEAL and WQMG Radio begin broadcasts
Town of Guilford College annexed

1963

Civil rights protests, including sit-ins, picketing and marches, against segregation lead to hundreds of arrests
Camp Joy offers summer day camp for special needs youth
Volunteer Center of Greensboro founded
Carnegie Negro Library becomes Southeast Branch (today’s Vance Chavis Branch)
U.S. Court of Appeals rules that Greensboro’s two white hospitals must admit black patients and black doctors to staff
Human Relations Commission established
Henry Frye appointed first African American Assistant U.S. District Attorney in state
5-digit zip codes begin

1964

Hagan Stone Park opens
Jesse Jackson graduates from NCA&T
Musician Lyonel Hampton plays at NCA&T Homecoming
Ben L. Smith High School opens

1965

Jaycees named World’s No. 1 Chapter
Portions of Warnersville neighborhood razed and replaced by Hampton Homes public housing
WUAG Radio Station founded
Gilbarco Co. moves to Greensboro
Red Camellia Japonica becomes official flower

1966

Wendover Ave. built for 12.5 million dollars
NBC-TV broadcasts Greensboro Ringling Brothers Circus performance for nationwide audience
Power House of Deliverance Holiness Church organized
Greensboro Preservation Society founded
Basketball player Lou Hudson becomes first Greensboro player drafted in NBA’s first round

1967

Greensboro named All-American City
Carolina Peacemaker begins publication
Las Amigas, Inc. founded
Joseph Fuller Products distributorship, forerunner to Dudley Products, established
Greensboro Urban Ministry founded
ACC Basketball Tournament held at Coliseum
Acropolis Restaurant opens
Las Amigas, Inc. holds first Vals Purez Hovenez Ball

1968

Henry Frye became first black to serve in the N.C. General Assembly in the 20th century
Greensboro Beautiful organized
Elreta Alexander becomes state’s first African American elected district court judge
Jefferson Standard and Pilot Life become Jefferson-Pilot Corporation
Greensboro Yankees affiliate with Houston Astros for one year, after which the city loses pro ball for 10 years

1969

Protest over election at Dudley High School spreads to NCA&T campus; National Guard called and one student killed
Carolina Cougars of American Basketball Association brings pro basketball franchise to town until 1974
Central YMCA opens at new W. Market St. location
City has 52,520 eligible voters in 29 precincts
Dudley Products established

1970

Medal of Honor presented posthumously to Pfc. Phill McDonald for heroism during Vietnam War
Notre Dame High School razed
Cosmos Club, later known as Trevi Fountain, opens
Malcolm X Liberation University moves from Durham to Greensboro
Dr. George Simkins and ten other African American parents file lawsuit demanding immediate school desegregation
Alonzo Hall Towers opens for senior citizens
Bryan Park opens
UNCG-run Curry School closes after 77 years
Greensboro Day School opens
Metropolitan YMCA established
Coliseum expansion doubles arena seating from 8,000 to 16,000

1971

Greensboro integrates public schools through federal order
Jaycee Park opens
Future astronaut Ronald McNair graduates from NCA&T, later dies in 1980 Challenger shuttle explosion
Greensboro National Bank opens
Genesis Marker erected in Fisher Park, marking geographical center of Guilford County
Vandalia Christian School founded
Greensboro Council of Catholic Women founded
Davie St. YWCA building opens
Downtown King Cotton Hotel imploded

1972

City’s first automatic teller machine installed
Lindley Recreation Center opens
Peeler Recreation Center opens
Drifters, Inc. founded
Metropolitan United Methodist Church founded
Prince of Peace Lutheran Church founded
NCA&T becomes constituent institution of UNC System
3232 farmers grow 8200 acres of tobacco

1973

Greensboro-Guilford Co. Governmental Center dedicated

1974

Walter Johnson becomes first African American to chair Greensboro School Board
David Caldwell Memorial Association established
Guilford Native American Association established
Four Seasons Town Centre opens
David Caldwell Historic Park dedicated
Downtown O. Henry Hotel closes

1976

Safety Town program launched to teach children traffic safety
Carolina Circle Mall opens, features skating rink
Craft Center opens
Fairview Center opens
Bicentennial Garden opens

1977

Trotter Recreation Center opens
Piedmont Chapter of Afro-American Genealogical Society founded
Chamber of Commerce launches Leadership Greensboro program
Black Child Development Institute of Greensboro founded
Women’s Professional Forum founded
Senior Resources of Guilford founded

1978

Hospice of Greensboro founded
Bryan Enrichment Center opens
Black Child Development Institute founded
Hamburger Square Post begins publication

1979

Communist Workers’ Party hold protest march at Morningside Homes; Klan-Nazi members kill 5 people
Tennis Hall of Fame built at Jaycee Park
Amtrak opens Oakland Ave. passenger station
Greensboro Hornets, affiliated with Cincinnati Reds, bring pro baseball back to city
Bell House opens as independent living for differently-abled adults
Greensboro Recycling Center opens on E. Washington St.

1980

Trial of defendants for Morningside murders ends with not guilty verdict
College Hill became first historic district
Hospice & Palliative Care of Greensboro founded
Junior Achievement of Greensboro founds Business Leaders Hall of Fame
Southern Life Center on N. Elm Street
Greensboro Opera Company founded
May commencements award nearly 3,400 college and university degrees

1981

Replacements, Ltd. established
Pathways Family Shelter established
Touring Theatre Ensemble founded
Shiloh Holiness Church founded

1982

City Council adopts district system for next election
Downtown Elm St. listed on National Register
Beloved Community Center founded
Music Academy of North Carolina founded
Hospice begins serving patients
Fisher Park Historic District established
Bel Canto founded

1983

Completion of new airport; renamed PTI in 1987
Katie Dorsett first African American councilwoman
Lonnie Revels becomes first Native American councilman
State Street Shopping opened
Coliseum debuts computerized ticketing
Weaver House night shelter opens
Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro established
First Piedmont Interfaith Thanksgiving Service

1984

Metro (Osborne) Wastewater Treatment Plant opens
Aycock Historic District established
City’s last tobacco warehouse closes
First Festival of Lights
Historical Museum accredited by American Association of Museums

1985

Federal court found defendants liable for deaths at Morningside Homes (1979)
Greensboro changes affiliation to Boston Red Sox
Aggie Stadium
January 21 temperature dips to -8 degrees
Historical Museum building listed on National Register of Historic Places

1986

Bryan Park Soccer Complex opens
Triad Health Project founded
90 Montagnard refugees settle in Greensboro
Greater Greensboro Society of Medicine established
VF Corp. acquires Blue Bell Co.

1987

Jefferson-Pilot Life Insurance Company established
Sylvester Daughtry becomes first African American police chief
Habitat for Humanity chapter founded
Project Uplift founded
UNCG renames business school for Joseph M. Bryan
Shepherd’s Center of Greensboro founded
Broach Theatre established
NCCJ launches Anytown youth leadership program
Adams Farm neighborhood

1988

Governmental Plaza named for Medal of Honor recipient Phill McDonald
Tannenbaum Park opens
GGO renamed KMart GGO
Blandwood Mansion designated National Historic Landmark
Greensboro Hornets Single A professional baseball team rejoin Cincinnati Reds

1989

Jimmie Barber Park dedicated

1990

Completion of 3 downtown skyscrapers and renovation of Greensboro Historical Museum and Cultural Center
New 20-story Jefferson-Pilot building completed
Hornets renew Yankees affiliation
First Big Sweep Waterway Litter Cleanup
677 tobacco farmers grew 5100 acres

1991

RF Micro Devices established
Greensboro voted All-American City
Bog Garden and Arboretum dedicated
First Great American Cleanup here
Rhinoceros Times begins publication

1992

Enola Mixon named city’s first female postmaster
Union Cemetery placed on National Register of Historic Places
Brown Recreation Center opens
Caldcleugh Multicultural Arts Center opens
City named a Tree City USA by National Arbor Day Foundation
National AIDS Memorial Quilt makes stop here

1993

Carolyn Allen became first female mayor;
Woolworth’s closed and non-profit formed to create international civil-rights museum
Merger of city and county school systems through act of NC legislature
East Market St. Development Corporation formed
Sears announces closing of Lawndale catalog center
Ray Flowers named first African American fire chief
HealthServe Ministry founded
Second Coliseum arena expansion brings seating to 23,000
Tour DuPont 1,085 mile bicycle race has downtown finish-line

1994

Greensboro Hornets become the Greensboro Bats
Walkway of History historical markers erected on downtown’s February One Place
NCA&T enrolls first PhD students in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering
Buddhist temple opens

1995

Glenwood Branch Library opens
St. Timothy’s United Methodist Church
NCCJ sponsors first Youth Interfaith Tour
Jaycees named World’s No. 1 Chapter
Women’s Resource Center opens

1996

Downtown Greensboro, Inc. established
Leonard Recreation Center opens
PGA tournament renamed Chrysler Classic of Greensboro
Deep River Pipes & Drums organized
Beacon Place opens
NASA awards NCA&T State University a grant for Ronald E. McNair Graduate Fellowship Research Program
Hurricane Fran causes flooding and power outages

1998

Fortune 500 firm VF Corp. moves headquarters here
Central Library opens on Church Street
Phill McDonald Memorial Plaza dedicated downtown
St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church founded

1999

O. Henry Hotel opens on Green Valley Rd.
Henry Frye becomes first black Chief Justice of the NC Supreme Court
Lillian Wells Snipes named to National Beauty Culturist League Hall of Fame
Spiritual Renaissance Singers founded
Children’s Museum opens

2000

FaithAction International House founded to assist immigrants
Millennium Gate dedicated
81.8 mpg wind gust measured on May 25

2001

Randleman Dam permit approved

2002

Triad Stage inaugural play “Suddenly Last Summer”
Guilford County Veterans Memorial dedicated at Country Park

2003

Galyon Depot opens for bus and taxi service
Greensboro Bats Single A baseball team affiliates with Florida Marlins

2005

Galyon Depot opens for rail service
NewBridge baseball stadium opens

2006

Jefferson-Pilot Financial merges with Lincoln Financial
Greene Street traffic roundabout opens
Guilford County Public School enrollment numbers 68,722
Rehobeth United Methodist celebrates 200th anniversary
Greensboro Housing Authority holds ribbon-cutting for Willow Oaks development
Elon University School of Law holds first classes

2007

Yvonne Johnson becomes first African American mayor
White Oak named official tree

2008

Greensboro celebrates 200th anniversary
David and Rachel Caldwell Historic Center opens
Candidate Barack Obama campaigns here for president

2009

FedX Express air cargo hub opens

2010

International Civil Rights Center and Museum opens
Historical Museum opens Voices of a City: Greensboro North Carolina exhibition